Boy, 2, dies after toddler releases truck's brake

A 2-year-old was run over and killed in a West Auckland driveway yesterday when his cousin, also 2, released the brake of a pickup truck.

The accident happened at the boys' home in Sylvan Cres, Te Atatu, around 11am.

The children were in the care of teenagers at the house.

Acting Senior Sergeant Julian Conder said the boy was riding a tricycle when the other boy got into a Nissan Navara flat-deck pickup parked in the driveway.

Mr Conder said the truck had been left in neutral and the boy appeared to have released the handbrake.

The truck rolled down the driveway, hit some steps to the house and was thrown back on to the drive and into the path of the toddler, who was killed instantly.

The teenagers who were looking after the children were inside the house and unaware of the accident, but neighbours rang 111.

"It is an unfortunate, tragic death and the only way to prevent those sort of circumstances is to lock your vehicle and have your keys out of children's reach," said Mr Conder.

"I'd say most families are unfortunately a little bit lax and it can turn into a tragedy quite quickly.

"Kids love playing in and out of vehicles ... but something like this brings out the reality of what can happen all so quickly."

Neighbours who saw the incident yesterday did not want to talk about it but described the dead child as a "very sweet" little boy.