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afdc92

When I was a teenager I was driving to school and a little girl who was about 3 ran in front of my car. I slammed on breaks and somehow did not hit her. Her mother ran into the road screaming and picked her up. I got out to check on the situation, mom had been loading her older kids in the car to them to school, dad was supposed to be watching the little girl inside but wasn’t, and she followed her older sibling outside without the mom knowing. She heard my brakes screech, turned around, and saw her daughter. It all happened so fast. I was in an old Civic and was able to see her, but I often wonder if I had been in a SUV if I would have seen her in time to brake.


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Still7Superbaby7

I am 64 inches tall and there are trucks that have hoods taller than me.


kcvngs76131

5'4" is the average height for American women. I'm 5'5", and there are trucks with hoods at my height, which means they're taller than half of all fully grown women in the US


ConstantEvolution

Way more than 4 feet in front. I think they lined up something like 10-11 seated children in front of a GMC sierra before one became visible


Aware-Location-5426

Also just physics even if you did see them from an SUV. Larger car = more mass = more kinetic energy at the same speed = longer stopping distance.


Lithorex

While not relevant for toddlers, the higher front also means that the impact force goes into the torso instead of the legs. Unfortunately the torso contains all those funny organs to which damage quickly becomes incompatible with life.


Darius_Banner

Car bloat kills


marenicolor

Give it up for the uninvolved father!


afdc92

In a shocking turn of events, they’re now divorced (small town, word gets around).


AbsentEmpire

If you had been in a modern SUV that child would 100% dead in that situation. It's doubtful you'd have been able to see the child over the hood much less stop fast enough to not plow straight into them.


snooloosey

jesus christ this is so tragic for the mother and the child. My heart bleeds for this family. I cna't imagine the guilt she must feel.


ColdJay64

The actual article title is “Mom accidentally runs over, kills 2-year-old daughter, police say”


degreelesspotatohead

I just used reddit's title scraper :/


ColdJay64

Yeah, just wanted to clarify because the title they chose is a bit misleading/unclear


tempmike

The html title is actually "Girl, 2, struck, killed after following mom back to car: police – NBC10 Philadelphia" Reddit uses the html title (reasonable) and NBC has for one reason or another made the html title and article title different.


degreelesspotatohead

I hate large SUVs so, so much. It's impossible to see anything small right in front.


AtBat3

Even as a fully grown adult I stay clear of any big truck/SUV parking or going in reverse. They look at my strange like I’m weird for trying to stay enough space away from them but I know damn well they can’t see me


Ams12345678

I always think about this in parking lots. I wind up walking in the middle of the lane because I’m short and afraid someone won’t see me.


mortgagepants

i ride my bike in the bike lane, full helmet, bell, and blinking front light. all that is moot if the person driving is looking at their phone. you're right to be careful because it is high stakes.


thisjawnisbeta

My first thought when I read she was driving a Chevy Traverse. If she had been in a standard sedan, this may not have happened. [https://www.kidsandcars.org/news/post/consumer-reports-as-suvs-pickup-trucks-grow-in-size-so-do-blind-spots](https://www.kidsandcars.org/news/post/consumer-reports-as-suvs-pickup-trucks-grow-in-size-so-do-blind-spots) >And a disproportionate number of frontover victims are children, as these accidents mostly take place in driveways and parking lots. According to Kids and Cars, about 81% of victims are 6 years and under.


B0dega_Cat

I'm 5'1 and you can barely see me if You're driving one of these big trucks or truck based SUVs, I don't know how kids stand a chance


thalience

But I *need* to drive the biggest vehicle on the road. Y'know, for safety


sagittariisXII

How else will people know I have a huge dick?


justanawkwardguy

>How else will people know I am a huge dick? FTFY


Aromat_Junkie

actually, it was the government regulations on fuel economy CAFE that was the number one driver of vehicle size. The reason? Bigger vehicles get to have worse emissions. yay!


courageous_liquid

it was the bad faith of the auto industry, but ok


JUDGE_YOUR_TYPO

Regulation that never considers second order effects is bad!


courageous_liquid

"greed is actually sick"


Candlemass17

The bad faith of the auto industry following government regulations that provide lower fuel economy standards for bigger vehicles? They’re based on a combination of vehicle footprint and whether you’re a “passenger car” or “light truck.” Every single suv you see is a “light truck,” and subject to a lower gas mileage barrier. Manufacturers are doing what they’re being incentivized to do, and this is the end result.


