Baby Safety Answers!

 

Q: Back over incidence in driveways are on the increase. What safety tips do you have to help prevent these injuries?

A: Thousands of children, typically less than two years-old, are seriously injured or die when a driver backs out of a driveways or parking lots and doesn't see them. Usually the driveway incidents involve large vehicles such as SUVs vans or trucks, which tend to have large blind spots.

This checklist is based on interviews with highway safety experts conducted by the Baby-Everywhere Safety Team:

• Before moving the car, know where your children are.
• Be sure they are away from the car and in full view.
• If possible, have another adult supervise children before you start to drive back out.
• In a parking lot, hold your child’s hand until you are safely on the sidewalk.
• Slow down if you are in a rush, especially during the holidays and other stressful times. Never leave a child alone in or around a car.
• Trim landscaping around the driveway to be sure you can see the sidewalk, street, and pedestrians clearly when backing out of the driveway. Pedestrians also need to be able to see a car pulling out of the driveway.
• Consider installing some type of back-up detection device such as cross view mirrors, a collision detector with sound, or a rear view video camera.
• Keep cars locked at all times – even in the garage or driveway. Always set parking brake.
• Keep keys and remote garage door openers out of a child's reach.

"I explained to my son that a parked car might move, and that though he can see the car, the driver might not be able to see him," says Bill Gordon, father of Andy, age 4.