Shifting into reverse may be more dangerous than previously thought.  According to the first study conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on the issue, 221 people — more than four each week — suffered wrongful deaths by vehicles backing up in 2007.  In the same period, about 14,000 people were personally injured in backup accidents.

“I’d say it was dramatically higher than what we typically estimated,” said the president of Kids and Cars, a nonprofit safety advocacy group from Kansas. “We used to say about 100 per year.”However, the woman’s organization focuses on incidents involving children, who are at greater risk because they are more likely to be unseen by drivers backing up.  The group said that 44 percent of all nontraffic fatalities of children aged 15 or younger are from backup accidents.  Nontraffic accidents are those that occur in vehicles not on a public road, such as in driveways, parking lots and private roads.

As car accident attorneys, we know that car accidents are the number one cause of personal injury and wrongful death for children in the United States, with over 8,000 children’s wrongful deaths in 2003 alone.  We even talked about the dangers of back-up auto accidents in our Avoiding Children’s Injuries Series.  This is clearly a major problem for children’s injury lawyers.

Often a relative or caregiver of the child is behind the wheel when such an accident occurs.  Federal legislation passed last year to attempt to address the issue, the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act, is named in remembrance of a 2-year-old boy who was accidentally backed over and killed by his father on Long Island.  It was this legislation that prompted the new study.

Thought it is not one of the top major causes of car accidents, it can still occur, and the best thing to do if an accident does happen is have a comprehensive car insurance policy on your side to cover you.

We know that, as a parent or loved one, losing a child is undoubtedly the most stressful event in your entire life.  We — personal injury lawyers— work hard to understand the devastating emotional, physical, and financial losses that result from injuries to your child.

Call us now at 1-858-551-2090 or click here for a FREE CONSULTATION with an experienced car accident attorney and personal injury lawyer to find out how we may help you.  We look forward to providing good advice to help you make smart decisions about your case in either English or Spanish.