Don't know what I would do if this happpened...

tieguy

Banned
I don't know if I'm overprotective but the wife and I never left the kids outside unwatched at that age. This one is a heartbreaker.
 

browniehound

Well-Known Member
This is the precise reason why we need to "get the big picture" and not joke about it when management tries to drill it in our brain. If I was the driver in this very unfortunate accident I would not be able to live with myself. I think stories like this need to be PCM'ed to the driver group on a weekly basis. Awareness is the key. Yeah, we'll shrug off a backing accdent where we knocked down a wire, but an incident like has to hit home with every UPS driver.
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
You were not overprotective, you were being a parent. I know I asked the ?'s who, where, when, what time, long before it was "taught". the sad part is the driver who will have to live with this his entire life. The parents will also have to deal with guilt. But they will blame him.
The newest pocket rockets/razors, are going to be fun this summer. I can only hope we all avoid it, but they are only a foot off the ground and those kids dart in and out of "TRAFFIC" on them, and hard to see. God Help us all not to be part of the statistics. Its always heart breaking to see a young child shot down so early in life by something an involved parent could have stopped. But kids will be kids, and sometimes they make it. I know I did things that if my parents had known about it would have given them heart failure, but seems today there is just no guidance at all. Not in all cases of course but far too many.
 

DS

Fenderbender
brownie you are so right on this.
You have to be totally conscious of where
you are after every stop,every accident I
ever had was from being stupid,and trying
to go too fast .. I agree that
this incident should be brought up at pcms
everywhere.I`m not sure if this driver followed
the methods when this happened,he may well have,
but I doubt it.
 

RockyRogue

Agent of Change
I'm the proud godfather of two little boys (one almost 7, the other just over 4 yrs old). When I see them (rarely) and I'm entrusted with their care, they stay close. I'm not paranoid, I let them go on sidewalks away from traffic but traffic has me permanently freaked. The older one sometimes doesn't like it but he cooperates if I tell him we'll go home if he doesn't cooperate and hold my hand. He grumbles but takes my hand or finger (depends on the age). Yards? Back yards are my first choice. Front yards? They have to stay on the sidewalk, lawn or driveway. Go in the street? That's it. Playtimes over and in we go! They don't like it but they've learned to accept it. SAFETY AND THEIR SECURITY ARE MY #1 CONCERN!!! I know, I know this may suggest I'm overprotective but neither have ever been hurt when in my care. I have multiple very young cousins and I can say the same: they've never even been bruised when I've been watching them. Sorry for the long post...I can't imagine what the parties in the article are going through:sad: .
 

Sammie

Well-Known Member
A similar situation took place in our district some years back but I won't mention people, places, etc. for obvious reasons...

After a heavy storm, the snow is plowed and piled up at the end of the streets.

One family on a back street had a young daughter who loved to slide off of these huge mountains of snow and this is how she entertained herself throughout the day. Her family never thought to moniter her and let her play on these big piles of snow.

One day a UPS driver shows up to deliver a package on this street. He doesn't know she would come sliding off this mountain of snow and she's too young to know much of anything.

And you guessed it, a fatality.

When it was all said and done, the driver was not changed.

But UPS was gonna show this driver " a thing or two" and rather than assign him a new route under the circum-
stances, they give him the same route again. He will have
to face those same parents each and every day.

But here's the twist.

For years afterwards, I opened the mail from these same
parents who saw this driver on their route again after this. THEY wrote letters to UPS admitting their guilt in not supervising their child and they were very concerned about the UPS driver, hoping that HE was O.K.

There are some unbelievable people among us...
 
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SmithBarney

Well-Known Member
brownie I agree with you as so much as its serious,
but I don't agree that we take it lite-hearted, we had
a UPS video last year, that "over dramatized" a situation
just like this, it was so poor it was hard to take it seriously.

We all know our jobs, and well I know I would have a hard
time living with myself if this happened to me, even though
accidents happen it is one of my biggest fears.(I used to be
on a very child-loaded route, 3 grade schools and a highschool
on my route)
 

Covemastah

Hoopah drives the boat Chief !!
what the hell are 4&5 yr olds out in the street with bikes to begin with?? the parents should be charged with neglect even if it was a quiet cul de sac thats just stupid!! my heart goes out to that poor driver,lets hope the don't hang him before they get the facts from the p.d
 

Channahon

Well-Known Member
I'm the proud godfather of two little boys (one almost 7, the other just over 4 yrs old). When I see them (rarely) and I'm entrusted with their care, they stay close. I'm not paranoid, I let them go on sidewalks away from traffic but traffic has me permanently freaked. The older one sometimes doesn't like it but he cooperates if I tell him we'll go home if he doesn't cooperate and hold my hand. He grumbles but takes my hand or finger (depends on the age). Yards? Back yards are my first choice. Front yards? They have to stay on the sidewalk, lawn or driveway. Go in the street? That's it. Playtimes over and in we go! They don't like it but they've learned to accept it. SAFETY AND THEIR SECURITY ARE MY #1 CONCERN!!! I know, I know this may suggest I'm overprotective but neither have ever been hurt when in my care. I have multiple very young cousins and I can say the same: they've never even been bruised when I've been watching them. Sorry for the long post...I can't imagine what the parties in the article are going through:sad: .


