Philippa Stevenson: Tragedies too close to home

A 2-year-old girl died this month after being run over by a car reversing out of a driveway.

In February, a 1-year-old girl died when the driver of a four-wheel-drive vehicle stopped in a driveway to speak to a pedestrian. The infant went in front of the vehicle and was run over when the driver started moving forward again.

Last September, a 10-year-old died after her father started the car and it lurched forward, pinning her against the wall of her home. She was an only child.

In July a year earlier, a 14-month-old was killed in the driveway of his home when his uncle accidentally reversed over him in a truck.

Each of those tragedies is revealed with one, quick search of the Herald website. Confirmation in seconds of the grim statistic that the main cause of death of children aged between 1 and 14 years is from what statisticians call "pedestrian injuries".

One in five occurs in the family's own driveway.

We know this because lots of research here and overseas tells us so. But, as a new report reveals, knowing that another toddler's death is just round the corner, that another family are about to be stricken with grief and guilt has got us no closer to stopping it.

Over summer, under a Child Accident Prevention Foundation research scholarship, three Waikato University graduate sociology students, Natalie Cowley, Mark Nicholls and Helen Parkinson, and Department of Societies and Cultures associate professor David Swain, tried to find out why we are no nearer to lowering the cruel death rate.

Over the past 20 years, we have ranked lowest in the Western world for reducing child pedestrian injuries, and we have a higher incidence of driveway accidents than many other industrialised countries.

Safekids, the child safety service of Starship Health, estimates there are an average of four deaths each year. Between 1994 and 1998, 299 children went to hospital after driveway accidents.

Whether or not the figures loom large in comparison with other misfortunes that can befall our kids, one thing can't be denied about driveway accidents - they invariably involve mum, dad, other close relatives or family friends.

"It's as intense a tragedy as it's going to get," says Swain. "That alone made the research worth doing."

After reviewing much of the research before their own and gauging the success of past safety recommendations, the Waikato researchers debunked some former advice, modified more and suggested new.

Fencing off driveways from the rest of the property has often been promoted as one way to reduce the danger but just as often has been met with a call for parents to simply be more vigilant.

The trouble with vigilance as a safety precaution, says Swain, is that it only takes a momentary lapse for years of exemplary attention to be undone.

Passive safety measures such as fencing that work irrespective of human behaviour have a lot to offer, say the researchers, who acknowledge fencing is not possible everywhere.

And compulsory fencing of swimming pools became largely accepted because of an awareness of drownings but the same cannot be said for driveway accidents.

One of the most significant findings of their research was, they said, a lack of information on driveway tragedies, including any reference to them in any legislation or safety guidelines.

One of their main recommendations was for improved and separate record-keeping.

"If accomplished, [it] would help to improve publicity, which in turn would raise public awareness, which in turn we hope would facilitate greater funding of the implementation of any and all of the recommendations - from educational campaigns to erecting fences."

The researchers also suggest that New Zealand could follow the Australian example of the NRMA Insurance-sponsored vehicle "reversing visibility index".

A rear-view visibility rating for every make and model of vehicle on the market would give car-buyers a chance to select for features that could reduce driveway accidents, they said.

The researchers also recommended that convex mirrors mounted in driveways could be useful for reversing drivers, that the Road Code and driver's licence test contain references to driveway safety, and that there could be research into the suitability in town environments of 4WDs - one of the main vehicles involved in driveway accidents.

They also propose fencing subsidies for homeowners and landlords either through community fundraising, commercial sponsorship or local body funding, and that local authorities could also offer incentives, such as a one-off rates rebate, to those who voluntarily make their sections safer for children.

There could also be driveway safety requirements under the Building Act's "flexible solutions" option.

The researchers' report suggests that much could be done to prevent more searing family tragedies.

Stopping driveway deaths

Accident researchers suggest:

* Fencing off the driveway from the rest of the property.

* A rear-view visibility rating system for all vehicles.

* Research into whether four-wheel-drive vehicles are suitable for city driving.