A tragic accident in Abilene this week is serving as a sobering reminder for parents everywhere — including right here in Lubbock — about the dangers that can happen right in our own driveways.
On Monday, October 6th, a 2-year-old boy was accidentally struck and killed by a family member moving a vehicle in the driveway. Sadly, incidents like this aren’t rare. Safety experts call these types of tragedies frontovers or backovers — and most of them are completely preventable.
Understanding Frontovers and Backovers
According to Kids and Car Safety, thousands of children are hurt or killed every year when a slow-moving driver can’t see them in the blind zone directly in front of or behind a vehicle.
Children under 5 are most at risk because they’re too small to be seen by a driver and often don’t understand danger. Larger vehicles like trucks and SUVs, which are extremely popular here in West Texas, have even bigger blind spots — in some cases up to 11 feet longer than a sedan…