Tuesday, October 25, 2005

what do you think of this?

i heard on the radio that a rugby player's daughter got run over by him accidentally as he was reversing out of his driveway in his 4wd. this was being discussed on the radio yesterday, with experts giving their opinions etc. apparently everyone was blaming the car, because you can't see behind you, or more specifically behind and below you, because of the height and size of the car.

my question is simple:

what was a 19-month-old toddler doing on the driveway behind the car?

was she alone?

i don't want to be an apologist for 4wds. i do drive a rav but i think of it more as a baby 4wd.

but there's something about the public reaction to this that is not right.

15 comments:

Alex Mills said...

Are you suggesting that an actual person should be held responsible for this? Everybody knows that 4WDs have complete right of way, all the time. What was that girl thinking?

DJ said...

I think you should turn word verification on for comments...

I've actually run over a dog the same fashion. True one's toddler isnt one's dog and one should be looking out for your toddler at all times without exception. I wonder though (And not wanting to sound like a heartless prick here) if the toddler had fallen into the backyard pool and drowned would we be seeing the same level of media attention? I doubt it, its the odd nature of what's occured coupled with the pseudo celeb status of the adults concerned that's caused so much attention to be had.

elaine said...

AGAIN it comes down to responsible parenting... and taking responsibility for one's own actions.

Aleks - Anarcho-Syndicalist said...

Well, Phil Kearns is a celebrity, and as such the media can't hold him responsible. Now if he was a Muslim, someone who is unemployed or a member of a Trade Union that would be a different matter; the media would be the judge, jury and executioner. But society treats celebrities different, becuase they are better people.

Melba said...

exactly. i was going to make that point dxxxx. it's all cars, and it's all about making sure the kids are in sight or in the car.

unbelievable.

magical_m said...

i agree somewhat with aleks - if it was an average nobody who had accidentally run over their toddler it either wouldn't have made the news, or there would be a lynch mob outside their house and DOCS would be onto them like a flash.

poor kiddy though. how is a toddler supposed to know to get out of the way of any car?

Cape Man said...

There was a similar incident last year I think. It was also a large car as I recall, but again, we asked the same question "Who was watching the child?".
I don't care how popular the person is, we all have the same responsibilities.

There has always been a backlash against 4WD's, and the usual A Current Affair/Today Tonight treatment of this issue shows that in a Mike Moore way you can whip up the populus to be against anything.
Next week it will be the fact that small cars are death traps, and so it goes on.

mj said...

Well, of course it was an knee-jerk over-reaction by the media.

It's a very popular thing to do at the moment.

Justine said...

he must feel terrible. what a waste.

Aleks - Anarcho-Syndicalist said...

Magical_m, you better be careful. Agreeing with me is likely to reduce your popularity fast!

Melba said...

sounding a little bitter there mikey. keep it on your own blog.

thank you.

Alex Mills said...

I don't think it was a knee-jerk reaction by the media, but it's certainly the type of incident they can sensationalize and gain some emotional leverage with.

Expect an expose on A Current Affair in a week or so.

BEVIS said...

You're too late, Millwood. Today Tonight did an investigation into it the very same day.

(That's actually how I heard about it - I'd missed the news. Talk about jumping on board quick-smart!)

mj said...

You're welcome MG. How's the knee?

The rear visibility of a RAV4 is worse than any sedan. Not only to 4WD's have poor visibiilty from within, but they also block the visibiility of cars that have the misfortune of driving behind them. It's a bigger issue than this incident, but at least it has provided another public forum for the faults of those innapropriate cars to be highlighted.

Dsespite your assertion that it is obviously Mr Kearns' fault, I'll bet your child has slipped out of your sight many a time, but you just haven't had the extreme misfortune of having an operating automobile get into the mix.

Justine said...

golly, I'm getting scared of you people