NHTSA GUIDELINES FOR AVOIDING BACKOVER INJURIES.  NHTSA recently published the following article to help drivers avoid causing backover injuries: All Vehicles Have Blind Spots. In the case of a backover incident, the blind spot is the place behind your vehicle that you cannot see in the rear or side view mirrors — or even by craning your neck out the driver’s side window. Generally speaking, the larger the vehicle, the larger the blind spot.Blind spots for shorter drivers tend to be significantly larger as well. In addition, the elevation of the driver’s seat, the shape of a vehicle’s windows and mirrors, and the slope of a driveway can affect the size of the blind spot behind a vehicle. In addition, the smaller stature of children can make them particularly difficult for a driver to see when backing up. So how do you protect a child from becoming a victim of backover?

Safety Tips for Parents. Keeping your children out of harm’s way requires ongoing education, supervision, and vigilance: there simply is no single fail-safe solution. However, safety experts advise employing the following strategies to help reduce the risk of a backover tragedy occurring:

• Ensure your children are properly supervised at all times, especially wherever motor vehicles might be present.
• Teach children not to play in, under, or around vehicles — ever.
• Always assume children could be present and carefully check the street, driveway, and area around your vehicle before backing out.
• Avoid making your driveway a “playground.” If you do allow children in this area, make sure that it’s only when there are no vehicles present. To further protect children who may be outside playing, separate the driveway from the roadway with a physical barrier to prevent any cars from entering.
• To prevent curious children from ever putting a vehicle in gear, never leave vehicles running, and keep all vehicles, even those in driveways and garages, locked up tight.
• When backing up, always know where all children are and have them stay in your full view and well away from your vehicle.
• Look behind you as you back out S-L-O-W-L-Y with your windows rolled down to listen for children who may have dashed behind your vehicle suddenly — and be prepared to stop!
• If you’re driving an SUV or truck, remember that the blind spot behind your vehicle can be especially large: use extreme care whenever you back up.

Finally, talk with neighborhood parents about backover incidents and ask them to teach their children not to play in or around any vehicle or driveway. By working together to promote awareness and protective home and neighborhood environments, we can help to keep all our children safe.