Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer - Kids and Cars

Police Report On Little Girl Left In Vehicle To Die

Eddie Farah — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 16:15:38 GMT

The St. Johns County Sheriff’s department is releasing details about what happened to a one-year-old who was left inside a car to die. On Sunday, June 14, Arianna Long was left in the automobile after her father dropped the mother off at work. It was very early in the morning.

Arianna was in her car seat in the back and her father assumed she was with relatives. Long remained for several hours inside the car, parked outside her St. Augustine home. When she was finally found, she was not breathing. The little girl later died at Flagler Hospital.

The police report says a relative, who was looking for Arianna Sunday morning, saw the car with the engine running and the baby in the back. The keys were in the ignition and the car was locked.

Our hearts go out to the family of Arianna and to the little girl.

Why the car was running is still a mystery. If it was running, why was there no air conditioning? Why were the keys locked inside the car?

Under Florida law, it is illegal to leave a child unattended or unsupervised in a motor vehicle for any longer than 15 minutes. That’s enough time to pull up to a store and grab a bottle of water or get some gasoline. The state can take custody of any child left longer than that.

“Death by hyperthermia” kills 15 to 25 children each year and leaving a child in a car is easier to do than you think. It can happen to anyone, and has. Read this excellent story in the Washington Post on inattentive parents - “Fatal Distraction”.

The consumer organization, Kids and Cars reminds us that there are several things we can do to remind us about kids in the back. First, put something you'll need like your cell phone, handbag, your employee badge, lunch or brief case, etc., on the floor board in the back seat.

Secondly, place a large teddy bear in the child seat when it is not occupied, and move it to the front when it is. Get into the habit of opening the back door of your vehicle every time you reach your destination to make sure no child has been left behind.

And have your child’s day care provider call if the child does not show up on schedule. Provide them with a complete list of names and numbers.

And lastly, as someone who walks through a parking lot, make it a habit to look in the rear seat and be prepared to take action, even if it means breaking out glass, to retrieve a child. You may save a life. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Toddler Run Over In Driveway - A Too Common Occurance

Eddie Farah — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 00:43:00 GMT

We’ve heard these stories before, too many times. This time a 2-year-old riding his tricycle in a driveway was run over in a driveway.

The Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office says the little boy, Sergio Martinez, was riding his tricycle, not in the street, when Rangel Rauda driving a Ford Explorer ran him over. Rauda says she didn’t see the toddler because a parked car was in her way. Little Martinez later died in the hospital. Rauda may be charged.

In Northwest Washington, a 16-month-old boy is fatally hit by his father’s SUV. The mother was putting things in the trunk of her car. That’s how long the toddler had to wander away from her and into the SUV’s path.

In North Carolina last December, a 19-month-old girl was accidentally crushed to death by the family’s SUV. Singer Steven Curtis Chapman told People Magazine about the death in his family when a teenage son ran over his five-year-old adopted sister.

Almost weekly, the tragedy of a toddler killed by an SUV is reported. Most of the time it is a family tragedy that they never get over – that’s because it’s a family member behind the wheel.

Janette Fennell of the group Kids and Cars says “In the US fifty children are being backed over by vehicles EVERY week. 48 are treated in hospital emergency rooms and at least two children are fatally injured every WEEK.”

She told a Maine television audience, ”What makes this so tragic is that in 70 percent of these cases, it is a direct relative of that child who backs over and kills them.”

There is a blind zone behind SUVs that can extend more than 20 feet. This television report out of Maine proved that you cannot see anything behind the bumper to that distance.

Kids and Cars estimates nearly 500 children have been run over and killed in the last five years. That’s about half of the non-traffic fatalities among children. And Fennell believes the numbers may be even higher.

Kids and Cars advocates a rear-visibility standard so that drivers can see what’s behind them all the way up to the bumpers. Some cars are already equipped with back-up cameras to improve rear visibility. Do-it-yourself kits options are available for about $400.

Parking assist is an audible tone that lets a driver know if he is nearing an object or a child behind the car.

The best defense it to walk around the car. Never assume that you have a clear way. There is too much at stake. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah