Family mourns 'little adventurer'

Eighteen-month-old Sirj-Michaels Siaea was killed by a neighbour backing out of a driveway. Photo / Facebook

He was a little adventurer who would "body-slam" his mother to wake her up.

But 18-month-old Sirj-Michaels Siaea was too young to understand the dangers of playing in the driveway.

Early on Monday afternoon in the South Auckland suburb of Otara, the toddler described as a "soldier" and "rebel" with the "most cheesiest smile" was outside exploring while mother Rose Siaea and her partner, Jeremiah Vaha-Akolo, had a cigarette.

They didn't notice "Sirj" sit down and could only watch in horror as a neighbour unwittingly backed out into him.

"He was sitting on the driveway ... he was just playing," a tearful Ms Siaea said yesterday.

The young mother was trying not to blame herself but said: "I wish I ran faster."

A relative inside the Amuri Place home heard the screams and raced to the door when Mr Vaha-Akolo started banging on it.

The woman said Sirj was lying on the driveway, the side of his face "smashed".

He died soon after the accident occurred, about 1.20pm.

The driver of the Toyota Land Cruiser said she was heading out to go shopping in Manukau when the accident occurred.

When the woman got into the car the driveway was clear. She and her husband - who have three children under 7 - extended their sympathy, saying: "We are so sorry ... It was an accident. Even though it's not our child, we feel it in our hearts."

A relative of Sirj said they understood it was a tragic accident. 'We never have any problems with them [the neighbours]," she said. "I mean, they have three daughters of their own ... People are saying you need to watch your kids but unless you're there you don't know the full story."

Sirj's body was back with his family yesterday and will be taken to Waimiao Marae in Northland today to be buried tomorrow.

"We love him and he's in a better place," Ms Siaea said.

She said even though Sirj was a "mummy's boy", he loved his baby sister, Mia, and would be remembered for his strong, independent nature.

"He would always entertain himself. He could just zone out into his own world."

Sergeant Paul Latham, head of the Counties-Manukau serious crash unit, said it was too early to say whether charges would be laid.

The tragedy is the latest black mark on New Zealand's driveway death record, revealed by a New Zealand Medical Journal report to be the highest in the OECD.

Safekids director Ann Weaver said an average of four toddlers had been killed on driveways in each of the past 10 years but that figure had already been reached for 2010.

In July, a 22-month-old girl was killed by a reversing car in the driveway of her Weymouth home in Manukau City.

In March, Vivianne Wood lost hold of her newborn baby as her car rolled down a Titirangi driveway and the 4-week old could not be saved.

Ms Weaver urged parents to be more vigilant with toddlers around cars and encouraged the use of fenced "safe areas" for kids to play in.