Safety warning after seven-year-old killed on driveway

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Published: 8:53AM Monday March 10, 2014 Source: ONE News

There are fresh calls to prevent fatal driveway accidents after a seven-year-old boy was killed when a car reversed over him in his rural driveway over the weekend.

The incident happened in Wallacetown, Invercargill and was one of the six road deaths over the weekend. Police described the situation as a horrific road toll and are now urging motorists to exercise the utmost care and caution.

AA Motoring Affairs General Manager, Mike Noon says driveway crashes are simply the most tragic.

"They involve our most vulnerable - our young ones, and very often family members are involved in the crash."

Mr Noon says reverse cameras, car sensors, knowing your property and the use of fences are all good options to prevent these accidents, but the most important thing is safety checks.

"A minute of lack of attention or lacking of checking or just a child being unpredictable and running, and you get one of these really tragic occurrences."

"The first responsibility is on the driver, but I also think you need to think about the layout of your property - if you've got a property with a garage at the rear of the property with a long driveway past the house where the kids might be coming out and playing, then think about fencing that."

Mr Noon says blind spots are also a factor into driveway accidents.

"Understand just how big those blind spots are. If you're in an SUV, you will be very surprised how little you can see behind the vehicle."

If you're visiting friends it's just as important to be aware and do your checks Mr Noon adds.

"You just have to be really on your guard and if you're a friend vising other friends or family that have got kids, how about parking on the street and walking in?"

Every two weeks a child is hospitalised with serious injuries received from a vehicle driving on a private driveway - a further five children are killed annually, on average, in the same way.

SafeKids Aoetearoa tell people to check, supervise and separate.

Their key safety messages include:

Know where the kids are before getting in the car
Check for children before driving off
Supervise children around vehicles - always
Separate play areas from driveways