Toddler Killed.

Nothin' to wonder about; of course they would have been different :-(((

Hi Cruiser.
Well it is very sad when this happens,& now with the induction of rear cameras I believe it should be standard for all new vehicles including all trucks to have them install, and all second hand vehicles to have one before registration can be transferred,all others to have them installed with in 2 years.

If this saves one toddler a year this is great.
All so they are great to back in to parking spaces when you can't fully see behind
I am trying to buy one on the net, As my son has a new Landcruiser & he has one fitted standard & has know fitted to his two other vehicles , as he has one 6 year old boy , one 3 year old girl.
He said as all parents would ,Its a small price to pay for your children's safety or others.

whilst a reversing camera would be a great idea, i think if we are going to rely on that to save a childs life, then we are leaving it a bit late. the comera will only cover the rear of the vehicle.

if the child had walked into the side of the vehicle, then the camera would be of no use.

there is a need to ask why the child was there in the first place, i have 5 children aged from 25 to 12 and can assure you that i never let my defences down.

it is sad, and unfortunately there is a mindset that if we can blame someone other than ourselves, then we will do so.

however i believe that there was a recent case in Brisbane where 3 small children were playing on the railway line, and tragically killed.

the magistrate stated that the parents had failed in their responsibility.

harsh words, but it needs to be said.

Bookmark the article and email the paper back next time "one of dem killer four wheel drives" backs over a child and ask them why the editorial attitude is so different.

You could also remind them that both vehicles had a driver behind the wheel and without those drivers, neither accident would have happened.

Then you could get on to the supervision of children around large moving vehicles.....and so on.

Plenty of cannon-fodder to throw back at them if you put your mind to it...

I nearly fell over at work the other week!
Work colleague grumbled that he was delayed on way home due to an accident where in an "expletive" 4WD picked on a small car.
Upon further quizzing he admitted that the small car had re-ended the 4WD and had fully crumpled the front crumple zone with 4WD OK!
He couldn't quite understand my totally sarcastic response about his attitude!
Cheers - Mobi

The only problem i see with this is where are the parents? I know if I had a delivery truck in my driveway, or whenever I am reversing in or out ofthe driveway, the kids are in the car, or in the house. Kids and toddlers do not understand to move out of the way if a car is moving towards them.
I do feel for the parents and the driver of the truck.
But my kids are my responsibility and it is my job to keep them safe, and if it means they have to watch a truck through the lounge room window, I would rather them do that knowing they will be here to wake up in the morning

It is obviously tragic when something like this happens. But in response to 4wd bashing, yes many people have antagonistic views about them but, often it's a load of crap but sometimes it's justified.

Last figures I read state that 80% of new 4wd's will never leave the suburbs for the whole life of the vehicle! You have to ask yourself why these people need them. Often the answer is to feel safer in a bigger car than others. They are mostly a status symbol, nothing more. That's exactly the reason many people hate them.

Users of this site probably don't fall into this category, but how many Cruisers, Prados, Pajeros and Landies are on city streets without one stone chip in the paint work?

Barnesy

As others have said, a most tragic "accident". I put accident in commas because I firmly believe there is no such thing. Every event has a cause.

Anyway, the idea of forcing the installation of reversing cameras on vehicles is another typical political "quick fix" which passes the buck of responsiblity. "There you go" say the pollies. "we have passed a law. Problem fixed" If only it was that easy!
Why not just ban drivers from reversing or have a red flag carrying watcher in front or behind.
There guarantee that installing cameras wil prevent such events. What if the camera fails? or the driver happens to look away at a critical moment?. What about blind spots.
We all have reversing mirrors! And dont they have large blind spots.

It is the responsibility of drivers to be aware of whats around them and the responsibility of parents to keep their kids safe.
And obvioulsy regardless of media and activists hype these eevents can occur with any vehicle not just 4wds.
And as to why "need" 4wds in urban use. Well,. I have one and dont go bush bashing very often. I bought mine because I felt it was good value for the money, with longevity compared to a sedan or wagon of the same price, more rugged construction, simple engineering(no fancy injection or computer), longer engine life than a high revving engine and towing capacity to suit any task.
Anyway, why should I have to justify my purchase of a legally available item to anyone except myself.

If 4WDs are OUT of place in the city then that same argument applies to trucks. I feel intimidated by large B-doubles and semis boring alongside my little Patrol and I worry about wether they are going to run me off the road.
I dont see a media frenzy about trucks not being suitable in urban streets and should only be used on highways.

Where does this sort of silly comparison stop. Everyone drives/rides a vehicle of their own choice. Its how they are driven/ridden that makes the difference.

I have personal experience with these cases through my work.

#1 These events are so tragic, that the majority of them do not make the media - its just too hard on the parents who have enough problems living with this for the rest of their lives
#2 In many cases, its the parent who runs over the child
#3 In most cases, its a 2wd, rather than a 4wd - its well documented that rearward visibility is poor on most modern vehicles.

I don't believe that 4wds get unfairly singled out here. I use both rear camera and audible warnings on my truck.

Hi all,
I have mixed feelings with this topic, I have children and strongly believe that it is the parents responsibility as many have preveously said. I own both a 4wd and a clubsport, I believe that 4WD are wrongfully targeted by many ppl. however i do believe they are extremly dangerous when driven by the wrong ppl. I resently had an accident in my clubsport because a 4wd driver was driving dangerously and over took me on the lefthand side one a single lane road, then once he got in front of me he locked up his car using engin breaking and his hand break. I couldnt stop cause $6000.00 damage to my vehicle and none to his. its ppl like him that give 4wds a bad reputation and ppl like him shouldnt be able to drive them.
cheers