POLICE have urged parents to be vigilant when driving near young children following the death of a toddler yesterday after he was run over by the family car, the third such case in a week.
The three-year-old boy died after his mother accidentally reversed the family’s BMW 4WD over him at their home in Rushcutters Bay, in Sydney’s east, yesterday.
The tragedy came within a week of two similar accidents.
A two-year-old girl died on Sydney’s north shore last Thursday when her father backed a 4WD over her in the driveway of their Lindfield home. And earlier this week a two-year-old boy died when his mother reportedly hit the accelerator rather than the brakes at the family home in Sorrento, on Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula.
NSW Superintendent Sue Waites yesterday urged parents to take extra care when driving or parking near children.
“My message to parents is please know where your children are when you’re reversing your car. Look around the vehicle, put your children in the vehicle with you or put your children inside the house or in the care of a person,” she said.
The car involved in yesterday’s fatality did not have a reverse camera, but Superintendent Waites denied that either larger 4WDs or the lack of a reverse camera contributed to the deaths.
She said a three-year-old would be “hard to see from any car”.
“Cameras can also give a sense of false security, so you need to know where your children are at all times.”
In yesterday’s incident, police said the two boys were playing with a ball with their father outside the family’s Rushcutters Bay apartment about 10.45am when their mother accidentally reversed over the younger one.
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