Losing a child is the worst nightmare of any parent, but the number one cause of death in people under the age of eighteen occurs during something that most of us do every day without much thought: driving.

Driving is the primary source of transportation for a majority of American families; we even teach our kids to drive in order to independently do so by the age of sixteen (sometimes even fifteen). While this may seem like no big deal, the statistics tell a different story. Motor vehicle accidents account for 25% of deaths from unintentional injury in children, a staggering average of almost 3,000 per year in the United States and more than 260,000 worldwide.

While many of these deaths are preventable through mindful driving and the proper use of safety equipment, such as car seats and seatbelts, countless people who were doing everything right lose their lives each year. And behind every statistic? There's a story.

It Could Happen to You

Laurie Ulrich of Ancaster, Ontario, knows this all too well, a mother who lost her ten-year0old daughter Emily in a highway crash that also claimed the lives of her young niece and nephew, along with their mother, on December 22, 2005.

The group had been travelling home from a hockey game that her thirteen-year-old nephew Fernando had played in. But they encountered bad weather conditions, typical of winters in the area. High winds picked up, sending loose snow from neighboring fields onto the highway where it formed a snowdrift on the otherwise clear roads. The vehicle collided with the newly formed obstruction at full speed, sending them sliding sideways into the other lane and directly into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

And though both vehicles were believed to be driving within the speed limit, highway speeds of 50 mph meant that the family died on impact. The accident sent the occupants of the other vehicle to the hospital in critical condition, where the driver eventually succumbed to his injuries, leaving his two children without their patriarch.

Snowless Can Be Just as Dangerous

On April 28th, 2018, an accident in Los Angeles claimed the lives of a man in his thirties and his two young children when an oncoming vehicle sped up to go through a red light, hitting the family while they were attempting to make a turn. Their vehicle was broadsided, and the momentum of the collision dragged them nearly twenty-five feet before the vehicles came to an abrupt stop on a curb. Then both vehicles burst into flames, preventing nearby citizens from assisting the family out of the car.

There's a reason we say "nightmare" instead of "situation." It's that bad.

A Global Problem

While these accidents occurred more than a decade apart, on opposite coasts, and in two different countries, they tell the very similar story of a family out for a drive that met unexpected tragedy. Both families were driving in an area local to them, their children were properly secured in the vehicles and the drivers were following the laws of the road.

Even still, their lives were suddenly cut short in seemingly unpreventable accidents. Statistics show that these two stories are far from unique and they impact families around the world.

For the sake of our children and those around the world, we must all do our part for road safety. The loss of any child is a tragedy that occurs far too often, and statistically, it could happen to you too.

Driving overly defensively, ensuring all safety precautions are being taken into account within your vehicle, spreading awareness to other parents in your community and beyond, and walking whenever you can (it's good for you!) goes a long way in minimizing the risks…

…and helps us avoid becoming another story behind another statistic.

Sources:

http://www.who.int/violence_injury_prevention/child/injury/world_report/Road_traffic_injuries_english.pdf

http://www.makingthelink.net/topic-briefings/road-safety

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/11-years-later-unused-memorial-donation-fund-is-an-open-wound-for-mother-of-emily-porto-1.4027889

https://www.cdc.gov/safechild/child_injury_data.html

https://www.childtrends.org/indicators/motor-vehicle-deaths/

http://www.iciworld.com/inmemorium/emilyporto/crash_kills_3_kids.htm

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/11-years-later-unused-memorial-donation-fund-is-an-open-wound-for-mother-of-emily-porto-1.4027889

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-fatal-fiery-crash-20180428-story.html

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Children-Among-injured-South-LA-Crash-483176521.html