Backover accidents: how real is this threat to our kids? | NJ.com
Backover accidents: how real is this threat to our kids?
on February 25, 2011 at 11:25 AM, updated February 28, 2011 at 10:15 AM
It’s the usual rush getting the kids out to the bus stop this morning, and to make matters worse, it’s raining cats and dogs. I pack up the kid’s lunches, but Harry can’t find his iPod. Finally I find it, when Johnna chimes in, "Mom, we probably missed the bus by now looking for his stupid iPod." And she is right.
“Okay, grab your stuff while I pull the van up front so that you two don’t get soaking wet. I’m going to have to drive you in this morning,” I tell them.
As I am backing up out of our driveway, I hear her call to me, “Mom, mom,” Alarmed, I stop the van, and pull it forward. I open my window in the downpour, thinking that she is behind it and that I am about to, or have, run her over. With my huge vehicle, this has been a constant concern of mine.
“Mom,” she calls, again, and between the rain and the fog and the early light, I can’t tell where my daughter is. “Johnna, Johnna, where are you?” I call back as I jump out of my van looking for her. I still do not see her.
I hear her call to me again, a little louder now, “Mom, where is my lunch? I can’t find it?” She is standing on our front porch, perfectly unharmed.
I rush inside, relieved. “Johnna! I thought I was backing over you! Don’t yell to me like that when I am driving the van, unless something really is wrong.” “But mom, I couldn’t find my lunch,” she frowns, not getting what I am so upset about.
On the way to school, I go over car safety rules. Harry is 12, and his sister is 14. They are both short for their ages. I remind them to never go near a moving car. “If you have to climb up on a snow mound to be in full view and out of the way when a car is coming, do it,” I tell Harry. “I am not a baby mom, I know,” Harry complains. “Yes, and you also like to play basketball in the street.” “Let’s say our thankful sorry prayer,” I tell them (a quick 2-minute ditty that reminds my kids and I, I hope, to be grateful and reflective). I start, “Bless us O Lord, and thank you for this day.” Harry goes first. He grumbles, still put out by my car safety lecture, “Thank you for my house and food. Sorry I talk back.” Great. Now it’s Johnna’s turn. “Thank you, God, that I have a nice house so that I don’t have to be outside in the pouring rain,” she says, and, “I am sorry for making my mother think that she ran me over with her van this morning.”
I smile, which was her intent. And then we both crack up. I love my smart, funny, beautiful 14-year-old daughter, and I am so grateful that I really didn’t run her over this morning. My big van has a lot of blind spots, and I hate, HATE backing up in it. I would never forgive myself if I had. As I drop them off, I tell them that I love them and to have a great day at school.
What is the real threat of ‘Backover deaths’ to children? According to the nonprofit organization Kids and Cars, a truly astonishing 44 percent of non-traffic fatalities of children under 15 were caused by backovers! - Much, much higher than I would have guessed. Here are their safety tips:
v	Before backing out of your driveway, check behind and under your vehicle.
v	Don’t rely on safety sensors to let you know if someone is behind you.
v	Turn off your radio so that you can listen v	Stop immediately if you suspect someone is behind you.
v	Teach children not to play near cars
And my own, instruct your children to never go near a moving vehicle.
In the article Kids and Driveway Safety, they recommend backing into your driveway and pulling out forward. Thus avoiding what they call the ‘bye bye syndrome’. A child will run out to say good-bye to a parent, and tragically be run over. 50 kids in the U.S. are backed over every week, 48 end up in the hospital, and 2 children are fatally injured.
After reading this, I am going to start backing into my own driveway. HAVE A TRULY WONDERFUL DAY AND DRIVE SAFELY.
Backover accidents: how real is this threat to our kids? | NJ.com
Backover accidents: how real is this threat to our kids?
on February 25, 2011 at 11:25 AM, updated February 28, 2011 at 10:15 AM
It’s the usual rush getting the kids out to the bus stop this morning, and to make matters worse, it’s raining cats and dogs. I pack up the kid’s lunches, but Harry can’t find his iPod. Finally I find it, when Johnna chimes in, "Mom, we probably missed the bus by now looking for his stupid iPod." And she is right.
“Okay, grab your stuff while I pull the van up front so that you two don’t get soaking wet. I’m going to have to drive you in this morning,” I tell them.
As I am backing up out of our driveway, I hear her call to me, “Mom, mom,” Alarmed, I stop the van, and pull it forward. I open my window in the downpour, thinking that she is behind it and that I am about to, or have, run her over. With my huge vehicle, this has been a constant concern of mine.
“Mom,” she calls, again, and between the rain and the fog and the early light, I can’t tell where my daughter is. “Johnna, Johnna, where are you?” I call back as I jump out of my van looking for her. I still do not see her.
I hear her call to me again, a little louder now, “Mom, where is my lunch? I can’t find it?” She is standing on our front porch, perfectly unharmed.
I rush inside, relieved. “Johnna! I thought I was backing over you! Don’t yell to me like that when I am driving the van, unless something really is wrong.” “But mom, I couldn’t find my lunch,” she frowns, not getting what I am so upset about.
On the way to school, I go over car safety rules. Harry is 12, and his sister is 14. They are both short for their ages. I remind them to never go near a moving car. “If you have to climb up on a snow mound to be in full view and out of the way when a car is coming, do it,” I tell Harry. “I am not a baby mom, I know,” Harry complains. “Yes, and you also like to play basketball in the street.” “Let’s say our thankful sorry prayer,”
 I tell them (a quick 2-minute ditty that reminds my kids and I, I hope, to be grateful and reflective). I start, “Bless us O Lord, and thank you for this day.” Harry goes first. He grumbles, still put out by my car safety lecture, “Thank you for my house and food. Sorry I talk back.” Great. Now it’s Johnna’s turn. “Thank you, God, that I have a nice house so that I don’t have to be outside in the pouring rain,” she says, and, “I am sorry for making my mother think that she ran me over with her van this morning.”
I smile, which was her intent. And then we both crack up. I love my smart, funny, beautiful 14-year-old daughter, and I am so grateful that I really didn’t run her over this morning. My big van has a lot of blind spots, and I hate, HATE backing up in it. I would never forgive myself if I had. As I drop them off, I tell them that I love them and to have a great day at school.
What is the real threat of ‘Backover deaths’ to children? According to the nonprofit organization Kids and Cars, a truly astonishing 44 percent of non-traffic fatalities of children under 15 were caused by backovers! - Much, much higher than I would have guessed. Here are their safety tips:
v	Before backing out of your driveway, check behind and under your vehicle.
v	Don’t rely on safety sensors to let you know if someone is behind you.
v	Turn off your radio so that you can listen v	Stop immediately if you suspect someone is behind you.
v	Teach children not to play near cars
And my own, instruct your children to never go near a moving vehicle.
In the article Kids and Driveway Safety, they recommend backing into your driveway and pulling out forward. Thus avoiding what they call the ‘bye bye syndrome’. A child will run out to say good-bye to a parent, and tragically be run over. 50 kids in the U.S. are backed over every week, 48 end up in the hospital, and 2 children are fatally injured.
After reading this, I am going to start backing into my own driveway. HAVE A TRULY WONDERFUL DAY AND DRIVE SAFELY.