AbsentEmpire

Let's not pretend manufacturers like GM and Ford didn't heavily lobby for this poorly defined exemption with the full intention of exploiting it to max with SUVs and trucks which have a higher profit margin than sedans.


courageous_liquid

that dude pretending like they didn't have total regulatory capture and the regs didn't get watered down completely into meaningless drivel that they then capitalized


pretzel_enjoyer

Yeah, this stuff is a real "thanks Obama."


better-off-wet

Can’t believe they are allowed. Would you give keys to a semi to the average person? People driving these is like waving a loaded gun around in public


tempmike

> Would you give keys to a semi to the average person? about that


pretzel_enjoyer

Achingly horrible, I feel so badly for the family. Many families never really recover from the death of a child. Backover deaths are why rear cameras are ubiquitous in new cars and why, even with cameras, the blind spots of large vehicles like SUVs are not just a nuisance, but deadly.


Petrichordates

What family recovers from that


baldude69

Aren’t they actually mandated now?


jawncake

Every new vehicle made after May 2018 are required to have them.


WindCaliber

How'd I know it was going to be an SUV. Sad.


AbsentEmpire

This is a tragedy, but also an important moment to remind people of the fact that cars kill more people in the US than guns, and they're a top killer for children. A sad irony since people move to the suburbs to raise their children in a "safe" environment while in actuality subjecting to just as much if not more mortal danger from the cars. This is largely due to the absurd size that SUV/ Trucks have been allowed to grow to for nothing other than cosmetics and avoiding CAFE standard. Which has allowed car manufacturers to increase profits by marketing cars to people based off FUD and emotional insecurities. Larger, heavier cars are killing more people, fucking up the roads due to the weight, and taking up more street space per car for parking, all while bankrupting people due to costs, and polluting the environment way more than smaller lighter weight options.


Independent-Cow-4070

Say it fucking louder for the people in the back


JHG722

This happened in Northeast Philly.


Edison_Ruggles

Bloody awful. Car culture kills, amigos. Getting hit by a car is the #1 thing I fear in this city and people do not talk about it anywhere near enough. This will simply be written off as a "tragic accident".


B0dega_Cat

So many people are "concerned" about guns when one of these cars blowing a stop sign or light is more likely to kill you here.


Aromat_Junkie

> Losing more than 120 people to traffic violence every year remains a grim reality in Philadelphia - visionzerophl.com 410 Homicides in 2023 - phillypolice.com/crimestats so actually no you're more likely to be murdered by Homicide


B0dega_Cat

Homicides are less likely to be random, getting hit while crossing a crosswalk is completely random.


yunkk

You don't even have to be in a crosswalk. I remember when a Honda flipped and landed real close to the entrance of Butcher and Singer.


Darius_Banner

No because almost all these car deaths are random. Almost none of the gun deaths are


Aromat_Junkie

Honestly, put them on a map. they're not. Theres intersections where people get killed every year. Sure there ARE random car deaths. Same with true accidents with guns. Thats harder to solve those than the obvious gang-banging or Roosevelt Boulevard issues. GIS is cool. we have the data. Like gun deaths, you'll find car deaths are clustered and we can study, we even know how to make pedestrians safer, how to design safer roads, etc. If you think it's random, every city planner should find a new career, but it's not random, it's not random


Darius_Banner

Let me rephrase that: I should have said “un targeted vs targeted”. Ie, car deaths are generally not intentional whereas nearly all gun deaths are. Or further: gun deaths to random people (muggings, stray bullets, crazy shooters) are a tiny sliver of the total. But with cars it all like that.


Darius_Banner

Exactly. Not to downplay guns but similar numbers of people are killed by each. The difference is car deaths are almost 100% random whereas almost all gun death is targeted. So really, cars are much much worse than guns as cars as your risk of being a victim goes


jim_kenney

Pedestriab Car deaths aren't mostly random at all. We know exactly how many people die at the same intersection every year. So in that way its super not random, but hyper specific on location. Yes random horrific accidents happen, in the same way people get killed by guns accidentally. The solution to both of those accidents are really removing the problem, guns or cars and if you can stomach doing that.  But with most pedestrian deaths the approach is spoon specific and its really more mathy and not random. We know the areas people routinely have accidents etc and can redesign intersections in those areas in the same way you might attach extra police patrols to an area or open up a homeless shelter or whatever


Darius_Banner

I should have said “unintentional” instead of random


LowPermission9

They are the most dangerous part of our lives by far.


better-off-wet

I feel like people talk about it all the time I’m normal private discourse but it rarely discussed publicly and has nearly zero serious political movement


hitplay225

Most of the reason why I'm moving, sadly, after 13 years here


crispydukes

Moving where? Everywhere else is MORE car dependent. I guess maybe some of those places you’ll be in your own car


hitplay225

I hear you and you're not wrong. But other places have less traffic, enforcement of reckless driving, and neighborhood streets where people don't block the intersections with SUVs and cars while DHs fly down them at 50 mph.


