Works-For-Me: Back Up Responsibly

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Undoubtedly many of you have heard about “Alec’s Law” which is being proposed by Bill and Adriann Nelson of New York who, a few years ago, lost their son when his grandfather inadvertently backed over him with his SUV. It has been all over the media. I first heard about it while watching my local news here in the Pacific Northwest. The ultimate goal of “Alec’s Law” is to pass a federal bill requiring auto makers to decrease blind zones in larger vehicles such as SUV’s, minivans and trucks. Some blind zones are reportedly as large as 69 feet.

I am not writing this post to argue one way or another for this bill, but I do want to urge all drivers to back up responsibly. Always walk around your vehicle and check behind your car before turning the car on, use a back up camera if you have one, back up slowly, back into parking places when possible, check the surrounding area for potential children, or buy a wide angle lens to put on your rear window.

I also want to urge all caregivers (parents, aunts, uncles, friends, etc.) of children to carefully keep an eye on little ones, especially when you know one of their favorite individuals will be leaving. After all, they have dubbed these back over accidents the “bye-bye syndrome” since often times the child just wants to say goodbye one last time.

Two children die every week in the United States because of back over incidents. I can’t even imagine having to deal with such devastation. I got all teary eyed just listening to the news report.

Let us be more responsible and alert so we can try and avoid these unnecessary tragedies. It works for me, will it work for you?

For more Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas, please visit Shannon of Rocks In My Dryer.

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Filed under Cars, Children, Life, WFMW