Expert urges car cameras after toddler's death

A lot of children live at the Riverpark Cres home, a neighbour says, and they often play in the driveway. Photo / Greg Bowker

Reversing cameras should be installed in every car and truck in the country following the death of yet another toddler run over in a driveway, says the editor of a car buying guide.

A family member ran over a 13-month-old girl on Saturday in west Auckland.

The girl, whose name has not been released, was rushed to hospital but could not be saved.

"Whenever a small child is run over by a reversing vehicle, the driver gets blamed, but actually, small children are often all but invisible behind most modern cars," The Dog and Lemon Guide editor Clive Matthew-Wilson said.

A camera would show a driver what was behind their vehicle via a small video screen on the car's dashboard.

Mr Matthew-Wilson said a recent New Zealand Medical Journal report revealed New Zealand's driveway deaths were the highest in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.

"The scientific evidence is quite clear: driveway deaths are preventable. Now the Government has to act to ensure that this vital technology is fitted to every vehicle," he said.

Mr Matthew-Wilson said the cameras were widely available and cost between $110 and $700, with installation costs up to $200.

He also suggested the cost of fitting the cameras should be subsidised for beneficiaries.

However, the director of Safekids, a safety group established by Starship Children's Health Trauma Service, said cameras were too expensive for most New Zealanders and not a quick fix.

"I don't think that's the answer, if we look at a number of the cases, cameras would not have prevented the actual incident," Ann Weaver told NZPA.

A three-pronged approach was needed, based on the need for clear visibility while driving, the smart design of driveways and safe parenting techniques.

"That's what we've got to get through to people - you can't let children play on driveways or be able to access driveways. We need that separate play area," she said.

Detective Sergeant Megan Goldie earlier told NZPA the toddler's family were devastated.

"They just can't sort of understand how it's happened. Just the whole, the loss, you know, it's impossible to sort of understand it really," Ms Goldie said.

The police serious crash unit was investigating and the coroner had been informed, Ms Goldie said.

The Safekids website says a child is hospitalised with serious injuries from being run over by a vehicle on a private driveway in New Zealand every two weeks and five children are killed, on average, every year.

Most children injured in driveway incidents are toddlers, aged about two years old and if they survived, they usually received severe injuries. The driver was usually a close family member.

- NZPA