Yesterday, a one year old little girl was killed in East St. Louis when a car ran over her while she was playing in her grandmother’s yard. Apparently, two young boys, ages 11 & 12 were listening to music in their mother’s car when one of them accidentally put the car into gear which set the car into motion that ran over the child. The little girl died of her injuries.
Last night while I was watching the news on television, it was apparent that the mother’s community had come forward to help in the grieving process; however, I am sure that the mother was still in shock. It was painful to see the death of this child and imagine the agony that the mother must be in as well as the heartache felt by the parents of the boys in the car. No matter how a child is killed, it is unnatural for a parent to have to lose a child–it’s every parents’ worst nightmare. When I heard about this story, I immediately thought about an organization that we work with called Kids and Cars.org, they are a non-profit organization that promotes child safety in and around cars. According to their statistics, children left unattended in or around cars is a danger that most people greatly underestimate—until a tragedy occurs. The folks at KidsAndCars.org live these tragedies over and over every day and put faces to the names we see in various news articles. They retell the stories so that the conditions that created the accidents will not be forgotten, but rather awareness and education may help reduce the number of future children injured or killed.
The mother of the one year old little girl victim was interviewed last night on the news and shared that these kind of accidents can happen all too easily and this sentimient is what is echoed by KidsAndCars.org through promotion on a daily basis with their work. Between 1991 and 2011, there were 1051 backover fatalities in our country. As the accident yesterday describes a “frontover”, they are not quite as common but still claimed 536 children in that same time span. KidsAndCars.org works to document these tragedies and promote safety and education about children in cars. Why? Tragic deaths gain the general publics’ attention and during that time, such organizations like KidsAndCars.org want to bring attention to the tragedy for the sole purpose of education and awareness.
If sharing this information saves one more child’s life, then it is a worthwhile effort. Frontover accidents frequently happen when the driver cannot see a child in front of them and usually occur when pulling out or into driveways. KidsAndCars.org focuses on non-traffic related injuries and deaths of children, meaning child’s injuries or deaths that result from backovers, frontovers, heat stroke, truck entrapment and lack of child safety windows. KidsAndCars.org seeks information and attempts to raise awareness and education to reduce the number of child injuries and deaths.
Our hearts do go out to the family of the one year old killed this weekend. The mother indicated that she encourages people to think about keeping their children safe through supervision. She emphasized the importance of choices and hope that the young boys learn from choices. Children should never be allowed to turn a car on and they should never be allowed in the car by themselves for the reason of heatstroke or accidentally putting a car into gear. This is a time when families everywhere are reflecting about their personal practices and level of safety they concentrate on regarding their children and cars.
Many have the perception that a car in a driv way is not dangerous. And, it is not in of itself, but when children are able to get into the car, they are at risk of locking themselves in and suffering heatstroke as well as in danger of moving the car and injuring or killing others.
Discuss these safety issues with your children. Make it clear that no one gets in the car without a grown-up—very similar to the rule at my house that no one gets in or near the pool without a grown-up. Accidents happen quickly with children to even the best parents who really focus on supervising. While all of the conditions of this particular accident are not clear, the main thing is to educate yourself and your children on the dangers of cars and that they are not toys.
Visit KidsAndCars.org for more safety tips and legislation they are currently supporting to improve car safety by auto manufacturers.
We welcome your discussions and comments as well as other ideas or groups that promote child safety!
Call our attorneys of The Cagle Law Firm, toll free (800) 685-3302 or locally (314) 276-1681 if you or a loved one has been seriously injured or killed as a result of a car accident.
Sources: Toddler Struck by Car, Killed in East St. Louis, KSDK, 5-19-13
James, Daniel, Girl, one, run over and killed after boy, 11, accidentally puts car into drive while listening to the radio, Mail Online, 5-20-13
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