Terase Wylie died in October 2023 after her neighbour reversed over her. File photo. Photo: 123RF
The deaths of children in driveways is "all too common" in this country, says a coroner, after a 6-year-old in Waikato was run over by the reversing car of a neighbour.
Coroner Ian Telford has found Terase Wylie died from blunt trauma to the head, and ruled it an accident.
At about midday on 3 October 2023, Terase was playing on her electric scooter outside her Tuakau home. At the same time, a neighbour was reversing her car down the driveway.
At the bottom, she hit and reversed over Terase, who went under the left rear wheel of the car.
Terase's mother Narissa "ran to the vehicle, yelling loudly and banging on the passenger window" and "in what appears to have been a state of panic, [the neighbour] drove forward, unwittingly running over Terase a second time".
An attending paramedic confirmed the death at the scene a short time later.
The driver of the car pleaded guilty to a charge of careless or inconsiderate use of a vehicle causing death at the Pukekohe District Court in November last year.
She was disqualified from driving for 10 months, ordered to undertake 175 hours of community work, and to pay $4000 in reparation to Terase's family.
In his finding, Telford wrote: "Sadly, these deaths - and the incalculable misery they cause - are all too common in New Zealand, which has one of the highest child driveway death rates in the world.
"While I do not wish to add to the suffering of those affected, is incumbent upon me to consider what lessons can be learned from this devastating, yet preventable, tragedy."
He expanded on existing advice from Starship Children's Hospital, "based on their first-hand experience of working with children who have been injured or killed in driveway incidents".
- Check for children before driving off.
- Remain vigilant and continually check for children and others while driving up and down driveways.
- Supervise children around vehicles - always.
- Separate play areas from the driveway - children shouldn't think of them as places to play
- Fence off the driveway from the main play area.
- Make it difficult for children to access the driveway by installing security doors or gates.
- Know where your children are before getting into the vehicle.
- Check around your vehicle before getting in.
- If you need to leave your vehicle make sure the hand brake is activated and the vehicle is switched off
- If you are around cars, hold your child's hand and keep them close.
- Have a designated safe area where children learn to wait when a vehicle is leaving your driveway, and where drivers can see them.
"By - quite literally - looking out for each other, we can prevent deaths on our driveways, along with the suffering they cause within our communities."
