4x4 safety - reverse parking

Hi V8 ,

As Chrispy pointed out in the last post , Phil Kearns was driving forwards into his drive when the accident occurrred . His vision would have been even worse had he been backing , especially because the driveway sloped down after crossing the footpath .

I actually think that in this case , by the look of it when he crossed the footpath , he could not have seen anything over the bonnet in front of the car for some way before the back wheels actually got onto the slope and levelled out the car ( levelled it to the driveway not the horizon )
Anyway , he is a great guy and it's a bloody shame for him , his baby and his family .

I have exactly the same sort of driveway , so I know what it,s like .

I do not agree with you that backing into a driveway is safer . Going in forwards gives you better vision going in - at a time when you do not know where your kids are or where they might crawl out from . At least when you are leaving you can have done a check , so it would make sense then to use the more dangerouse option then .

Cheers ,

Willie .

I think the Poron reversing camera and monitor is the cheapest of the options Porl. Member John (Vic) kindly organised a group purchase direct from the manufacturer recently.

PBob

From what I know, the vehicle involved in that accident (VW) had parking sensors. Whether they pick up toddlers or not, is in this case irrelevent as the vehicle (as reported by the ABC) was driving forward at the time.

R.

Hello Robak,
A guy I work with has a VW Touareg, base model 5cyl Turbo Diesel. His has parking sensors front and rear.
They look ahead and behind, not down. Seem to work Ok on cars, posts and gutters.
Technically very advanced car the Touareg.

See, VW Touareg

Geoff.

I guess there's nothing that beats inspecting the car all around AND underneath as the height of most 4WD's allows kids to crawl and play there.

Yep.. The touareg is a nice car. Perhaps if I work really hard, I might be able to afford the 2005 model in about 15 years.
Just dreaming.....

R.

There is a lot of road abuse by pedestrians and cyclists that goes unreported, but results in injury and death.

Many cyclists do not accept they are in charge of a vehicle and must obey the road regulations.

Cyclists and pedestrians are on roads intoxicated.

Many pedestriand cross in dangerous situations, jay walk etc etc.

For convenience and cheap 'news'. the media labels groups, issues and so on for a bit of regular abuse whn time and columns need to be filled. Have a look at the media labelling of students, young people unemployed, pensioners etc etc.

What I'm saying is that it is just crappy journalism by a cynical media.

I believe the onus is on the driver no matter what vehicle is being driven. My 2 kids have survived my years of driving and my 2 grandkids as well. My whole family have been indoctrinated into a few simple steps:
1. If the kids are coming with us they are the first things that are strapped into the car
2. If they're not coming with us we know exactly where they are, if they insist on coming outside to wave goodbye (as kids are wont to do) then they stand on the front steps where they can be seen at all times and are supervised by an adult
3. Before I enter the vehicle I approach it from the direction I will be travelling (ie if I'm going to reverse I walk around the back of the car to get into it).
Unfortunately kids are kids and there's always a possibility that something will go wrong but I think if every precaution is taken then the accidents would be very far and few between.
One thing on Phil Kearns accident is I wonder how much worse his baby would have been had he been driving a much lower vehicle than the Toureg. A 4wd has much better ground clearance and therefore instead of crushing a toddler under the sump etc I believe the child would more likely to be dragged or rolled. If the tyres go over a toddler then I doubt the type of vehicle being driven would make no difference.
If nothing else at least this accident might raise the awareness of all vehicle drivers to take just a little bit more attention, kids are too precious to lose
Peter