[DCEite]

Although this can happen with any vehicle, the risk is greater with SUV/MUV/tall cars since the visibility is low.
So requesting T-BHPians to be extra careful while reversing, specially if there is a kid around.

NEW DELHI: In seconds, Sunil Kumar faced the reality of inadvertently killing his little daughter, Shubhangi. She would have been two years in another two months. But on Saturday night, life changed forever as Kumar ran over his child while reversing the family car. What is worse, the father is likely to face arrest soon.

The incident, which has left the family shell-shocked, happened late on Saturday night as the Kumars returned from an outing at a nearby park. Kumar's wife, Anita, got down to unlock their ground floor apartment in Mayur Vihar Phase II accompanied by her elder daughter Sonia. Sunil was reversing the car, a Tata Sumo, unaware that Shubhangi was walking towards the car.

"Shubhangi was full of life. She had recently learnt to walk and would toddle around all the time on the colony road in front of the house,'' said Meenu, a neighbour. That night as the reversing car hit the Shubhangi, she fell down and hurt her head against a stone on impact.

"We heard Anita screaming and rushed out, where we saw both parents trying to revive Shubhangi, who was bleeding. She was immediately taken to Max, where she died later,'' added the neighbour.

Ironically, the tragedy has become underlined for the family as the police registered a case of death by negligence against the father on Sunday under section 304(A). A senior police official confirmed that, "A case has been registered and the father, Sunil Kumar, will be arrested soon.''

For the Kumars, the pain has doubled as they try to cope with Shubhangi's death. "You can imagine the grief that Sunil is feeling. Shubhangi was his favourite, and he used to spend all his free time with his family. Now we will have to also fight for Sunil's freedom,'' said a relative.

Meanwhile, Vikas Pahwa, a senior counsel in Supreme Court said that the police can file a case against the father under section 304(A) as the death of the child has been caused by a rash and negligent act. "The police are duty bound to register every case where a cognizable offence is made out prima facie. It's only after the police start investigating a case and reach a conclusion that the offence is made out, and a chargesheet is filed,'' he said.

According to neighbours, the Kumars had shifted last year to the locality, which was near Sunil's parents' home in Kalyanpuri. Kumar, who ran a cable business, would take his family out every weekend. "The elder daughter is in class I in St Mary's school. Both Sonia and Shubhangi used to play around with neighbourhood kids. Especially Shubhangi who had a smile for everyone. They looked like the perfect family,'' said another neighbour, Sakshi.

Girl crushed under father's car-Delhi-Cities-The Times of India

[mjothi]

Man this is very very sad situation.
But what will happen to the father? The police says this is negligance, so how do he fight it?
Yes, reversing is always difficult with hyper active kids like this. So we need to not only be careful, but also very very slow in reversing.

[team suzuki]

Well thats a very sad incident,imagine the pain what the father must be going through.And thats reason why you must take extra care while reversing i guess it can happen with any car.Specially SUV and tall car owners should try their best to fit reverse cameras it helps in many ways.

[Akshay1234]

terrible to hear about such things and sorry for being harsh but IMO the mother shouldve been watching the child especially since the child was only 2.

[pranavt]

Terrible thing to happen, feel sorry for the family. And there's no way you can see a 2 year old in any RVM of a Sumo. The elder daughter or mother should have taken care of the baby, but then hindsight is always 20/20 vision.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by DCEite

Although this can happen with any vehicle, the risk is greater with SUV/MUV/tall cars since the visibility is low.
So requesting T-BHPians to be extra careful while reversing, specially if there is a kid around.

Terrible tragedy. I noticed that all SUVs and vans in Asian countries like Singapore and Thailand have special reversing mirors that are fitted on teh tailgate and point back at the driver. Helps the driver see directly below the SUV. I believe this is mandatory in those countries. Only the Merc MB100 van offered this in India.

[aaggoswami]

This is very,very sad. Frankly, I was left speechless for a couple of minutes.

Police is not supposed to book father. Why the Police is not so active when there are many incidences of negligent driving all over India.
This was an accident, pure accident.
At this small age, it is quite difficult to teach kids when and how to stay away from vehicles. Moreover keeping the windows rolled up and music running inside just spoils the story.

To further prevent these type of accidents,

1) Roll down windows for voice to come from outside.
2) Shut down the music system while reversing.
3) Have reverse camera installed.



Even in case of Baleno, when my father was once reversing in Dwarka and I was standing behind the car to warn my father, he hit me, but as I could tap hard on the spoiler, he realised something is wrong and stopped, I almost fell. This was because my father kept Windows rolled up, music running and no camera and rear windshield was dirty.

[rajj_mba]

Very very sad, indeed. Just makes me wonder how life can change within a fraction of a second.
I have noticed kids playing (unattended) in our parking area and even registered a complaint in my society fearing such incidents. I do not intend to point fingers here but parents need to be very careful and keep an eye on their wards.

[DCEite]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Terrible tragedy. I noticed that all SUVs and vans in Asian countries like Singapore and Thailand have special reversing mirors .....

Yes you are right..
I have seen that kind of mirrors in some Ford Endeavors too.

[ramie2400]

Thats a real painful news,one wrong move and life is changed forever,poor soul had to go thru all this,hope the father gets courage and come of the trauma.

I have kids playing in my society,i make sure to first look around the car and slowly move the car,almost 99% i park it the face front so that i dont have to reverse.

RIP to subhangi

[Surprise]

OMG. Could not even imagine the state of the fathers mind.

Originally Posted by aaggoswami

1) Roll down windows for voice to come from outside.

Thats very important.

[johy]

Very sad.

While reversing, one must:

1. Turn off music.
2. Open windows.
3. Use a reverse-looking mirror (can get aftermarket fitment) or reverse mirror/camera. At the bare minimum one can fit those stick on plastic-based mirrors that is stuck on (with water) in the rear glass - it helps.

[lambuhere1]

Similar incident happend in forum sometime lastweek, which my friend witnessed. Innova while reversing couldnt see Maruti 800 and banged it. Luckily nothing happened to the occupants

Better safe than sorry always. Be careful esp when kids are around

[suman]

Oh my God, that's terrible. The family must be devastated. But I just cannot fathom why anyone would leave a toddler unsupervised (even for a split second) & that too in the vicinity of a moving car.

OT: One of the reasons I swear by the reverse guide camera on my Safari - shows everything in the vehicle's path very very clearly. And it's so essential to see where you're reversing on these behemoths, no matter how good your judgement or skills are.

[ravibhat]

Very sad situation, Based on trainaing I gave my nearly 4 years old daughter still runs to safe place (come close to elders, stand on stairs from parking lot, go inside gate if she is in road) when any vehicle moves nearby.

Trucks/bus/SUV/MUV backside its risky to park even bikes.

Such incidents happen without any idea.

Regards,

Ravi.