Child under my vehicle

What a sobering experience. Thank God you looked. Even htough I have the reversing sensors, they would not have picked up a child UNDER the vehicle. I must get into habit of taking more notice.

I see the bumper stickers that say "Magic Happens".

I'm no witch or worlock and my Mrs. does not have a couldren but ... Magic does happen indeed.

You are a good bloke and maybe because of that, someone 'up there' looks after you.

Stuff like this happens, and because of it ... I don't jump off the balcony.

Thanks for sharing it with me.

James aka iMusty.

Skinny, I dont believe that anything happens by chance! Live with the thought that it was meant to be your car that little girl looked under and not a run-off-her feet, busy, deadline mum who wouldnt have thought to look.

Who knows maybe she will grow up and cure cancer or find a cure for Harold Scuby??

Matt

Thanks guys for the support, refreshing in modern times. I guess there are a few reasons I posted it...but I still wonder why I was lost for words. Those who know me know that that is a rare thing.Still don't know if I should have handled it differently.

Skinny

Hi there Skinny, mate you are so lucky you took the time to look not to mention the little girl,that's what annoys me so much when people carry on about 4wds in shopping centers, why wasn't the mother holding the little girls hand until she was in there vehicle.The same thing happened to me only it was in my own driveway,I was about to reverse out of my carport which is directly next to my garage,I walked through the gates from under my pergola which are in front of my hilux and jumped in when I thought I should put the rubbish out so I dont have to do it when I get home in the dark,I jumped back out my hilux back through the gates grabbed the bin from out the back and because the hilux was still parked in the carport with virtually no room to get the bin through I took it through the garage instead (both garage and carport back on to my pergola) opened the electric door and took the bin down to the front gutter on turning around to walk back up to the hilux here is my neighbours little girl 2 an a half 3 years old sitting under the rear step bar of my hilux out of the sun playing with her dress up doll.I went straight over to my neighbours without saying any thing to the girl and asked her mother to come outside for a minute i took her and showed her where her daughter was.You know what she said, oh isn't she cute, can you believe that. I then let her have it and her reply was you should always check before you reverse out. I saw red and asked her why was a little girl that age outside by herself anyway Oh she can let her self out. I was quite upset that night when I told my wife as I don't know how I would have dealt with it if I had ran over her it would have been a case of ANOTHER 4WD IN SURBURBIA RUNS OVER CHILD. Now I always go through the garage to get in my hilux. I'd rather be sure than have to deal with that. And by the way my wife's vx commodore is harder to see out of than my hilux. Take Care Vitara

Bloody scarey guys.
I have always tried to ensure that I look around my vehicles before getting in, mostly to check that a tyre has not gone down during the night, but I guess reading these posts its a good habit for other reasons.

Thankfully in both of the above posts it worked out OK, but as pointed out in each situation more diligence on behalf of the parents would have gone a long way to preventing the situation in the first place.

Hello Skinny,
So glad you looked, very sobering indeed.

I work on quite a few different mine sites in the Hunter Valley of NSW.
They have a vehicle parking policy that states, "All vehicles must be parked such that they are driven out of the parking area's in a forward direction" or words to that effect.
That means, when you arrive at a parking space in any vehicle size or type on the mine and reverse may be needed, you reverse into the parking space and come out forward. Theory is you've had a darn good look around the area upon arrival and know it's safe to reverse into the space. When you leave, it's easier to scan forward than backwards.
Never thought much about it really, but I've been doing that a lot outside the mines too. Now I know it's useful.

Thanks for that,
Geoff.

Skinny well done and good on you, also, well done for not standing there and berating the mum. I suppose, as a mother of two, active and bloody fast kids I can sympathise with her. My son has a habit of getting away from me, and nothing makes your heart sink faster as when it does for that moment when you don't know where they are. For those who read this and think "what was the mother doing? etc," - busy with the other child most probably, she didn't have to be in a hurry, she just was busy, and unfortunately when you're pulled in two directions it's bloody hard to be omnipresent; however, that does not excuse the fact that the child was under the car. I bet, when she left, in a hurry as you say, she was having a few words with her children, as that seems to be the way - do I sound like I'm talking from experience? - damn right I am, and that doesn't excuse me either!

