Backovers

Every year, thousands of children are killed or seriously injured because a driver backing up didn't see them. A backover incident typically takes place when a car is backing out of a driveway or parking space.

 

 

 

Child Tragedies

Backover tragedies change the lives of parents, families, and communities forever. Below are stories of just a few children whose lives were lost because they could not be seen in the blindzone behind a vehicle.

Kaycie Blood Dillon Caputo Drew Campbell Madison Chatten Adrianna Clemens           Benjamin Donnell Aliviah Gridley Cameron Gulbransen Austin Gordon Haver Blake Hofer           Mariana Lopez Seth McCartney C.J. Norton Bridget O'Connor Jackson Peck           Craig Rice Veronica Rosenfeld Jacob Sanchez Alec Nelson Annabelle Bryant           Colin Walminski Vada Schoon Jared Estes David Sandoval Wesley Yackle           Jack Pauly Marlee Anne Kalmin Lynnea Zweigel Noah Tkachyk Noah Allen           Georgy Cockburn Sidney Edminsten Toby Riley Daniela Serpico Myles Donnelly                     Abigail Dahlen

 

Close Calls

Below are stories of just a few children who survived being backed over because they could not be seen in the blindzone behind a vehicle.

Matthew Anthony Patrick Ivison Kate Auriemma Skye Jordan

 

 

Fact Sheet

In the U.S. at least fifty children are being backed over by vehicles EVERY week. Forty-eight (48) are treated in hospital emergency rooms and at least two (2) children are fatally injured every WEEK.

• The predominant age of victims is one year olds. (12‐23 months)

• Over 60% of backing up incidents involved a larger size vehicle. (truck, van, SUV)

• Tragically, in over 70% of these incidents, a parent or close relative is behind the wheel.

Fact Sheet for Backovers

Why we call the areas around a vehicle a blindzone and NOT a 'blind spot."

Learn what the BlindZone measurement is for your vehicle:
Consumer Reports has measured the blindzones of a number of popular vehicle models. The results for both an average-height driver (5 feet 8 inches) and a shorter driver (5 feet 1 inch) are listed in the accompanying charts.
click here for BlindZone information

Chart, Statistics, Graphics

KidsAndCars.org makes available charts and graphs to be downloaded for free and are excellent education materials. We encourage you to share, print, copy, distribute, or enlarge them; but we ask that no changes be made.  Simply click on an image below to open a full PDF file of the chart.

 

Safety Tips

Learn simple tips on how to keep your children safe in and around vehicles.
Click here for Safety Tips

 

Public Service Announcements and Videos

Heighten awareness about the dangers children face in and around motor vehicles with KidsAndCars.org's Public Service Announcements. Please encourage TV stations, hospital, doctor offices, public health offices, parenting classes, etc., to share this life-saving information.

 

News

Technology

Technology is available to reduce the blindzone behind your vehicle. Learn more about what is available today as after market technology you can add to your vehicle today. All vehicles can be retrofitted with rearview video camera systems and/or sensors.

Audiovox - provides smart, dependable and affordable Rear Collision Avoidance solutions to keep families safe in the driveway and on the road.

Backup4Safety - Backup4safety.com is in the business of providing a safe environment for our children by making premium rearview backup safety systems accessible to everyone through direct sales, charitable donation, fundraising and “Pay It Forward” good will programs.

Gentex - automatically shows a driver the view of what is directly behind the vehicle when it is put in “reverse” so that the rear blind zone is visible.

Echomaster - the premier manufacturer of reverse sensing devices, is dedicated to preventing reversing accidents. Safety is our number one concern.

Ackton - a world leader in the manufacturing of parking sensors for the automotive, commercial, and R.V. markets.

Vehicle Reversing System - makes available the Worlds Only patented "Talking" Reversing Alert System.

Rostra - recently introduced BabyCam, a system with allows safe and easy monitoring of children in their car seats without taking driver focus from the road.

ScopeOut - a patented system of aerodynamic mirrors that are strategically placed on the vehicle to provide a panoramic rear view of vehicles or persons approaching on the street or down the sidewalk.

VisorView - The rear view camera system VISOR-VIEW is compatible with virtually any vehicle. Drivers now have an affordable way to view hidden object

 

Studies

Below are studies specific to backover injuries and deaths. There have been several studies published about backovers but there is still much to be learned.

