Having a child in the house can heighten your attention to little things, but sometimes you get so used to something your brain may go on autopilot.
There are times when parents may forget to put up the lotion, causing kids to make a slippery mess around the house. Or times when a parent may forget to close the fridge and come to find all their groceries on their kitchen floor.
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Other things can be much more serious, such as leaving open the door to your home, enticing a young child to step outside out of curiosity, which can turn dangerous very quickly.
This very situation happened to one family in El Paso after their 1-year-old daughter wandered outside while her dad was attempting to leave the house. The father, tragically, ended up hitting the little girl in what’s known as a ’frontover’ accident.
The child was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
The organization Kids and Car Safety has compiled a list of tips for parents to take heed of when maneuvering a vehicle around small children.
- Children should always be directly and actively supervised any time a vehicle is being moved at the home and 100% of the time in or near parking lots.
- Always carry toddlers or use strollers or shopping carts in parking lots or near vehicles.
- Install childproof door knob covers on all outside doors of the home and pair them with stick-on door alarms so you know if a child is attempting to sneak out of the house.
“Children under age 5 are the most at-risk for both frontovers and backovers because they cannot be seen by the driver. Toddlers do not have the cognitive ability to understand danger and are quick to dart away from caregivers or sneak out of the home to say ‘bye-bye,’ a spokesperson with the organization said.
The organization also said that frontover deaths of children have grown significantly over the past decade as vehicle designs have changed and large trucks and SUVs have grown in popularity.
For more information, safety tips, charts, and statistics, visit KidsandCars.org.