Action needed over driveway tragedies

Wayne Tangney didn't speak for days after reversing over his toddler son. His wife, Aude, says even now, a week after the accident, her husband still feels incredibly guilty.

"He took three days to speak to anyone. He could barely look at Julian, he felt so bad. But now they're back home and playing together and he is feeling better."

Julian, 17 months, is nursing a black eye and fractured skull after being run over by his father's 4WD vehicle.

The toddler was airlifted to Waikato Hospital after the accident last weekend, joining a 14-month-old Hamilton girl who was struck by a car in a driveway the same day.

According to doctors, the girl was hit by a car driven by her aunt and suffered serious bruising and other injuries.

The latest cases come just a few weeks after the Herald on Sunday highlighted the dangers of toddlers in driveways, following the death of 2-year-old Amy Trotman. Paediatricians want a public education campaign to prevent further tragedies.

Julian was playing in the garden of his family's home at Wairakei, near Taupo, while his father was washing his vehicle last Saturday.

Mrs Tangney was doing the laundry when she heard her husband scream. He had backed up the car and felt a bump. "I saw him with the baby in his arms and Julian started crying 10-15 seconds later... It was shocking."

When Julian started vomiting, they called an ambulance. After being flown to Waikato Hospital, the boy was given a CT scan and doctors discovered his fractured skull. It took four days before he could walk properly again, but doctors say his skull will heal.

Mrs Tangney said the 4WD was now up for sale. "We don't need it. Four-wheel-drives are so high, and you can't see behind you."

Prosecutions for such incidents are rare as driveways fall outside roading legislation. However, changes have been proposed that would allow police to charge drivers with reckless, dangerous or careless driving on private property causing injury or death.

Constable Mark Bond, of Taupo police, said police would not charge Mr Tangney. "Education is the way to fix this problem."

Paediatricians spoken to by the Herald on Sunday agree.

Waikato Hospital's head of paediatric surgery, Udaya Samarakkody, sees about one child a month who is admitted after being struck in a driveway. "People should be really careful when toddlers are around," she said.

Starship Hospital paediatric surgeon Phillip Morreau, whose 2002 study found 38 per cent of children killed or injured lived in an unfenced state house, also wants urgent recognition of the problem.

"Parents and families have usually been prosecuted enough by the terrible thing that has happened," he said.

Latest Ministry of Transport statistics reveal an escalating number of 4WD vehicles involved in accidents, although official data covers only public roads.

Last year, 52 pedestrians were injured by a 4WD, up from 31 the previous year. Forty-two people were killed in an accident involving a 4WD (up from 34), and 1159 were injured (up from 1115).

- HERALD ON SUNDAY