In a bid to reduce paediatric driveway injury, The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH) today hosted the launch of a Driveway Safety Campaign.

The campaign is a collaborative project led by the Office of the Child Safety Commissioner, in partnership with the RCH, Victoria Police, RACV, TAC, Kidsafe and the MAV.

The Hon Mary Wooldridge MP, Minister for Community Services, officially launched the campaign, which included radio advertisements, posters, postcards and the use of social media.

Ms Wooldridge said the campaign message –‘Just because you can’t see me, doesn’t mean I’m not here’ – is designed to remind parents just how invisible a child can be behind a vehicle.

Since 2000, 14 children in Victoria have died and many more have been seriously injured from incidents involving being run over by vehicles in the family driveway.

RCH Director of Emergency Medicine, Dr Simon Young, said any injury sustained by a child is a tragedy, but driveway injuries have a particular poignancy due to their greater potential for prevention.

“These accidents occur in the home. They’re very young children, under six years of age. The people involved in driving the cars are often friends or parents and they occur during those times of peak activity at the home when everybody’s trying to get things done…first thing in the morning and late at night,” Dr Young said.

“Even though these injuries occur at relatively low speed, they’re a crushing injury because the car weighs so much more than the small child involved. The injuries can be horrendous,” he said.

Two-year-old Benjamin Gauci was reversed over by his father’s car in late 2010. His father, Shane Gauci said he had been moving the car in order to wash it and didn’t realise Benjamin was outside.

“I felt the front wheel run over something. My heart stopped and my stomach turned. I immediately knew it was Benjamin. I couldn’t hear any screams and immediately thought the worst.

“I jumped out of the car and ran around to the passenger side of the vehicle where Ben was laying on the ground. He started to scream. I think it was then that I took my first breath with a slight sense of relief – he’s still alive,” Mr Gauci said.

Benjamin spent three days at the RCH with a fractured foot, bruising and swelling.

Mr Gauci said whilst he felt an overwhelming sense of guilt, he was thankful his son’s injuries were not worse.

“We were fortunate that all Benjamin’s injuries were minor and would not hold any long term effects. There are many who are not as fortunate as us and our hearts go out to those families,” Mr Gauci said.

“The only long term effect for us, our families and our friends is now awareness. We are all now more conscious and diligent in knowing where our children are when moving a vehicle in and out of a driveway. Our message to other families is ‘know where your kids are at all times prior to moving a vehicle’,” he said.

Child Safety Commissioner Bernie Geary OAM said the campaign was an important partnership injury prevention strategy driven by the experiences of families affected by driveway injury.

“The basic message, especially for parents of children under six, is always make sure you know where your children are before you reverse out of a driveway,” Mr Geary said.

Ms Wooldridge said the main concern was that children were unpredictable.

“Children can be so invisible – the play, the hiding – what they see as just a normal fundamental part of what they do in growing up can be the thing that puts them at risk,” Ms Wooldridge said.

“Taking just one look can be the difference between life and death. We must know where our children are, we must do everything to keep them safe,” she said.

Research shows:

• 92 per cent of the incidents occurred in the driveway of the child’s home – the rest occurred in relatives’ or friends’ driveways
• Vehicles were driven by a parent, a family member or a friend
• Most of the children were under the age of six
• Incidents most often occur between 4-6pm in the evening and in the morning between 8-10am
• Most of the vehicles involved were 4WDs, vans and utes
• 85 per cent of the drivers were unaware a child was near their vehicle.

For more information about the Driveway Safety Campaign, visit the Office of the Child Safety Commissioner’s website.

Click below to watch the Nine News story.

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