Kentucky Injury Lawyer Blog

As the father of 3 year-old and 18 month-old boys and an injury attorney who sees the most tragic accidents, I have become obsessed with child safety. This obsession has only intensified since I began blogging regularly about the many ways people are injured by automobiles and unsafe products here in Kentucky.

I have undertaken to do a semi-regular series on child safety here on the blog. As the first post in this series, I would like to let Kentuckians know about a great resources on the web dedicated to eliminating non-traffic child auto injuries.

Here is the link: http://www.kidsandcars.org/ .

The most common ways kids are injured in non-traffic automobile-related accidents is driveway back-overs or by children being left in cars unattended.

According to Janette Fennell, Founder & President, KIDS AND CARS: “In the US fifty children are being backed over by vehicles EVERY week. Forty-eight are treated in hospital emergency rooms and at least two children are fatally injured every WEEK. These unthinkable tragedies are happening most often in the driveway of the child’s home and in 70% of the incidents the driver of the vehicle is their parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle or older sibling.”

Our first reaction when we hear about one of these tragic accidents is to think: "This happened because that parent is not as careful as I am. That couldn't happen to me." It's just human nature. However, the truth is these accidents happen to good, conscientious parents. And they are even more common in this era of large, high SUVs with much larger blind spots.

Even if you are the most safety conscious parent, we can all use a little refresher on how to maximize child driveway safety and prevent our children from being hurt in one of the most common child dangers that there is.

So, what can you do to protect your children?

Let's start with the more obvious: The first rule is to never leave small children unattended in your front yard.

If you have a fenced in back yard, this is the ideal location for your children to play if you are not with them at all times.

Children like to play with chalk, and ride their bikes on the smooth ground of the driveway. You can take your children bike riding somewhere safe, and set up areas in your backyard for fun chalk play.

One of your most important household rules if you have young children is that the front yard is a no-child zone when grown-ups aren’t around.

Here are some less obvious tips:

You can also take measures to block your driveway if children are in the front yard. Even using tools such as a trash bin can slow down vehicles that are coming in and out of your driveway.

Place the bin at the entrance to the driveway or behind any vehicles parked in the driveway.

This will ensure that cars moving in or out of the driveway will have to wait for the bin to be moved.

Again, this requires you to be in full attendance if your children are playing in the front yard, and again, this is your responsibility.

Finally: Try to be conscious at all times about how easy it is for a small child to sneak into a spot, such as behind your car, quickly and quietly. It happens inside the house all time, right? Always make absolutely certain where each of your children are before you put your car in reverse.

Also, if you have the means, parents of small children should opt for vehicles with a reverse sensor detector or camera. This is an inexpensive safety devise that will absolutely save a child from being backed over.