Going backwards

Or do what I do, back into your driveway after looking to see if it's clear. I live by a school and drive an f150 which a small child can hide behind easily. I never back out of my driveway.

I always walk around my car and look up and down the street to see if there is any potential obstacle coming. I don't like getting used to relying on something that could fail.

This is passing the blame for something they did onto others.

Or they could just outlaw reverse gear. /sarc off

You'd think parents would just buy a reverse camera themselves, then, if they can't (either from being lazy, being injured, or having a car with simply bad rear visibility) look behind them very well.

But evidently they must be forced to? Even on cars with excellent visibility? Because Of The Children?

(I mean, my non-daily-driver is a long-bed, extended cab F-250.

I had a reverse camera put on it because otherwise it's almost completely un-manageable ... especially with the canopy-covered bed completely full of gear.

But then, I'm a reasonable person, not a lackwit.)

Out of curiosity I visited a few sites in regards to children back over incidents. Many had tips on how to reduce such incidents, but not one recommended backing into your driveway. How can your children be hurt when they're in the vehicle with you?

These people killed their kids because they are stupid. How do you legislate to prevent stupid. Michael Jackson shopped for doctors who would feed his drug habit but karma intervened. Instead of blaming the junkie himself, the family is suing someone who hired him. Isn't anyone responsible for anything anymore??

allan s, very sound advice. I do the same thing. I back into EVERY parking spot. It's actually easier to do.

This is stupid on so many levels, I don't know where to start.

If you're not sure where your small children and dogs are STOP the car, put it in park and get out to look! If they aren't smart enough to stay out of your way put them in the house or the car. That's common sense. So is backing into your driveway. As a matter of law, in Ontario if you back out of your driveway and an accident occurs you're at fault.

I recently assisted my neighbour when he installed a backup camera in his wife's Rendezvous. Took two semi-trained idiots an hour at most, and half of that was spent swatting mosquitoes. I think he paid $150 for the kit. I'm sure you can go to any car stereo shop and have one installed while you wait.

People backing into parking spots in parking lots are a real pain. Those doing it in parkades are real special tools. Yes, I have nothing better to do than to sit and watch you backup. Then they wonder, "how do I get stuff into my trunk?"

The car makers should be forced to make it easier for pediatricians to run over themselves.

I've got a Prius. In parking lots it is running on battery, therefore very quiet or silent.

It has an annoying beeping alarm when in reverse. I nearly didn't disable it. It made sense to me that my silent car give an audible warning when in reverse, like trucks do.

BUT shortly after getting the car, I was standing in the garage, while my dh backed in (as responsible drivers we back into parking spaces or drive through as much as possible despite having a rear camera when in reverse.) The car was silent. I asked him if the alarm was going. It was. INSIDE THE FRIGGIN CAR!!!!! The only purpose of the damn beep is to let the driver know the car is in reverse. As if the action of stopping the car, depressing the brake and putting the car in reverse PLUS the whole rear-moving motion isn't a clue.

We immediately had the useless alarm disabled.

BTW: the backup camera only works about 8 months of the year. As soon as slush season arrives, it gets unusable within the first 10 km.

Whatever happened to common sense ? Oh, I know, Lawyers can't make any money on that. I hope the courts throw it out. These frivolous lawsuits are out of control.

As a parent I'd love to believe that new rules and regulations can guarantee protection from accidents. I completely understand why these parents want to do everything they can to prevent this happening to others.

But...looking at the numbers may be cold but it shows why most safety first at any cost actions are not practical. From the article "...the government estimates [backovers] kill about 100 children younger than 5 each year." In a country with millions of children under 5 (say 5% of 300 million is 15 million) the death toll is extremely small. Besides cameras will not prevent all driver error and distraction or children's careless nature. Tragic accidents will continue. Even the most careful parent can have the unthinkable happen.

I have a backup sensor on my car that beeps if there is something behind it and I like it. It's saved a bike carelessly left outside the garage door and helped me park in some rather tight spots but it was an optional feature not mandatory. Let people choose features voluntarily without running to government after a tragic event.

These people are suing the Obama mis-Administration to require back-up monitors. Do you really think that this clown show will really defend the suit? The Obama NHTSA will roll over and fail to defend this suit, and probably settle out of court by giving in on 90%, if not all of it.

The fix is already in, and our betters have determined we serfs WILL have back-up cameras installed in our vehicles. After all, it is for the children!

No, moron drivers, it is a tragedy, but that does not make it a function of government to help you avoid it.

Anything, ANYthing (!) to help people avoid responsibility. Geesh. Who would take their child to this quack? "Not my fault I gave your kid the wrong shot, nope."

