Big Vehicle Blind Spots Leaving Kids Dead

Jan. 1 -- Dr. Greg Gulbransen tells the painful story of his son's death for one reason — he doesn't want other parents to make the same tragic mistake he did.

Gulbransen, a Long Island pediatrician, accidentally backed over his 2-year-old son, Cameron, with his SUV in his driveway in October 2002. The little boy died.

"Never saw him," said Gulbransen. "Never had a chance of seeing him. Apparently he had gotten out of the house, opened up both doors and got out to the driveway. I rode right over him."

Now he wants other parents to know about how potentially dangerous the driver's blind spot is when children are in the area, and motorists are backing up.

"I backed over my own child. And I did it. And the only reason why I want to talk about it is because I don't want someone else to back over their child," he said. "Because it's going to happen again."

At Least 60 Similar Deaths

There were four accidental deaths involving back overs during the month of December alone. A 23-month-old boy was backed over in South Bend, Ind. Then another child was seriously injured after being backed over by a mini-van in the Boston area.

Those tragic accidents were followed by a deadly one near El Paso, Texas, where a father accidentally hit and killed his 20-month-old son while backing up his pick-up. A 4-year-old girl was also killed near St Louis under nearly identical circumstances.

"It doesn't get much worse than this as far as incidents that we deal with, and I can only imagine what they're going through," said Granite City, Mo., Police Chief Dave Rebhausen.

Janette Fennell, an auto safety advocate and mother, has seen such accidents again and again. The government does not track such accidents but Fennell does, from her home in Kansas City, Kan., as founder and president of Kids & Cars. She says at least 61 children have been killed this year in blind spot, back-over accidents.

"I mean this is very, very serious and little kids do not have to die this way," Fennell said.