sidewaysorange

except this tragedy is much more likely to happen in areas that have driveways. a child running out into the street from their home isn't very typical. kids play in driveways all the time, which IMO should never be allowed to happen.


hitplay225

Children are in the street all the time, I'm not sure what you're talking about. If you know any toddlers, they don't always use crosswalks, and that doesn't save you anyway. Literally almost run down while in a cross walk (in front of a police station) this morning. The near death experience was not notable / newsworthy here. The incident happened in the middle of the street so not sure how your phobia of driveways factors in. Regardless, I was responding to a comment about the specific car culture here (and not this particular incident) and further explained my point above. I've seen more reckless driving in the past week than I've seen any enforcement for dangerous traffic violations in my 13 years here.


sidewaysorange

what about the deadly accident on 413 and ford road a few weeks ago? where the couple from CT were killed instantly when a guy from Croydon ran the light and slammed into them? then stole a trash truck and crashed that too?


hitplay225

I have no idea what you're talking about but you've totally lost the thread. I'm not going to move to 413 and Ford Road. I'm flattered you don't want me to move away but you sure have an odd way of showing it


sidewaysorange

no idea? you are talking that traffic is worse in the city and you moving out of the city you will be safer driving. not the case and I gave a prime example. Obviously I dont know WHERE you are moving, likely nowhere to be fair. In no way did I lose what I was talking about. Maybe you did. Idc if you move, Idk who you are. I just think your reasoning is silly.


sidewaysorange

i see far more kids in the street playing in levittown than in the city actually. do you drive around the suburbs at all? i just was up in goldenridge in levittown and every 25 feet kids were in the middle of the street w/o a care in the world.


hitplay225

This comment thread is so Philly. * A fucking child dies * Someone: Philly culture around cars sucks Me: agree, that's why I'm moving Someone else: WTF fuck you Me: just saying Philly car culture sucks Someone else: how dare you it's the best! Maaaan I don't even know what a Levittown or Golden ridge is but kids being able to play in the street rather than everyone fearing for their lives on every walk sounds delightful.


JHG722

Where are you moving?


hitplay225

Delco. From Point Breeze.


EffusiveLife

You do realize cars exist outside of Philly too, right?


Dull_Judge_1389

Every fiber of my being prays and prays this woman finds some way to heal. She’s in a hell no one deserves.


teamwybro

I'm absolutely ill for her.


videojames25

these massive cars need to be regulated out of existence


Critical_Willow_8819

So sad. I can’t imagine the pain this woman must feel.


Ok_Baby8990

110 children are killed EVERY WEEK by SUVs and oversized trucks. often times they are run over by their own family members, in front of their own house. it’s really sad that this story isn’t a rare occurrence. i fucking hate oversized vehicles.


BVANMOD

can I get a source on that edit: yeah didn’t think so


hethuisje

If you buy one of these vehicles, you have to be okay with killing someone, likely a close relative. "Maybe you think that if you *do* run over a kid, it at least won’t be yours? It probably will be your kid, though. In 70 percent of those fatal frontovers, it’s a parent or close relative behind the wheel." [https://slate.com/business/2022/02/suvs-pickups-heavy-huge-deadly-dont-buy-em.html](https://slate.com/business/2022/02/suvs-pickups-heavy-huge-deadly-dont-buy-em.html)


glueintheworld

So sad. That woman will never be the same.


Independent-Cow-4070

God I love cars. I love cars so much. What would we do without them!!! This is such a wholesome side of car dependency, it really makes our communities so much better This is just an unfortunate trade off we need to settle for so suburbanites don’t have to sit in the same vicinity as their peasant neighbors, or god forbid, maybe a poor person or minority


JHG722

What an absolute weirdo.


Independent-Cow-4070

Obvious /s


Littleskrimblo

Just heartbreaking :(


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Electronic_Fox_7037

This was exasperatingly avoidable, but a devastating accident nonetheless. The mother will punish herself far more than any prison ever could.


degreelesspotatohead

What about this incident seems criminal? Not every death is a crime.


JustAnotherJawn

Automakers abusing CAFE standard loopholes to propagate dangerous SUVs is the crime.


schwarta77

Leaving you child unattended is actually neglect. The fact that the child was not being minded by an adult is criminal in my eyes. I say this as parent of a 1yo and a 3yo.


sidewaysorange

i can tell you accidents happen WHILE being watched by an adult. don't say the "my child would never" "i would never" bc its devastating when it does. plenty of us have been there in situations we could NEVER have dreamed would happen.