I am a driver who has driven extensively for over 60 years, many of those years professionally, so I am qualified to speak on the cause and cure for saving life and limb.
My qualifications even cover the experience of running over an 18-month-old child (not a fault of my own).
That experience even after 50 years still haunts me.
So what is the cure that will guarantee to work and save lives? It is very simple and costs nothing to implement.
Plan ahead - never park a vehicle in such a manner that it cannot be driven away in a forward direction.
It is that simple.
New Zealand is privileged in as much as most of its housing stock is detached and serviced by its own driveway, so vehicles are not parked out on the highway, but are usually driven in, parked or garaged adjacent to the property, usually to the rear.
Thus the next time a vehicle is required it must then be reversed - and that is the obvious cause of the deaths and injuries .
Last week I read an article in a newspaper about the tragedy of a father reversing over his 2-year-old daughter. Apparently he had made sure his daughter was safe in the house before leaving, but had unfortunately neglected to ensure that the house door had been closed properly before going to the garage.
Getting into his car and reversing out, the subsequent bump he felt was his daughter going under the rear wheel.
He spoke of how it was many years ago, but he would never get over it and he blamed himself.
He should not do that, because I know that 2-year-old children can open doors themselves and if he needs someone to blame he should blame his driving instructor who should have warned him of the danger of reversing vehicles.
The latest advice to drivers from ACC is to check behind a vehicle before reversing.
Why not try a dry run yourself.
Check behind your car and then count 10 to 15 seconds. You are now in your car, key in the ignition, engine running.
Select reverse, check mirror, hand brake off, 10 to 15 seconds.
Then just think how fast and how far an infant can travel in 10 to 15 seconds, and you have just discovered why New Zealand is experiencing these tragic events.
Now the next time you arrive home, look up your driveway to see if all is clear then reverse your vehicle along and park so that you are prepared to drive out after leaving home and have no need to risk reversing blind from stationary, because it is the time lag that kills.
Not yet convinced, then ask ACC how many, if any, children are killed or injured by being driven over rather than reversed over in driveways.
Or put your faith in a reverse camera, but remember these only show the rear of the vehicle not the rear of the wheels, or the side.
Facing forward and driving forward is always safer than turning your back for 10 seconds and then hoping for the best.
Be prepared!
Think ahead
-Alan Holmes is a former Dannevirke business owner and is well-known in theatre circles there.
-Views expressed here are the writer's opinion and not the newspaper's. Email: editor@hbtoday.co.nz