An attempt to blame someone else for their incompetence. I've never run into anything backing up while not sleep deprived and, if I'm unsure of the situation, I'll get out of my vehicle and look around the back and also get on the ground to see what's underneath. I've found pets dozing underneath my vehicle when doing the latter move as it's a shady place to be on a hot day.

I'm one of the people who always backs into a parking spot and just realized that I did run into something once backing up and that was a vehicle illegally parked in my spot. It was also the end of my post-call driving as I'd been awake for 36+ hours at that point and operating automatically as my brain was just involved in trying to not fall asleep.

It can be a pain in the ass to back into some spots and I've had to get out multiple times to check the relationship of the side of my vehicle to walls. That annoyance is far better than having to back out of a tight spot like that when ones in a hurry. Now I drive a small vehicle by local standards, a Grand Cherokee, and there's no damn way I'd attempt to back out of a parking spot when I'm flanked by 2 F250's.

It would be nice if people took responsibility for their actions and did some thinking ahead. I don't want to pay for government programs to save people from their own stupidity and I expect that next people will be demanding side viewing cameras on vehicles to protect the idiots who are so mesmerized by their backup camera when backing out of a driveway that they don't notice the vehicle coming at them from the side.

Please tell me how a paediatrician continues to hold a license to practice medicine concerning the well-being of other people's children when he is grossly negligent in looking out for his own. And what parent would trust the care of their children to such a loser? Forward or back, you're responsible for the control of your vehicle. It ain't that difficult. If you find it so, there's always public transit...

"Or maybe the children are backed over and killed by people who are driving too fast in reverse gear while not paying attention."

Pretty dumb response. Children are killed this way despite all reasonable precautions being taken. Backup cameras are obviously useful as they cover blind spots which are impossible to see no matter how careful you are.

I'm sure there were plenty of similar remarks made about seat belts in the 1970s, about rear view mirrors in 1915, and headlights before that.

Headlights. Bah humbug!! People driving too fast in the dark while not paying attention!

How stupid do you have to be to run over your own child in your own driveway?

A normal person would make sure there were no kids behind the vehicle before backing out.

How stupid do you have to be to advertise to the world that you are so stupid and careless that you killed your own child with your car?

How stupid do you have to be to blame the car makers for your stupidity?

If that kid had lived, would he have grown up to be a stupid as his father? We will never know that now, will we?

I suppose blaming a car company because your are so stupid you killed your own child with your car is on par with what democrats do ... blame anything but one's self for one's stupidity.

The theme here is stupidity and is brought to you by the letter S.

Couple of lifetimes ago I worked for one of Ontario's provincial ministries, back when the govt actually had fleet vehicles. As an employee I couldn't just get into a govt vehicle on a provincial driver's license and drive away. I had to be re-trained and tested and issued a departmental license. The govt didn't feel the public license was good enough. The big thing then was the Circle Check. You never just got in the vehicle and drove away - like a pilot, you did a pre-flight physical inspection around the vehicle before you got in - at least you did if there was any chance the motor pool master could see you... :) Still, to this day I frequently still do a circle check before heading off, especially if I've been away from the vehicle for a bit. It's a habit that's stuck. But then, I stop at stop signs and red lights too, something that is optional apparently in the GTA.

Two comments: If you're going to back into parking spaces you'd better dam*ed well know where the end of your vehicle is; unlike the tool who put his shiny trailer hitch right through the front end of our 3 day old car which was parked in the space behind him. And second - how much of this backing over kids thing is a direct function of driving big honking SUVs and pickups jacked up three feet in the air and equipped with blacked out windows? If you're going to drive a 3 ton, 30 foot long monstrosity you'd better check for kids before you even drive in a forward gear.

I have to admit, this worries me, and I creep out of my drive way every time I back up.
But I always go slow, and I'm always looking behind me. If my kids are outside, I also tell them to get OFF of the drive way. I may be a little OCD about it, but I've yet to hit anyone. And this solution is a lot cheaper than mandating all cars to have rear-view cameras.

Milton Friedman said it best.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdyKAIhLdNs

As long as there is a lawyer left alive on the North American Continent we will always idiot and the guilty clogging up our judicial system, suing for the stupid who are looking for someone else to pay. Here is a solution, make it legal to back over lawyers. To facilitate this, the automobile companies must design a backup camera that ignores and masks lawyers. Change the law so that when a lawyer sues anybody and loses, he is executed, unless he pays his plaintiff the amount of money involved in the lawsuit.
All in favor.....

And, when Captcha screws up, we get to meet the designer and beat him/her senseless.

Yeah well, I learned about backing a truck up long before I qualified for a license.

