Mother of Victim Said Pickup Truck Driver Was Driving Too Fast
A fatal accident involving a 9 year-old boy has been declared an accident by Fort Worth police investigators. The accident occurred in the parking lot of the CVS located on West Seminary Drive. Orlando Hernandez was running through the parking lot to return a shopping cart to the store when a pickup truck struck him at 7:30 p.m. last week.
Orlando’s mother, Daniela Hernandez, refutes th0se findings. She believes the driver was going too fast and should be charged with her son’s death. Regardless of whether criminal charges are filed or a civil lawsuit is brought and damages are recovered, this is a real tragedy and my heart goes out to his family for its unimaginable loss.
Slow Moving Traffic a Serious Danger
There are way too many collisions and pedestrians struck in parking lots. In fact, thousands of kids are injured or killed every year by slow moving vehicles, according to kidsandcars.org. Front-over and back-over accidents involving small children tend to occur in parking lots and driveways, often with a relative behind the wheel.
Cars are moving more slowly and drivers are presumably more careful of pedestrians, kids and their parents can sometimes let their guard down. In addition drivers might be less attentive in the mistaken belief that they can stop in time and won’t cause severe injuries at slow speed.
Often the driver cannot see around blind spots and, even at slow speed, cannot stop in time should a child dart out from behind another car or wander behind the vehicle.
Kidsandcars.org highlights the dramatic increase in slow-moving front-over fatalities. In the five-year period between 1996 and 2000, 24 children were killed in these types of slow-moving accidents. From 2001 to 2005, that number went up to 88 child fatalities. Deaths of children in front-over accidents skyrocketed to 358 in the period between 2006 and 2010. American’s obsession with big vehicles follows the same course. Pickup trucks, SUVs and vans create much greater blind spots that make it especially difficult to see small children. Not surprisingly, with Texans’ affinity for large trucks, Texas had the second highest number of front-over deaths in the nation.
The nonprofit organization estimates that approximately fifty children are backed over every week, two fatally. More than 60 percent of back-over accidents involve a larger vehicle, such as a pickup truck, SUV or van. The driver is not able to see small children standing in the blind spot directly behind the vehicle.
With School Out, Be Extra Diligent About Children As You Drive
The boy’s untimely death is a reminder to all of us to slow down and pay attention, especially with more children out and about at the conclusion of the school year. It is easy to get distracted in a parking lot, while looking for a space or digging around for a wallet or a phone. But even at five m.p.h., 3000 pounds of steel can kill or seriously injure any one.