Luckily for this child, and this family, Skinny had the foresight to look around his car before he pulled away, perhaps above all that's been written and comented on, the thing that we should all take away from this, is that we should all be more aware of what is going on around us, hopefully that busy mum may also stop for a minute and realise just how lucky her family is .

Well done Skinny, here's hoping that busy mum slows down a tad, I know this busy mum has realised that.

cheers

Lyn

Gday mate,

Good to post things like this...it's easy to get into a habit of jumping in the truck, rushing around etc. I cannot imagine the guilt you would feel if you ran over a child. Good post mate.

Cheers

Chris.

Your post certainly provokes soome thought Skinny. As some of the other posts have said I think it is best to drive forward wherever it is possible but by no means foolproof.

I have been reversing into carparks for many years for this very reason. Most people do not understand until I explain the rationale to them and it instantly makes sense. This should be somehthing that is discussed in driver training and testing.

The fresher your view of the area you are reversing into the more comfortable you feel that it has no kids or poles or other traps. When I get into my car it takes some time (even if not a lot) before I start heading backwards. If I have to reverse I always have a lump in my throat and I will do anything not to reverse where I know there could be kids around. Driving forward over the kerb raises eyebrows but if its my safest option I will take it.

Mind you a recent incident in the media involved a car starting forward from a stop in a school.

I dont agree with shifting all of the blame via the kid to their parent/gaurdian. The driver is ultimately responsible for where the car goes. Kids are definately not the blame at that age and people are unreliable supervisors despite their best (or otherwise) efforts. Nothing is foolproof and sometimes all of the holes align and a tragic incident happens. You can only do your best and double check.

JamieMac

lucky you...or should i say ...we should all be so alert...
and the mother deserved an earfull for not keeping her little girl's well being safe....it may not have been a vehicle that could have put her in danger...rather, something more sinister it could have been....in this case it was neither thank god

sure will make me look in future. How many people would think to actually look though? Drivers certainly should be responsible for their actions, but I'm sorry, I think a lot of mums have a lot to answer for. Who isn't busy? As a tradesman who is often around or passing schools whilst on house calls, it's bloody frightening to see the way some of them carry on. As somebody said before, hold their bloody hand until it's safe. I have two youngsters so I know it only takes a split second and they're off, but it's their parent's job to make sure they can't. This "busy" crap is what annoys me. Half of em can't wait to join their mates in the cappucino shop. I know that's not true of all, of course, but believe me, it's the mums that I make appointments with and half of them are "busy" entertaining themselves but it's not PC to have a go at mums who should be doing their jobs properly. To be honest I never realised why we had reverse angle parking until now. Bit of a rant at mums (or dad if he happens to be in charge) but nobody on Tv or talkback radio will hammer the message home. Those two posts should be broadcast on national TV. I know in the UK they have a lot of road/traffic awareness advertising. having scenes like those two near misses advertised at peak viewing times would do wonders for awareness.

"I still don't know what I should have said"

A mouth full of abuse would have been a good start, letting her know how close you came to turning little Buttercup into little Splat, and the fact she probably doesnt give ableep, but you would have had to live with that for the rest of your life if things would have evolved for the worse...

The fact she jumped in a 4B doesnt make any difference.

Outside our primary school they changed the side street parking to rear to kerb. Now everybody has to reverse park.

Most parents are parked before the school bell rings for the kids at the end of the day, so there are no kids in the way.

Then when kids are everywhere you are driving out in a forward direction and can see whats happening.

My boys are 9 and nearly 11 but they still hold my hand when crossing the road. They just accept it because it is the way it has always been.

I also test them regularly when crossing to see if they are watching and not just relying on me. You cannot be there for your kids all the time, you can only show them the right direction.

I'm glad you looked Skinny. Thanks on behalf of the unknown parent.

Wendy

Skinny and vitara.....thanks for giving us all a wakeup call.....we all have our part to play in making sure that our aussie kids all get the chance to grow up and what ever it was that made you both look I AM SO GLAD YOU BOTH DID!!!!
regards Phil

Alot to be said for 35 inch muddies, 6 inch lifts. Kid could be under your car and not even get hurt! Maybe we should use this example to legalise huge lifts!

D-Jack

p.s. just joking. Good to hear of your fortune. Got a 12 month old girl and one on the way in 2 months - will keep an even closer eye on them when around cars/trucks