It’s enough to shake one’s faith. Preventable deaths of innocent children that destroy lives and (presumably) families. I don’t think I’m being overly dramatic in stating that had I been in any of those parent’s shoes, I seriously doubt if I could live with the guilt – It would probably end up eating me alive.
All parents know 2 things: Small children are a handful that you can’t keep an eye on every second of the day, and most accidents are completely avoidable.
I’d like to say I support the Cameron Gulbransen Kids and Cars Safety Act introduced by my (media savvy) Congressman, Peter King (R-Seaford); that would make video cameras on the backs of SUVs a requirement for the auto industry – but I don’t. I have a more common sense request to make of all parents (both those who drive SUVs and those who drive regular cars):
When you get home and are gonna pull into the driveway, do yourself a favor, check to make sure the coast is clear and back in instead.
Would my request eliminate all back-over accidents? No. But due to the fact you:[ul][li]Have better visability backing up an incline, [/li][li]Have your kids either indoors or in the car with you when you get home, [/li][li]Don’t have as many distractions or things on your mind, and[/li]Aren’t in as much of a rush…[/ul]It can’t hurt to consider it. Thanks. And please, be careful.
I agree that that extra look is worth the effort but I doubt the camera idea will fly. Maybe a “curb feeler” (infrared? lasar?) type thing would work. Heck, even my stereo can beep to remind me to do something with it.
I have kids and live in a heavily-populated-by-children area. I trained myself to walk around the back of my car before getting in. It adds an extra five seconds to my getaway and I figure that 5 seconds is not going to make a great difference in my arrival time anywhere.
Once I sat on the curb on my street and watched kids and traffic for a school paper. There was mostly never a car in the area and when there was a car, it was only in the area for a matter of seconds. Small kids just can’t internalize that relatively rare and brief danger.
If I was a house designer, I’d design houses so that you would have to pass behind the car to get in and out of the entry.
Just my rambling…