A one-year-old girl was taken to Tampa General Hospital Tuesday afternoon to be checked for injuries after she was trampled over by a minivan.
The 22-month-old child was supposedly standing on the porch of a Tampa, Florida home when the driver, a 28-year-old woman, got into her Chrysler minivan around 2:30 p.m.
Shortly after entering her van, the woman allegedly backed away from her home without noticing the child had toddled behind the vehicle.
The girl had no visible injuries, but was taken to the hospital to be checked out. She was supposedly alert and crying.
Investigators have preliminarily ruled the incident as an accident, according to the St. Petersburg Times.
In most back-over accidents the victims tend to be the elderly and young children. According to KidsAndCars.org, in the United States at least 50 children a week are involved in a back-over accident, 48 are treated for injuries in an emergency room and at least two are fatally injured. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration evaluates that 292 deaths occur from back-over accidents yearly. Children less than five years old make up more than a third of those lives lost. More than one in four of back-over fatalities include those over 69. These two groups comprise almost a third of back-over fatalities.
Back-over accidents can cause serious injuries and even wrongful death. According to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control the percentages of the most common injuries from back-over accidents include:
• Contusions and Abrasions – 56%
• Leg and Arm Injuries – 53.6%
• Head, Face and Neck Injuries – 28%
• Fractures and Internal Injuries in Children Under 4 – 39.5%
• Fractures and Internal Injuries in Ages 10-14 – 17.5%
Collisions like back-over accidents can be highly emotional for families since a wide percentage of victims are children, and in many cases the driver is a relative, family friend or neighbor. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, 86 percent of drivers that hit children in a driveway back-over accident are friends of the family or family members. The Florida Back-Over Accident & Injury Attorneys at Whittel & Melton know that back-over accidents can be traumatic for everyone involved. Our staff can offer you and your loved ones the compassion you need during troubled times as well as the comprehensive legal advice and persistent representation needed for a personal injury or wrongful death case in the state of Florida.
If a back-over accident has taken a loved one from you or left you suffering from an injury, contact the Florida Back-Over Accident & Injury Attorneys at the Law Offices of Whittel & Melton, LLC online or call our Tampa office at 813-221-3200 or dial us toll-free at 1-866-608-5529.