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Toddler backed over: driver or car makers to blame?

On Behalf of | Mar 2, 2012 | Car Accidents |

When a driver gets behind the wheel and is backing out of a garage or parking spot, most know they need to look behind them to see if any other cars or people are in the way. Sadly, children can often times go unnoticed, which appears to be the case in a recent Houston car accident.

A toddler is now in the hospital with what are described in differing reports as very serious and life-threatening injuries. According to police, the girl was in the parking lot of an apartment complex near the intersection of Bissonnet and Rampart streets in Houston when a woman who was leaving for work backed over the child.

The woman is cooperating with police, and it is being treated as an accident, meaning police do not expect to file any charges. The woman voluntarily took a blood test, but alcohol use is not suspected.

The accident is another example of what some lawmakers in Washington, D.C., describe as a serious problem. Some members of Congress are calling for all new cars to have rearview video cameras installed by 2014, but that is unlikely to happen because automakers have complained that the technology is too expensive.

It is not known what type of vehicle the woman was driving, but if it was a pickup truck or SUV, there is a good chance that she had more of a blind spot than in a normal car.

But for now cars don’t have to have cameras, and drivers have to realize that they need to check more thoroughly before backing out of a parking spot. Even though this incident is being ruled an accident, does that mean the woman should escape any consequences?

Source: KTRK 13, “Toddler hit by car in southwest Houston,” Christine Dobbyn, March 1, 2012

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