2 Y O Seriously Injured By Riding Mower

[Ductape]

I can't even imagine the guilt.........

2-Year-Old Seriously Injured By Lawn Mower - New Hampshire News Story - WMUR Manchester


"Police said the child's grandfather was operating the machine when the child had been running down a slight downgrade, slipped, and slid into the mower deck."

 

[Mousefield]

Sometimes it is hard to prevent the true accident. This is a tough story for all concerned.

 

[turbo36]

I go crazy every time I see my neighbors cutting the grass with a small child on their knee.

 

[Duffster]

I go crazy every time I see my neighbors cutting the grass with a small child on their knee.

The outcome of this particular situation would have been better if the child would have been on Grampa's knee.

 

[turbo36]

The outcome of this particular situation would have been better if the child would have been on Grampa's knee.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. There are lots of examples were the child fell off and got run over. Children run to the tractor because the think they will get a ride, they should be trained to go inside or to an area of safety.

 

[Duffster]

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. There are lots of examples were the child fell off and got run over. Children run to the tractor because the think they will get a ride, they should be trained to go inside or to an area of safety.

How am I wrong?

Like I said in this particular situation would have been better if the child would have been on Grampa's knee. There is hundreds of thousand examples of children riding along and not being run over.

 

[Ryan03]

Two years ago, I probably would have been mostly in agreement with Turbo36. I know am the proud father of a 16 month old little girl, and let me tell you, it is amazing how little ones can still get themselves into trouble in the blink of an eye when they are right by your side and you are watching them like a hawk. I am in my early 30's and in excellent shape, and I sometimes have a tough time rounding up that 2 ft tall little munchkin who can run at a good clip and turn on a dime.

I am not trying to bash you Turbo36, just pointing out that sometimes in spite of peoples best efforts to keep the little ones safe, tragic things can and do still happen.

I do not ride my little one on my mower. I will take her around the yard on the atv though with her held firmly in front of me, and I do not exceed 3 to 4 mph or leave the smooth terrain of the yard. My fear also is that allowing her to ride on the tractor may make her inclined to run toward it while mowing. I will not even consider letting her ride on the larger Farmtrac either.

 

[Cidertom]

Not trying to add fuel to the fire but:

Certainly there have been many,many children who have had an uneventful, and even fun, ride on everything from a small riding mower to those huge ag machines. And if we /could/ look at the real numbers, the incidents are a small fraction of 1%. The issue revolves around acceptable risk. For ME, my risk factor allows for small child riding when no PTO, ground engaging etc. Once the tractor is in use we have a clear zone rule around the work area. Call me chicken, but after 30 years in the emergency medical business, I am unwilling to deal with the potential outcome.

In some ways, I would be more understanding of the " my grandpappy did it, my daddy did it, I'm gonna do it" if it were not for the 1-800-torts -r-us (appologies to those good atty's out there) suits where the equipment manufacturer gets sued for the op backing over/running over the child.

At the same time I have been teaching our child "stupid hurts". Been very careful not to allow him to get hurt too badly but, if he wants to drop a sledge on his foot by playing with it... We have a small place at 30 acres, 3 horses, a very large great dane (ok so I could say 4 horses) and a shop. Which adds up to countless ways for him to get an owie.

parental involvement is required.

 

[gauthier]

Simple,think of what could happen and not what you want to happen,with age comes wisdom,believe me now or later when the ubexpected happens,its your job[one of many] to get that child to later teenage years,alive and unmaimed,do that and you've done about all that is required of you as a parent,throw a little love in there,you got it.

 

[Hawghauler]

Very sad story for the whole family. I guess I am a bad father because my four kids always rode with me on my JD300 lawn tractor. The kids loved every inch of the ride, acre after acre. I did too. When my daughter was 11 she was driving my 1950 Farmall BN like a pro. I guess we were lucky. My youngest baby is now 20. I suppose I know better now.