“It just takes one second.”
Those are the words of Michelle McLaughlin, a Sydney mum raising awareness about the “national crisis” of child pedestrian fatalities in Australia.
One second was more than enough for McLaughlin’s world to forever change, when her four-year-old son Tom was fatally struck by a four-wheel-drive in 2014.
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Almost 10 years on, McLaughlin can recount the horror “like it was yesterday”.
It was January 6, 2014, the first day of a family holiday on the NSW Central Coast when Tom was helping his grandparents, sister and dad get ready to head down to the beach.
“They were walking up the driveway with their little boogie boards that he got for Christmas from Santa, so he was excited about that,” McLaughlin told 7NEWS.com.au.
“That’s when it happened. He took two steps sideways, which was easy to do off the council verge … and it just took seconds.
“What chance has a tiny, little boy just over a metre tall got against a big four-wheel-drive?”
The aftermath was “horrific”, as the family frantically rushed to try to save their little boy while waiting for paramedics to arrive, but it was to no avail.
On average, one child dies per week in road and driveway tragedies, according to a new study from McLaughlin’s Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation and UNSW’s Transport and Road Safety Research Centre.
McLaughlin and husband David founded Little Blue Dinosaur in 2014 to campaign for children’s road safety in Tom’s honour.
She said little has changed since Tom’s death and is calling for action.
“He’s on my mind every day,” McLaughlin said.
“I have to pull over when I’m driving on the radio if I hear a child’s been killed in some terrible road trauma because I cry.
“It affects me and I go back to that day, on the 6th of January 2014, and I see my son.”
A road safety ‘crisis’
The new study, which identified common trends in the circumstances and causes of fatal pedestrian crashes involving children aged up to 14 years in Australia, found more than half of fatalities involved children four years and younger.
The most consistent factor contributing to child pedestrian fatalities was inadequate supervision, with the majority of drivers reporting being unaware the child was in a vulnerable spot near their car or they became aware too late.
“This is the largest study of its kind to date, and is a crucial step towards understanding and reducing risks for child pedestrians on our roads,” McLaughlin said.
UNSW’s Transport and Road Safety Research Centre Emeritus Professor Ann Williamson said the findings highlighted worrying patterns to fatalities and revealed the need for immediate action to address identified safety issues
“We need an urgent review into strategies to reduce child pedestrian fatalities,” she said.
“Improvements are needed in road designs, including signage, markings and lighting.
“Designs of vehicles should be amended to improve all around visibility, not just when reversing.”
Driver awareness campaigns are also key in keeping children safe, Williamson said.
“The fact that driveway fatalities involving child pedestrians remain persistently high, with no evidence of a reduction in over the study period, is justification for quick measures,” Williamson said.
McLaughlin said the findings showed action needed to be taken at community and government levels.
“It’s a crisis … We’ve now got the report. Let’s action it. Let’s collaborate,” she said.
“We don’t do work for nothing for it to sit and fold away and gather dust.”
‘It can happen to anybody’
With more people out and about this festive season, it’s as important as ever to look after the little ones, McLaughlin said.
“I’m a very hyper-vigilant person, so is my husband and so were my in-laws … but it doesn’t discriminate,” she said.
“It can happen to anybody.”
Proper supervision of children is “paramount”, McLaughlin added.
Children can be excitable and unpredictable, especially during the holiday period, when emotions run high and social activities are abundant.
“We want them playing in the backyard, we don’t want them playing out on the roadway or in the driveway,” she said.
“In a lot of these fatalities, whilst there were parents around at the time of the crash, it seems like the more family members are around, the more the supervision is diluted.
“You think it’s safer, but what you need to do is nominate an adult to look after the children.”