I saw this fella, driving a single axle cattle truck, walk back and check behind.....by the time he had fired it up a gal had rushed in with her car and parked directly behind.....crunch....and it was the trucks fault....I decided then and there..... don't back up.....and if all else fails have a spotter.

I remember during my trucking phase...insisting on this....a receiver refused...."then ya ain't gettin' yer $**t." After he experienced the hazards, having to yell a several fools..... he declared that he didn't want anybody backing inta his dock without a spotter. Dunno if it wuz jus' talk but I had made my point.

Classic case of socialism. Make the state responsible for your stupidity(opps..used the "R" word). If you are such a bad driver that you run over your own kid,well,there aren't enough words to describe you. And if you cannot back into a spot,again you should not be driving. And the clown who drives in,and is over the lines taking up two spots? Keys are wonderful things. Punch a hippie. It will make your day much better. Flattening tires is fun also.

Its infinity sad for a parent to lose a child , but by their own hand by accident, even more so. This just sounds to me misdirected anger, to rid themselves of the horror they did. To lay blame on others for mistakes done themselves. A way to lash out at what they see as the injustice of death.
It will do nothing but make society even more burdened. It certainly won't bring back their kids. Besides most cars now have rear cameras. Its taking care of itself. Some may just be fishing for money. We know the type. They would steal from their dying Mother.
Guilt does strange things to people.

OH. FOR. GAWD`S. SAKE.

I never backed up over my children. It`s not that difficult not to do.

To paraphrase Melanie Phillips (“all must have prizes”): Everyone must be able to blame -- and sue -- someone else.

I suggest that the rest of us should counter-sue the government and demand they stop issuing licenses to flaming retards.

there's two things ppl should be forced to do before they get a license, one learn how to drive, and two learn how to think driving when behind the wheel

al in nottawa..my F150 with 3.7 L 6 will do the same thing, with weight in the box:-))))

On a practical note - My Oldsmobile automatically tips the RH side-view mirror slightly downward when in reverse. Very handy.

Some 40 years ago when I was around 19 yrs old, I landed a job with AT&T as a motorized messenger. They had a vehicle safety training class most of which I have largely forgotten. The one thing that I do remember is that, statistically, most accidents occur when you are backing up. The answer to that, according to AT&T, was try to avoid backing up whenever possible. Simple, practical, effective. I still follow that advise to this day. Obviously, there are times when you must back up. Still, if you remember that this is a major hazard you will be careful. As to people backing over small children, ESPECIALLY their own children, IN THEIR OWN DRIVEWAY, to them I say "you're a dam fool. Cameras will not cure this."

It's Bush's fault.

"Or maybe the children are backed over and killed by people who are driving too fast in reverse gear while not paying attention".

"Or maybe the children are backed over and killed because their idiot parents didn't teach them to watch out for cars."

One of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, a New York paediatrician who backed over and killed his son in 2002 just self identified as someone who didn't know where his son was before he put the car in reverse.

I find it odd, but not surprising, that the blog I read that has the most Christian commenters is also the one that is so angry. Not a single "there but for the grace of God go I" or any compassionate at all for these unfortunate parents.

Grief and guilt does funny things to people - some go wild, some become clinically depressed and others become activists. I don't agree with their solution but I understand where it comes from. MADD is the template for this kind of thing.

I guess I should be honoured to be in the presence of so many perfect drivers and perfect parents. Perfect in all endeavours, no doubt. And here I thought my MIL was the only one who had reached such perfection.

Ladies and gentlemen, it would absolutely amaze you the number of people who manage to run over their own children in Phoenix Arizona. When I lived there, on the news I'd hear of another new fatality/horrific maiming about every three weeks, or so it seemed.

It would also amaze you the number of small children who manage to drown in half full five gallon pails. Every month or so there'd be another one. My question has always been, how does one keep a pail half full of water in the desert? They dry out in hours.

Three guesses as to the nationality that was -inevitably- involved in these tragedies. Same geniuses that fire their guns into the air at New Years.

Give you a hint, not Amish and not Chinese. Or Russian. Or German. Or Canadian, Australian, Burmese... you get the picture.

But, soon these ratbag lawyers will have won another multi-billion dollar settlement, and we will all be stuck with yet another damn-fool widget that costs a fortune on our new cars. Radar guided reversing, or ultrasonic brake sensors that stop the car with a jolt whenever a leaf falls behind it.

Its going to be awesome trying to back one of those things up in a snow storm, eh?

What about the ones that forget their kids in cars on hot days, sue for that as well?
Top of my head, I can say I know many people with over 30+ yrs driving and never backed over anyone's child let alone their own.
Same for riding lawnmower accidents; keep kids well away when they are operating. Simple as that.

Think of it as evolution in action.