On average, One Child a Month across Australia Dies in a Home Driveway Runover

TheVictorian Minister for Children, The Hon Wendy Lovell, will officially presentthe three awards and launch the Kidsafe driveway campaign, backed by the TACCommunity Grants Program and GM Holden, at Federation Square at lunchtimetoday, with a graphic illustration of the lack of vision behind vehicles.

Melanie Barbera and her 18 month old daughterSierra, who was run over in the home driveway last year and survived, will jointhe Minister to promote the driveway safety message by placing the first of95,000 vehicle safety stickers to be distributed across the country, on thedriver's side window, to remind drivers to be aware of the dangers.

RobertCaulfield, Vice President of Kidsafe Victoria, cautioned: "Parents needto recognise that children are unpredictable, and that driveways are one of thedeadliest areas around the home. These children are usually old enough to bemobile, but too small to be easily visible from the driving position."

Researchfrom the Coroners Prevention Unit has shown that most incidents occur at ornear the child's home, where both the parent and the child may have felt thatthe child was safe. Importantly, in almost all driveway run-over incidents, thedriver was unaware that the child was even in the vicinity of the vehicle.

"Tragically,these deaths usually involve a parent or friend of the family," Mr Caulfieldsaid.

Kidsafe hasbeen working collaboratively with a number of agencies as part of the VictorianDriveway Safety Committee, established in February, to create strategies toreduce the number of driveway related deaths in Victoria and around thecountry.

Avoiding the Tragedies

• Always superviseyour children whenever a car is being moved - hold their hands or keepthem close;
• If you are theonly adult at home, safely restrain children in the vehicle while you moveit;
• Discouragechildren from using the driveway as a play area and make access to thedriveway from the house difficult for a child by using doors, gates andfences with childproof locks;
• Install areversing camera or sensor to assist with detection of children or objectsbehind the car;
• Mostimportantly, be aware that children are unpredictable, so you need toensure you check where your children are and know who is responsible forsupervising them.
  
  Statistics from the Coroners Prevention Unit:
• 6 childrenkilled in driveways in Victoria alone in the last 18 months
• 31% between8:00-10:00AM
• 46% between4:00- 6:00PM
• In 85% ofinstances in Victoria, the driver was unaware that the child was near tothe vehicle.

KIDSAFEAWARDS

1.Business Award (recognises retailers/business who actively promote roadsafety for children through action, increasing awareness or advocacy)- thewinner of this award is the 'Transportation of Children and Youth withAdditional Needs' partnership (members include RCH, Latrobe University, Britax,VicRoads, Association for Children with a Disability, RACV, ACRI, AutismVictoria).

2. LocalChampion Award (recognises individuals/groups who have actively contributedto improved road safety for children in their local community) - the winner ofthis award is the City of Geelong's Active Transport Network.

3. KidsTeaching Kids Award (recognises school students/local clubs/individualchildren who are less than 18 years of age and who have actively contributed toroad safety for children) - the winner of this award is Wodonga South PrimarySchool.