A coroner has called for more boundary fences between houses, after an inquest into the death of an 18-month-old boy who was run over and killed while playing on an Auckland driveway.
Sirj-Michaels Siaea died in September 2010 after he was hit by a reversing four-wheel drive Toyota Landcruiser.
He was taken to Middlemore Hospital with severe head injuries but was pronounced dead about 30 minutes after the accident.
In findings released today (Fri), Coroner Morag McDowell said a "major factor'' in Sirj-Michael's death was him having access to the neighbour's driveway.
The incident occurred when Rosemary Siaea took her 18-month-old son to visit her partner in south Auckland.
At 1pm she was sitting on the front steps of the property with her partner and a friend, having a cigarette.
Watched by his mother, Sirj-Michaels and another child played on the front lawn, next to the neighbour's driveway.
Shortly afterwards the neighbour decided to go shopping with members of her extended family. The group got into the four-wheel drive and the neighbour reversed out, hitting the boy.
The driver said she checked the way was clear before reversing, and she and the other three adults in the car had not seen anyone on the driveway.
A post mortem examination found Sirj-Michaels died from blunt trauma to the head.
A police report found he was only about four metres behind the bumper when the car started reversing and would not have been visible to the driver once she was in the car.
Alcohol and speed were not factors.
The properties were Housing New Zealand (HNZ) homes.
The Government's Child and Youth Mortality Review Committee says a high number of driveway accidents occur on HNZ properties.
Coroner McDowell supported a push by the committee for fences beside driveways, to give children safe-play areas.
She also recommended that HNZ put up a boundary fence between the two properties involved in Sirj-Michaels' death.
Housing New Zealand spokesman Sean Bignell said the corporation took health and safety very seriously and would be reviewing the Coroner's findings.
Design guidelines for HNZ properties, created with input from Safekids, were in place, he said. These included where possible, secure play areas for children, fenced backyards and safe pedestrian access to houses.
"When designing and building new state housings, driveways should have sight lines and clear visibility.
While we know that good design can help to prevent accidents on driveways, safety education is a very important factor and we support driveway safety education campaigns,'' said Mr Bignell.
According to Safekids, New Zealand has one of the highest rates of child driveway death and injury in the world.
On average four children die in such incidents every year, and 48 are hospitalised.
In most cases the driver is a parent or relative, and victims are usually aged between one and two-years-old.
Research has found the major contributing factors are a lack of driveway barriers, vehicle design flaws _ such as poor rear visibility _ and human factors, such as a lack of child supervision.
Sirj-Michael's death was a reminder for supervising adults to be "mindful of the inherent risks associated with children playing in areas designed for vehicles'', said Coroner McDowell.
