Every week in the United States at least 50 children are backed over in driveways or parking lots. In many cases, their injuries and deaths are due to vehicle “blind zones.” Backovers are by far the most common cause of nontraffic fatalities for children aged 15 and under.

UC Davis Children's Hospital has joined forces with hospitals throughout California and KIDS AND CARS — a national nonprofit organization dedicated to assuring that no more children are hurt in nontraffic motor-vehicle events — to bring greater public awareness to the number of injuries and deaths due to vehicle backovers. Physicians and trauma prevention specialists will provide safety tips for drivers and show, with the help of a local kindergarten class, how easy it could be for a backover to occur. They will also demonstrate vehicle “blind zones” and technologies that provide visual or audio alerts to drivers that a child may be behind a vehicle.

Roxanne Woods is a registered nurse, coordinator of the Trauma and Injury Prevention Program for UC Davis Children's Hospital, and principal investigator for the UC Davis Nontraffic Injuries to Children Study. She will address efforts under way to reduce backovers in our area.

Janette Fennell, founder and president of KIDS AND CARS and an advocate for child safety in and around vehicles, will provide national statistics on backover incidents and information on federal legislation that would require automakers to expand their vehicles' rear visibility.

John Sherck, medical director of the Trauma Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, will represent the collaboration of seven (soon to be 10) California hospitals studying the backover issue in order to prevent future injuries and deaths.

Emily Andrada-Brown is a pediatric emergency medicine physician at UC Davis Medical Center who will discuss the kinds of injuries trauma physicians treat in children who are injured as a result of vehicle backovers.