Father Accidentally Hits And Kills Son With Hummer

[Kadie]

Jul 27, 2006 9:46 am US/Pacific

Father Accidentally Hits And Kills Son With Hummer

(CBS 13) ELK GROVE A 2-year-old boy from Elk Grove has died after what police are saying appears to be a tragic accident.

Police say the 2-year-old boy was accidentally hit and run over as his father parked his Hummer in the driveway of their home on Capote Way this morning.

snip...
Unfortunately, accidents like this are all too common. According the website Kids and Cars, since 2001 more than 400 children under the age of 15 have been killed in accidents where they were backed over. In fact, the website says that nearly half of all non-traffic, non-crash fatalities involving children are caused by kids being backed over.

The Kids and Cars website not only tracks non-traffic accidents that kill or injure kids, it has information on technology to keeps kids safe, tracks legislation aimed at making cars safer for kids and educational tools for parents and kids about car safety.


http://cbs13.com/topstories/local_story_208125956.html


www.kidsandcars.org

[EFerrari]

1. Oh fuck.

What is the MATTER with people. :cry:

[rfranklin]

3. But..giant SUVs are so much safer !

Why, if anybody gets in your way, you can crush them with your superior size!

[Phillycat]

Gee, I wonder if it's because those vehicles are so enormous

they can't see the kid??

[Kadie]

8. according to the kids and cars web site

Over 60% of backing up incidents involved a larger size vehicle. (truck, van, SUV)

[Swamp Rat]

2. This is the kind of news that will bother me all day long

:cry:

[Kadie]

Sorry Swamp Rat.

This seems to be a problem that is becoming more common. Maybe if it is discussed more, something could be done to prevent some of these accidents. Maybe if it stays fresh in peoples minds they will take an extra moment and check around their vehicle before moving it.

I will have a hard time getting this off my mind today too.

:hug:

[Ron Green]

4. Huge "Pigmobiles" have a real problem with blind spots.

Large SUV's are more often involved in backing over people and objects that the driver can't see; at least I've read information to that effect.

This is very sad.

[soleft]

5. I saw a disgusting commercial last night

A woman gets dissed by another mother in the playground, so it's fast cuts of her frantically and compulsively going to the Hummer dealer, writing a big check and driving away happily.

It scares me to think there are people out there that would appeal to.

[Kadie]

11. I watched that commercial too.

It made me very mad, as a mom and as a woman.

Give me a break. What kind of message is this sending to our kids.

[TahitiNut]

12. Yep. "Get Your Woman On" (detestable)

There's an "equal opportunity" commercial about "Feel Like A Man Again" ... showing some guy embarassed by buying tofu and healthy foods while the guy behind him in the checkout lane was buying a pile of beef and ribs. So, he goes out and buys a Hummer. Unfreakingbelievable. The ad mavens have truly gone f#cking insane.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

20. I despise

that commercial. And I seriously doubt there is a tofu eater anywhere on God's Green Earth who drives a Hummer. I really do.

[RamboLiberal]

13. I with you on that disgusting commercial

it's counterpart for the guys is some small-penis idiot in supermarket line behind some guy with tofu - yeah let's diss those "tofu eating latte drinking bad liberals".

I'm seeing fewer of those small-penis & boob job bleached blondes compensation vehicles on the highway since gas went to over 2.75.

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. Yes I saw that commercial too

You are right - it IS disgusting.

[AndyA]

6. That is so sad. The Father must be devastated.

I hate those friggin' Hummers. They are too big to operate on many streets because they are too wide for the lanes, they don't fit in parking spaces, you can't see around them, and they are unnecessary.

[TahitiNut]

7. Gee ... good thing the Hummer wasn't damaged, huh?

I guess "feeling like a man" and having a vehicle that get's the best out of hitting anything sure was worth it. Who cares about visibility? I think the King Of The Road might think again about such choices. He sure doesn't deserve the grief, but his son deserved it even less. Tragic.

"Over 60% of backing up incidents involved a larger size vehicle. (truck, van, SUV)
Tragically, in over 70% of these incidents, a parent or close relative is behind the wheel. "
http://www.kidsandcars.org/

[galileo3000]

9. Tragedy

May the survivors find the strength to forgive themselves and those who may relish in their misfortune. Wishing the family and friends of this little one Peace and Courage. My love and strength to all who are affected by this story. One mile I run tonight will be for you as well.

- Galileo

[KamaAina]

10. It's Ahh-nuld's fault!

Seriously. Supposedly Ahh-nuld is the one who suggested marketing a civilian version of the Humvee.

And now Californians are dying because of them.

Reason #24,673 to vote Angelides.

[Bretttido]

19. Wasn't he one of the first people to be driving a Hummer around?

I remember 10 years ago when I lived in California, I heard that he had some god-awful large vehicle that he would drive on the freeways. It was either a hummer or an actual military vehicle, I don't remember the specifics. His super-star status at the time coupled with him promoting the idea of driving an over-sized vehicle was a catalyst for the SUV-era.

[MadHound]

15. Another problem with large SUVs etc.

Massive blind spots, and the vehicle comes with inadequate compensation for those blind spots. I used to drive school buses, both the short and long bus. Enormous blind spots, but there were plenty of mirrors, front and back, that one could compensate. Same is true for any commercial truck or van, in fact many of them have had cameras in the back for years now.

However on SUVs like the Hummer, all you have is the interior rear view mirror and the two side mirrors. A *few* offer a rear camera as optional equipment, but not many. Thus you have a huge vehicle that you can't see out of very well, and thus tragedies like this occur much more frequently in these super huge vehicles. Sure, but they're "safer":eyes:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

16. We drive a Nissan Armada

because we have a farm and haul a tractor around. We have both a sound that beeps if there is something behind us when we back up, and also a closed circuit video of the back. We have grandchildren and my husband is really scared of that blind spot.

My heart goes out to them. Losing a child is life's most painful experience.

[MadHound]

18. Good on you, you are a responsible SUV owner

And you actually use the vehicle for its intended purpose, work. However most SUV owners aren't as responsible as you are, and the only thing they use their vehicle for is to move themselves back and forth to work. Burns me no end.

Coming from a rural area, having ridden in PU trucks all my life, I have never ever gotten this craze for SUVs and PU trucks as commuter vehicles. As much as you dress them up, as many cup holders you put in the damn thing, it is still what it is, a glorified truck. It rides like a truck, it sucks gas like a truck, it is just a non-maneuverable as a truck, you can't see out of it like a truck, and it rolls over just like a truck. Twenty years ago if you would have told me that we would go through this crazed truck insanity, I would have laughed. Now I just shake my head in wonderment at peoples' stupidity.

[REP]

17. Too Bad He Was Too Cheap To Get The Rear-View Camera

This is so common it has a name: "bye-bye syndrome" from children running out to say goodbye and getting backed over because they can't be seen. First, parents need to teach their children what my parents taught me: never, ever stand behind a car under any circumstances, ever and second, if they're going to get an SUV, shell out the extra cash for the rear-view camera. We have one on our FX, and we don't even have children (but there are stray cats in the area). If they can't afford the optional camera, they can't afford the SUV.