ROAD WARRIOR: Dangers of backing up underestimated

A cross, stuffed animals and flowers create a makeshift memorial Thursday for Jorge Canalas in the driveway of his family's home on Covey Lane. The 18-month-old boy died one week ago today after his dad backed a van over him there.

Photo by Cariño Casas.

It would be easy to chalk up little Jorge Canalas' death one week ago today as a fluke. Easy, but horribly wrong to do.

Canalas, only 18 months old, was crushed in the driveway of his family's Las Vegas home as his dad backed up a van. The father, Miguel, never saw his son in the van's path.

Janette Fennell said the type of accident was a "classic case" that's sadly growing more frequent across the nation.

"The number one thing we want people to understand is this problem is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better unless we start doing things," said Fennell, founder and president of Kids and Cars, a child-safety advocacy group.

According to Kids and Cars, at least 72 kids died nationwide after being struck by a backing-up vehicle last year, up from at least 58 such deaths in 2002. And so far this year, there have been 20 similar fatalities.

The death toll outpaces that of a better-known type of off-street traffic tragedy: kids who die due to heatstroke after being left in cars. Last year, at least 42 kids nationwide died that way.

Regarding backing-over accidents, "typically, we have two or three of these type of fatalities every year," said Sgt. Frank Weigand from Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's fatal accident detail. "Unfortunately, they're usually family members that do it, and it's very tragic, like the incident that happened over the weekend."

Or like last September, when a 2-year-old girl was critically hurt when she was backed over by her family's driverless SUV in North Las Vegas. Police suspected that a sibling being loaded into the vehicle by a parent may have kicked it into gear.

Fennell suspects such accidents are getting more common because people are buying Hummers but driving like they're in Hyundais. "All the vehicles we're driving are bigger, higher, wider, longer," Fennell said. "Larger vehicles have larger blind spots. People, quite frankly, aren't used to that."

A study by ConsumerReports.org appears to confirm that. A driver of a Honda Accord who's 5 feet 8 inches tall can't see a 28-inch traffic cone behind the car when it's inside of 12 feet away. But the same driver in a Chevy Avalanche can't see the same cone inside of 30 feet.

"The ones that we have, they usually are pickup trucks or SUVs," Weigand said of local accidents. "That would fit right in that they have larger blind spots."

Fennell also notes that driveways aren't just for cars anymore. "Kids used to have big back yards to play in. That's not true in many areas anymore. So the driveway becomes a playground," she said.

Most victims are between 1 and 2 years of age, something Fennell attributes to what she calls "bye-bye syndrome."

"They're just learning to walk and how to open up doors and gates. Dad says, `Bye-bye, I'll be right back.' The baby doesn't want to be left behind, and Dad assumes he's safely inside."

So Dad looks around his truck, then gets inside just as Junior figures out the door knob and scampers behind the vehicle. "That's the number one scenario," Fennell said.

Prevention strategies are simple but important.

"If you have children like that and a high-profile vehicle like an SUV or a truck, the number one thing you should do is before you get into the vehicle, do a walk-around and make sure your kid isn't following you, and make sure there's nothing around the vehicle," Weigand said.

There are also a number of tools that can help a driver safely back a car. Wide-angle rear-view mirrors, wide-angle lenses that attach to rear windows, rear-mounted camera systems, and "beeping" back-up signals are commercially available, according to the Specialty Automotive Marketers Association, an auto accessory trade group.

Such devices are rarely found in cars as standard equipment. "There are so many things regulated on vehicles. You've got to have safety belts. You have to have air bags. But there's no regulations on rear-view visibility on a vehicle," Fennell said.

Fennell recommends tools that help the driver, and not ones that only warn pedestrians. "Kids actually don't know a beeping truck (backing up) means danger," she said.

Fennell's group also warns drivers to teach kids never to play in, around or behind a car, and that parked cars can move; never leave kids alone in or around cars; know where kids are and make sure another adult is supervising young ones; keep car keys away from kids; and keep toys and sports equipment off driveways.

Weigand said drivers should get out of the habit of simply getting into their car, starting it up and backing out.

"Basically, driving is common sense. If people would use common sense and not be in such a hurry, and take the extra 30 seconds to look around, it would be a lot easier."

If you have a question, tip or tirade, call the Road Warrior at 387-2904, or e-mail him at or Please include your phone number.