Trauma Center-Based Surveillance of Nontraffic Pedestrian Injury among California Children (2012)

Backing collisions: a study of drivers' eye and backing behaviour using combined rear-view camera and sensor systems (2010)

Back-over Collisions in Child Pedestrians from the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (2009)

Not-in-traffic surveillance 2007 - children.Traffic safety facts.Washington DC: (2009)

Pediatric driveway runover injuries: Time to redesign?  (2009)

Light Vehicle Rear Visibility Assessment (2008)

Backover and non-crash events - special crash investigations - protecting children in and around cars, Lifesavers Conference (Portland, OR) (2008)

NAPNAP position statement on the prevention of unintentional injuries in children (2008)

Backover and non-crash events - special crash investigations - protecting children in and around cars,  Lifesavers Conference (Portland, OR) (2008)

Back-up detection devices: what do we all need to know? Dangerous blind zones (2007)

NHTSA's backover crash prevention research: Washington, DC (2007)

Vehicle backover avoidance technology study: Washington, DC (2006)

Risk of pediatric backover injuries in residential driveways by vehicle type (2006)

Nonfatal Motor-Vehicle—Related Backover Injuries Among Children --- United States, 2001-2003 (2005)

Design and evaluation of a prototype rear obstacle detection and driver warning system (2005)

The prevalence of driveway backover injuries in the era of sports utility vehicles (2005)

An investigation of the potential safety benefits of vehicle backup proximity sensors, Washington,  DC (2005)

The danger of blind zones: the area behind your vehicle can be a killing zone;  Washington, DC (2005)

Data collection study: Deaths and injuries resulting from certain non-traffic and non-crash events, Washington, DC (2004)

Pedestrian injuries and vehicle type in Maryland 1995-1999 (2004)

Stereo Panoramic Vision for Monitoring Vehicle Blind-spots (2004)

Children’s response to a commercial back-up warning device  (2003)

The fatality and injury risk of light truck impacts with pedestrians in the United States (2003)

Pedestrian injuries and vehicle type in Maryland  1995-1999 (2003)

Low speed run-overs of young children in QLD (2003)

The off road toll: Children at risk in driveways yards and carparks, Sydney, Australia (2003)

Driveway-related motor vehicle injuries in the paediatric population: a preventable tragedy (2002)

Driveway deaths: Fatalities of young children in Australia as a result of low-speed motor vehicle impacts (2002)

Injuries and Deaths Among Children Left Unattended in or Around Motor Vehicles – United States, July 2000 – June 2001 (2002)

Analysis of motor vehicle-related fatalities involving children under the age of six years (1995-2000) (2002)

Pedestrian Injuries to Young Children (2002)

Why our children are not as safe as we think they are, New Zealand (2002)

Devices to reduce the risk to young pedestrians from reversing motor vehicles (2001)

Vehicles reversing or rolling backwards: an underestimated hazard (2001)

Outcomes of pediatric pedestrian injuries by locations of event (2001)

Driveway Injuries in Children:  Risk Factors, Morbidity, and Mortality Pediatrics (2001)

Four children crushed in their driveways, United Kingdom (2001)

The danger of young pedestrians from reversing motor vehicles, Paper No. 466 (2001)

Driveway motor vehicle injuries in children (2000)

Child deaths and injuries in driveways: Response to the recommendations of the child death review team (2000)

Rollover Injuries in Residential Driveways: Age-related Patterns of Injury (1999)

Rear Cross-View Mirror Performance: Perception And Optical Measurements, Final Report HS 808 824 (1998)

Driveway crush injuries in young children: a highly lethal, devastating, and potentially preventable event (1998)

Nonambulatory 'pedestrians": infants injured by motor vehicles in driveways (1998)

Injuries in the home: Toddler’s low speed run overs (1997)

Paediatric Slow-Speed Non-Traffic Fatalities, 1985-1995, Australia (1997)

Nonoccupant Fatalities Associated With Backing Crashes, NHTSA, Research Note (1996)

Driveway-related child pedestrian injuries: a case-control study, Pediatrics (1995)

Crush injuries to the head in children (1995)

Pedestrian injuries to children younger than 5 years of age (1994)

Differences in child pedestrian injury events by location (1994)

Non-traffic child pedestrian injuries, New Zealand (1993)

Unsupervised children in vehicles: a risk for pediatric trauma (1991)

Pedestrian injuries to children younger than 5 years of age (1991)

Limitations of data compiled from police reports on pediatric pedestrian and bicycle motor vehicle events (1990)

Fatal pedestrian injuries to young children: a different pattern of injury, Canada (1988)

The Development and Test of Urban and Rural Pedestrian Safety Messages (1983)

Low Velocity Vehicular Injuries in Children—“Run-Over” Accidents (1980)

Dangers