A 2-year-old girl was immediately rushed to the hospital after she had been run over by a car. The twist? Her 7-year-old sister was the one driving.
"This was 100 percent preventable"
A mother called the police in Salem, Massachusetts to report that her daughter had been run over by a car.
The mother said that she let her 7-year-old daughter start their Ford Focus, and somehow she ran over her sister. The police said that they don't think this was the first time that the mother allowed her daughter to start the car.
Salem Police Captain Joel Dolan adds, “What makes this even more frightening is that this was 100 percent preventable.”
According to the police, the 7-year-old started the car, and then apparently shifted the car in reverse. It then hit and ran over her sister who suffered injuries to her legs, chin, scalp, rib cage, as well as her upper arm.
According to Liana Gallagher, who saw the incident, “I saw the baby trying to open the door and it wasn’t opening so she was going behind the car and the car was going back and it hit her and she got hurt really bad.”
Salem Police are thinking of filing child endangerment charges against the mother because of what happened.
Safety starts at home
According to studies, injuries caused by motor vehicles are the number one cause of death among children in the United States. Sadly, most of these deaths can easily be prevented.
Here are some things to keep in mind when it comes to keeping your kids safe in and around vehicles:
- Use child seats for children up until they are 4 years of age.
- For children aged 13 years and below, make sure to seat them at the back seats for safety
- Make sure to use the proper car seats that are appropriate to your child's age and size
- If your car has a child lock feature, it's best to make sure to engage those so that your child won't accidentally open the doors from the inside
- Never leave your child unattended inside your car. If you have to go on an errand, it's best to bring your child with you and not leave them alone in the car.
- If you're backing out of a driveway or a parking lot, make sure to have full view of any children in the area. Younger kids have a higher risk of being run over by a backing car, since it's hard to see them when they're near your vehicle. This is very true if you're driving a pick-up truck, or an SUV.
Sources: CDC, Parent Herald, CBS, IIHS
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