Drivers, it’s time to put your mobile phones away when you’re on the road.
A two-year-old boy in Fujian, China, was knocked down by a distracted driver last Monday (April 10), Shanghaiist reported.
CCTV footage showed a man getting into his car while talking on his mobile phone. He did not notice the toddler who had walked to the front of his car.
As he drove, the toddler fell onto his back and the vehicle ran over the boy. The driver was later seen getting out of his car to help the injured child.
A medical checkup revealed that the boy only suffered minor injuries from the accident.
This is one of the recent cases of drivers knocking down young children in China.
Earlier this month, an 18-month-old girl in Hubei was playing on the road outside her father’s shop when a car reversed and ran over her with both rear and front tires.
The girl got away from the ordeal with only some scrapes on her face.
Unfortunately, not every child managed to survive such accidents.
Last Tuesday (April 11), a three-year-old toddler in Zhejiang ran towards a car that was making a turn. He was struck down by the vehicle, leaving behind a pool of blood on the road.
Realising something was amiss, the driver got out of his car and called the police for help. But it was too late for the child who died shortly after he was taken to the hospital.
Local police said that these children are too young to understand the dangers of the road and should always be accompanied by a guardian.
Toddlers are often too short to be seen over a vehicle’s engine or through the rear view mirror, they added.
Although some of these children were not seriously hurt by the accidents, online users have voiced their concerns about internal injuries or future health problems in the young victims.
minlee@sph.com.sg
