Keeping Children Safe From Themselves

On the last Friday of 2018, a toddler in Florida climbed into her father’s three-wheeled motorcycle, believed to be a BRP Can-Am Spyder Roadster, which was parked outside the family home. Inside the house, Dad heard the engine rev. He looked out the window and saw his daughter driving the motorcycle down the street.

Dad ran outside and tried to grab the motorcycle but was dragged behind it on the asphalt until he fell off. The daughter was ejected, and the machine stopped when it ran into a retaining wall. Father and daughter both survived and are were treated for their injuries.

We don’t think we need to preach hard for everyone to “get the point.” Art Linkletter used to state, “Kids say the darndest things.” Well, they also do the darnedest things. Take a few minutes for a safety check about where you keep your keys to your vehicles, where you store things like gasoline or antifreeze that could be harmful, what heavy things might be too close to the edge of a shelf, and how sharp objects are kept.

Although the incident in Florida was horrific enough, it could have been much worse. Our kids and grandkids will not always do the safe thing, or even the expected thing, so it’s up to us to do our best to think proactively to keep them safe and out of trouble as much as we can.