Summer Driveway Safety

At Trinity Massage and Wellness children’s issues are very near and dear to us. This is why we would like to bring attention to a very important safety issue. It is a year round concern, but especially during the summer here in Washington, due to most of our nice weather is packed into a few short months.

Most people are very aware of car dangers to children. We are horrified at the thought of a child being trapped in a trunk or left in a vehicle unattended for any reason, especially a hot car. What most people don’t realize is that an average of 50 children a WEEK are backed over and killed, or left with severe and permanent brain injuries by a vehicle in their own driveway. It is the 2nd leading killer of children playing at home. MORE THAN 30% of deaths by children and a motor vehicle are caused by the backing over of a child. To make the statistics even more tragic, 75% of these accidents are caused by the parent of the child.

The death of singer Steven Curtis Chapman’s 5 year old daughter by their teenage son in 2008 brought some light to this issue as well as vehicle manufacturers installing back up cameras on newer model vans and SUV’s.

Our own family suffered this horrific tragedy. My cousin’s wife backed over and killed their 2 year old son. Sadly, she thought that he was in the house with his Grandma as she left for work that day. They think he must have came out to say goodbye one more time, and she was not aware until she stopped to see what she had hit that he had followed her out. This is the most unimaginable thing any parent will ever have to face. There was no neglect, no recklessness, just a terrible accident that happened to loving capable parents and a watchful grandparent.

Please make sure you have driveway safety rules in place at your house, and that of family and neighbors. All children should know the rules about when a car is moving or running. Like all other safety rules, children need to be told over and over, and you should never assume they will remember.

At our house the rule is that all kids must be on the porch, in plain sight of the driver. We check around all the cars and announce that a car is moving or leaving. When it is possible, we back our cars into the driveway to make visibility easier when leaving again. These are simple but important rules and we hope you are able to implement them and others that work for your home and family as well. We know this is a hard issue to hear about, but one that is so easy to prevent. Everyone at Trinity Massage and Wellness wishes you a very fun, safe, and sunny summer!