Warning from heartbreaking accidents when reversing cars!

Heartbreaking accidents

At around 8:00 a.m. on April 22, 2020, in Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town, a serious traffic accident occurred. A man driving a truck with license plate 37C-187.XX carrying construction materials while reversing ran over a 1-year-old boy playing on the road, killing the child on the spot.

It is worth mentioning that immediately after discovering the incident, the driver quickly got out of the car, carried the boy's body to another location, used dirt and sand to cover the blood stains, and quickly got in the car and left the scene.

These images were recorded by security cameras of local residents. Currently, Hoang Mai City Police have initiated a case, prosecuted and detained Bui Van V. (born in 1987, residing in Quynh Phuong Ward, Hoang Mai City), the driver of the car that caused the accident.

The truck with license plate 37C-187.XX caused an accident on the morning of April 22, 2020, in Quynh Phuong ward, Hoang Mai town. The image was extracted from a neighbor's camera.

Previously, on the morning of April 19, 2016, in Hamlet 6, Quynh My Commune, Quynh Luu District, there was also a rare accident when a 2-year-old child was walking out to the alley to see his father driving to work and was run over and killed on the spot by his father who reversed his car. The heartbreaking thing was that the father did not know that he had caused the accident to his child so he continued driving to work.

When the child’s mother opened the door, she found her daughter lying face down on the tracks of the truck. She immediately called for help, but the child had already died. Immediately, everyone called the victim’s father, Mr. Nguyen Van D., who had just driven the truck out of the house a few minutes earlier.

Upon receiving the news, Mr. D. drove back. Looking at the scene, the father was stunned and could not believe it was true. It is known that that morning, Mr. D. drove his car to carry sand and did not see his child playing behind him, so he reversed the car, causing the death of his first daughter.

Similar accidents have occurred in many localities across the country. Most recently, at around 4:45 p.m. on January 14, 2020, in Tan Hoa village, Hoa Hai commune, Huong Khe district, Ha Tinh province, an accident involving a vehicle reversing occurred, causing one student to die on the spot. The victim was NTN D. (10 years old), a 4th grade student at Hoa Hai Primary School.

At that time, D. and a group of students from Hoa Hai Primary School were riding their bicycles home from school. When they reached the intersection of the village road near Tan Hoa Bridge, about 1km from the school, they were hit by a truck with license plate 38C - 071.08, driven by Ha (living in Phuc Trach Commune, Huong Khe, Ha Tinh) carrying construction materials, which was reversing onto the road, causing the child to fall onto the road. The victim was then run over by the truck, resulting in his death on the spot.

Children playing around cars is very dangerous. Illustration photo

The above incidents show that the phenomenon of drivers causing accidents while reversing is quite common. The cause is due to lack of experience, poor observation, limited vision, many blind spots... These accidents especially often occur with cars that are not equipped with rear cameras.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Binh Ha - Head of Hoang Mai Town Police, the unit handling the accident that occurred in Quynh Phuong Ward on April 22, said: In addition to concealing the crime by hiding the victim's body and erasing traces at the scene, driver Bui Van V. violated traffic rules and reversed the car without paying attention, causing the accident that killed the child.

According to Mr. Dang Tho Truong, residing in Nghi Kim commune, Vinh city, a long-time driver, 98% of the distance traveled by a car is moving forward, only 2% is moving backward. Therefore, the reverse operation is less proficient.

Not to mention, there are "blind spots" or to be exact, blind areas, which are areas outside the vehicle that are obscured and not in the driver's field of vision. That is, the driver cannot observe blind spots through the rearview mirror or look directly, such as blind spots caused by rearview mirrors, blind spots behind the vehicle...

What are the principles for reversing a car safely?

Reversing a car is considered one of the important skills, because if you do not know how to reverse, the level of danger for the driver and other people on the road is very high.

The first thing to do when reversing is to observe what is behind the car. Most current car models are equipped with rear cameras, which can easily observe the rear. But for cars without rear cameras, you need to observe carefully, if necessary, you have to get out of the car to observe.

Adjust the rearview mirror so that you have a reasonable rear view, move at a slow, leisurely speed and remember to use continuous sound signals (horn). Along with that, lower the car window to listen, there may be someone reminding or helping you. Do not rely too much on the car's support system, small children, the elderly, and the disabled may be out of the car's detection range.

Be more careful in crowded residential areas, children's playgrounds, and ask for help from people around when having difficulty reversing. Especially for manual transmission cars, you need to be sure of your heel grip skills, control the transition between the accelerator and brake pedals to absolutely avoid mistaking the accelerator, causing the car to reverse like a bullet.

Teacher Ho Minh Dien, PTS Driver Training & Testing Center

In addition to equipping drivers with observation skills when reversing, Ms. Le Thi Nguyet - Head of the Department of Child Protection and Gender Equality, Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of Nghe An province also said: To prevent tragic accidents for children, parents should not only equip themselves with the habit of observing when reversing but also teach children how to avoid blind spots of the vehicle.

If you have a car in your home, make sure you know where your children are or have them move to a location where you can clearly see them before you move the car. Never leave children alone anywhere in or around the car.

In addition to paying attention, cars need to be equipped with a rear camera. Photo for illustration

To ensure traffic safety and limit the occurrence of unfortunate accidents, in the Draft Law on Traffic Safety and Order, the Ministry of Public Security has proposed that all types of cars must meet 12 conditions on quality, technical safety and environmental protection before being allowed to participate in traffic. Among them is the proposal that cars must have a camera to observe when reversing. The implementation roadmap starts from January 1, 2025.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nam Hong - Deputy Head of the Traffic Police Department of Nghe An Province Police: The proposal that motor vehicles must have a camera when reversing is stated in Article 51, Clause 11 of the Draft Law. Although the requirement to install a rear camera may cost more, it makes vehicle owners feel more secure when participating in traffic, especially with long vehicles such as trailers...

At traffic safety law competitions, skills related to reversing are of interest. Photo: D.C.

Thus, it can be seen that reversing a car without observing has actually caused heartbreaking consequences. Therefore, along with raising awareness of observation and improving driving skills, before there are mandatory regulations, vehicle owners should proactively equip their vehicles with rear cameras and warning systems (sensors), so that reversing becomes easier and simpler, limiting unfortunate accidents from happening.