A toddler was killed Sunday morning when her father backed over her in front of the family’s home. Investigators said the 18-month-old child wandered outside her home and behind the Chevrolet Suburban driven by her father.
Law enforcement officers found that the driver did not realize the child was behind the vehicle and struck his daughter, pulling her beneath the sport utility vehicle. The child was the youngest of eight children, and was pronounced dead at the local children’s hospital.
More than 2,400 children are treated each year for injuries suffered when they are struck by a vehicle driving in reverse, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Two children are killed each week in these incidents, according to the nonprofit organization Kids and Cars, and most of these victims are between 12 and 23 months old. The majority of incidents involve a truck, van or SUV driven by a parent or other close relative.
To help avoid a tragic mistake it is suggested that a driver always walk around and behind a vehicle prior to moving it; and that parents and caregivers know where their kids are. We have written on this very subject before and agree with a neighbor’s comment that a parent running over a child would be anyone’s worst nightmare. Sadly, these needless deaths continue to occur.
