Are 4WDs killing our kids?
In 2005, an Australian television station, TCN9, repeatedly advertised an upcoming documentary on 4WDs and urged viewers to “See why 4WDs are killing our kids!”
In recent years, it has become common practice for sections of the media to dramatise anything negative they can find that relates to 4WDs. Even though, many television and newspaper reporters carry out their assignments with the aid of this type of vehicle.
When the story aired, it proved that the advertising was sensationalist, and did not warrant the attention-grabbing wording that had been aimed at the station’s viewers.
A reporter interviewed the owners of a Land Rover Freelander and a Toyota Landcruiser 100-Series wagon.
Then, cutouts, representing small children, were spaced out behind each 4WD and the owners were asked what they could see from their driving seat.
The cutouts were not visible from the driver’s seat of the Landcruiser, and the Land Rover driver could not see the cutouts closest to his vehicle. To emphasize the ‘danger’ 4WDs present, the vehicles were then reversed over the cutouts - to show how easy it would to crush a small child.
To back up their ‘test’, a reporter interviewed a doctor from one of Australia’s largest hospitals. The doctor stated that he had conducted a study which revealed a child is two and half times more likely to die when hit by a 4WD, than with a car. The doctor stated, “You are more likely to kill your child with a 4WD than with another car.” When questioned on why this would be the case, he replied, “I think it’s purely to do with the mass of the vehicle. They’re just bigger. They’re heavier.”
The doctor is obviously well-intentioned. The injury, or death, of a child would be horrific and extremely traumatic for everyone involved. However, the doctor was not asked for any statistics to back up his claims.
Then, a reporter interviewed the chief engineer of the NRMA - a highly-respected Australian motoring organization, with more than one million members. The engineer said that rear visibility was a problem with many vehicles, not just 4WDs. He said the Toyota Prado and the Honda CRV had the worst rear-visibility in the 4WD category. However, he then added that people should keep things in perspective; because the best-selling, large family car in Australia (GM’s Commodore) had poorer visibility than any of the 4WD vehicles!
Lastly, we were treated to the sight of a large teddy bear being crushed by vehicles reversing out of parking bays at a shopping centre. The TV crew placed the bear right behind the rear bumper of several vehicles, including a Honda CRV, an eight-seat passenger van, and a sedan. They then filmed each vehicle, as the driver (unknowingly) reversed over and crushed the bear. Yes, even the sedan crushed the substitute child!
Here at 4WD1.com, we were amazed at the slap-dash way the ‘facts’ were presented, by a television station that regards itself as a leader in investigative journalism.
The documentary did not mention that the number of Australian children killed by reversing vehicles (of all types) is .07 of one percent of all vehicle-related deaths.
We were not told whether alcohol, domestic problems or lack of parental control was a factor in any of the accidents.
The viewers were not reminded that a large percentage of 4WDs are not ‘bigger’, or ‘heavier’, than many passenger sedans. And that a child is not necessarily going to have a greater chance of survival if run over by a 1.5 ton vehicle, rather than a 2.5 ton one. In fact, it may be that the greater under-vehicle clearance featured on many of the larger 4WDs may lessen the chance of serious injury or death.
The TV reporters failed to reveal the results of the comprehensive examination of 172 vehicles makes and models (sold in Australia) carried out by the NRMA, to assess ‘the visibility available to the driver while reversing’. This report, and a subsequent one, is titled the ‘IAG Visibility Index Results Summary’.
The 172 vehicles examined comprised 20 small cars, 25 small-medium cars, 16 medium cars, 12 large cars, 40 4WDs, 10 people movers (passenger vans), 14 luxury cars, 19 sports cars and 16 commercial vans and small utilities (pickups).
The resulting report listed, (a) ‘Minimum Distance to view test object, (b) Test object invisible area (m2) out of 27m2, and (c) a star-rating out of 5.
The anti-4WD groups would probably choke on their words if they took the time to study the results of this thorough, scientifically conducted test. For example, Toyota’s popular 100-Series Landcruiser wagon received 3 stars out of 5 for rear visibility. In the test it rated better (read, ‘safer) than 100% of the passenger vans, 100% of the medium cars, 93% of the small vans and pickups, 92% of the large cars, 85% of the luxury cars, 52% of the sports cars, and even many of the small and small-medium cars.
Perhaps you should make a copy of these results, and have them ready for the next time somebody wants to give you a lecture on how ‘4WDs are killing our kids’.
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