Clayton County Boy Run Over in Driveway-New Rules May Avert Future Tragedies
We have written recently in this blog about the dangers posed to small children by vehicles that are backing out of a driveway. A tragedy this week serves as a grim reminder of the serious risk posed to children by drivers backing out of driveways. A 10-year-old Clayton County boy was playing basketball when a car backing out of the driveway struck him. The boy was struck, driven through the garage door and pinned against the wall.
The 10-year-old boy suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to an Atlanta hospital. Driveway backup accidents like this one are all the more tragic because they could easily be prevented with minor safety modifications to vehicles. The U.S. Department of Transportation has proposed new safety regulations that may help prevent backup accidents in the future. At Montlick and Associates, Attorneys at Law, we have been representing backup accident victims for over 39 years.
Based on data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 292 fatalities and 18,000 injuries occur each year as a result of backing up accidents. The most common victims of this type of accident include children and the elderly. Approximately 44% of back up accident victims are children under five. The elderly are also common victims of this type of accident with 33% of backing up fatalities involving elderly people 70 years of age or older.
As in the Clayton County tragedy, backing up accidents frequently occur when a parent or caregiver is backing out of a driveway. The new proposed safety rule will help reduce the blind spots behind vehicles. The proposed rule would increase the required field of view for passenger cars, pickup trucks, minivans, buses and low-speed vehicles so that drivers can see directly behind the vehicle when the transmission is in reverse. The NHTSA anticipates this standard will lead carmakers to install rear mounted cameras. The requirement would be gradually phased in so that it would apply to all new vehicles by 2014.
While this change is an important step in preventing driveway backup accidents, the best defense is to be attentive and alert when backing out of your driveway. Anyone driving out of a driveway should know where his or her children are and check the rear of the vehicle before getting inside the car. If you or someone you love has been injured in a Georgia backup accident, contact Montlick and Associates, Attorneys at Law, to learn how we can help you seek compensation for your injuries. Our experienced Georgia car accident attorneys are available to assist clients throughout all of Georgia, including but not limited to Albany, Athens, Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Dalton, Gainesville, Macon, Marietta, Rome, Roswell, Savannah, Smyrna, Valdosta, Warner Robins and all smaller cities and rural areas in the state. Call us today for your free consultation at 1-800-LAW-NEED (1-800-529-6333) or visit us on the web at www.montlick.com. No matter where you are in Georgia, we are just a phone call away, and we will even come to you.