Can You Spot the Tot?

Backovers and frontovers are tragic accidents that happen when an infant or child is accidentally rolled over by a moving vehicle in a driveway or parking lot. They may seem like rare occurrences, but during the warm weather months in Utah, one occurs every seven days.

By taking a few precautions — and a few extra seconds — they can be prevented.

3 Things to Always Remember

1. Walk Around the Vehicle: Take the time to walk around your vehicle and make sure the area is clear before starting the car.
2. Listen and Be Aware: Roll down the windows and actively listen for infants or toddlers around the car.
3. Eliminate Distractions: If there’s audio on, turn it off. Put away the phone. Pause all conversations. Be safe while pulling out.

Additional tips

Reduce Blind Spots

• Make sure the side- and rear-view mirrors are properly adjusted.
• Adjust the driver’s seat as needed to see clearly out the rear window.
• If you have a backup camera, use it, but remember that even backup cameras have blind spots.

Educate Kids

Teach children not to play in, under or around vehicles. Children under 5 are at the most risk and the most common victim age is 1 year old.

Find the Kids

Make sure you know where all of your children are before you start to drive away, but with a full house — or a full neighborhood — you can never assume that everyone is out of harm’s way.

Big Vehicles = Extra Caution

Drivers of large trucks, vans or SUVs should be especially cautious — these vehicles tend to have the worst front and rear visibility.

Over the past 10 years, more than 60 Utah children have been killed and more than 500 have been injured by accidental backovers and frontovers. In the U.S., more than 580 children have died in backover/frontover accidents in the last five years, and over 15,000 are injured every year.

Let’s Spot the Tot and prevent future tragedies.

Spot the Tot®, a worldwide awareness campaign launched at Primary Children’s Hospital in spring 2005, offers driveway backover and frontover prevention tips to help reduce child injuries and deaths.