5-Year-Old Girl Injured After Truck Backs Over Her in Brevard County Accident
The Orlando Sentinel reports that a 5-year-old girl was riding her bicycle on Friday night, April 8, when she was run over by a man driving a 1996 Chevy pickup truck. The man backed over the girl in the Barefoot Bay community of Brevard County in Florida. The girl and her bike were run over by the rear of the truck and the child suffered serious leg injuries. She is at the Arnold Palmer Hospital and is listed to be in stable condition. The 76-year-old driver from Greenville, Pennsylvania, was driving and has now been cited by the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) for improper backing. He did not suffer injuries in the crash.
Fortunately, it is likely the little girl will survive her injuries. However, many children do not after they have been run over by a motor vehicle. Kids and Cars, a nonprofit group made up of concerned parents, maintains a national database that tracks deaths and injuries of children killed by cars. In 2009, there were 95 deaths of children run over by motorists who did not see them behind a vehicle or who were left unattended inside a hot car. Those numbers are improving as more vehicles are equipped with rear cameras and audio beeps if someone or something is in the driveway.
Unfortunately, the federal National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) decided last February to delay the implementation of the mandatory backup camera rule for as long as 10 months. The phase-in was intended to apply to 10 percent of new cars by 2012, and 40 percent by 2013. All new cars were to have the cameras by September 2014. The auto industry pushed back because the cameras could cost $2 to $3 billion a year and there was some debate about how long the image had to appear. In this specific accident, a backup camera may have saved this 5-year-old from being run over and seriously injured.
If your child or a loved one has been injured in an accident that involved a car, you may have rights to compensation for medical costs and rehabilitation. Contact the Florida car accident lawyers at Farah & Farah for a complimentary consultation on your case.
