The Spot the Tot program created by Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital in 2005 is designed to prevent motorists from accidentally rolling over a small child as they pull away from a curb or driveway because they’re unable to see them.
Many of these accidents occur in the spring and summer when children are more likely to be outside.
At an Intermountain Health news conference Tuesday, Dr. Nate Holeman, Emergency medicine physician with Intermountain St. George Regional hospital, said that in the last decade more than 500 children have been injured from rollover accidents, and 60 children have been killed. Dr. Holeman spoke from experience. When his nine-year-old daughter was 18-months, his sister had accidentally backed over her when leaving a family gathering.
“Fortunately, her injuries were not sustained and they were soft tissue and she’s doing fine now but not all incidents are the same,” said Dr. Holeman.
“Hello, I’m Chad and this is my wife, Jennifer. We are unfortunately the parents of one of those 60 that have passed away. Our daughter’s name is Natalie Petersen, and we are here today to share her story and hope to continue to keep her name alive, and to speak about something that is very passionate to us and to be able to hopefully help some other families and help some other children in the future,” said Mr. Petersen.
Their daughter was almost 3 years-old when the back-over accident in their driveway occurred. They were preparing for a Fall trip to Disneyland in California. And even though their truck had multiple cameras and sensors, when Chad backed out of the driveway to drop off an attached trailer at work, they didn’t notice that Natalie had left the safety of their garage.
“That small moment of being preoccupied with our plans of trying to leave for our trip, allowed for that moment to occur for her to be playing in that blind spot, where the cameras could not have seen her, even if the tailgate was up, I don’t think he would have been able to see her," said Mrs. Petersen.
"She was too close," said Mr. Petersen.
The Petersen’s are committed to turning that tragedy into a positive experience in order to help others.
“We found the spot the tot program and it really resonated with us because it just made it feel like it maybe could provide some good in this really sad, sad tragedy of losing her, and we feel really close to her when we share her story,” said Mrs. Petersen.
The Peterson’s went over the Spot the Tot steps they think can make a difference. One is simply waking around the vehicle.
“A few seconds could have made a lifetime of difference for us. And all it takes is slowing down just a minute, just a minute. And take a look before you make action, that’s all. Just walk around the car, make sure no one’s there,” said Mr. Peterson.
The other two are eliminating distractions such as putting a cell phone out of reach and avoiding talking to passengers until after backing out.
“And just remembering that even though we have these great backing up cameras now and they appear to show so much, there are still areas where kids can be hidden and not seen, like Natalie," said Mrs. Petersen.
“It’s almost a lifestyle change in a way. It starts by walking around your car, it starts by putting your phone down, and it continues by being a safe driver. Be proactive, be defensive. Realize that people can jump out in front of you, there’s things that people need to be aware of,” said Mr. Petersen.
He added the tough part is not seeing the differences these changes make.
“But some of these things we do, you will never know the lives that you save," said Mr. Petersen.