When I lived out of state and my grandkids would visit, we developed a set of rules.
And they adhered to the rules, as it provided structure for their visit. We would have an outside activity every day, to give them a break from TV, gameboys and computer games.
To this day when they visit, they still reference the rules. They are now 13 and 10 and started to visit at 7 and 4.
As my grandson got older and couldn't go into a ladies room anymore, my husband will always go with him in the mens room. If my husband is not with us, I use a family/unisex restroom.
You never know who could be in a restroom, waiting for a young child.
 

woodenfoot

Active Member
:sad: i lost my 23year old to a 15 min femail medical procedure it is the worst thing to see your children pass away there is nothing you can do but miss them and cry a lot
 

tieguy

Banned
A little more information on this tragic event so we can all learn from it:

On Wednesday a new package car driver, 21 years old, was delivering in a residential neighborhood. As he pulled up to the stop he saw a 4 year old boy and his 5 year old sister riding their bikes. He went and made the delivery and upon returning to the car he walked across the street and behind the package car and entered on the passenger side. On his return trip he saw the boy but did not see where the girl had gone. He got into the seat and proceded to pull away. The girl was in front of the package car. Unfortunately in this situation the little girl was killed after we struck her. As we get into the warmer weather of spring and especially in the summer our drivers have to use all of their professional skills in residential neighborhoods. We need to stay out of residential driveways and if we are not sure of something we need to stress the importance of getting out and looking. We also need to reinforce the need to keep the camera and sound on the backing monitor. During the summer we see increased incidences of kids getting onto our bumpers. The girl killed in this incidence was a niece of a UPS driver in a different district. Our driver and the girls family our going to have to live with this unnecessary incident forever.
 
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Channahon

Well-Known Member
A little more information on this tragic event so we can all learn from it:

On Wednesday a new package car driver, 21 years old, was delivering in a residential neighborhood. As he pulled up to the stop he saw a 4 year old boy and his 5 year old sister riding their bikes. He went and made the delivery and upon returning to the car he walked across the street and behind the package car and entered on the passenger side. On his return trip he saw the boy but did not see where the girl had gone. He got into the seat and proceded to pull away. The girl was in front of the package car. Unfortunately in this situation the little girl was killed after we struck her. As we get into the warmer weather of spring and especially in the summer our drivers have to use all of their professional skills in residential neighborhoods. We need to stay out of residential driveways and if we are not sure of something we need to stress the importance of getting out and looking. We also need to reinforce the need to keep the camera and sound on the backing monitor. During the summer we see increased incidences of kids getting onto our bumpers. The girl killed in this incidence was a niece of a UPS driver in a different district. Our driver and the girls family our going to have to live with this unnecessary incident forever.

Very tragic and sad for all involved.

Probably would not be a bad idea to beep the horn, to get the attention of little kids playing near our vehicles.
 

upsdude

Well-Known Member
I can’t imagine the pain everyone is feeling. My family will pray for all involved.

I use a method I call “counting the kids”. If kids are playing near my vehicle when I park, I count them. When I return to the car and prepare to pull away, I count them again. If I come up short on the numbers I stop what I’m doing and try to account for the missing children. At the very least I make sure they aren’t hiding around the package car.

We love to bash UPS "safety" at times (I know I do), but we can never ever be too safe in a package car.
 

toonertoo

Most Awesome Dog
Staff member
I play count the kids too. Now the procedure has the name. I also play where the he** are the parents and more than once I have went to the door to find them, as the kids will not get away from my truck.

There is another game I play, its called child protective services, when I see a 2 yr old wandering in the street with not an adult in sight. And when I get him off the street and try to get them to tell me where mommy or daddy is and they are sitting in their house smoking pot or crack. You have to get involved, you cant just leave them there. You beat on the door and they yell "who is it" and wont answer. Sad kids have to grow up this way.
 

browniehound

Well-Known Member
A little more information on this tragic event so we can all learn from it:

On Wednesday a new package car driver, 21 years old, was delivering in a residential neighborhood. As he pulled up to the stop he saw a 4 year old boy and his 5 year old sister riding their bikes. He went and made the delivery and upon returning to the car he walked across the street and behind the package car and entered on the passenger side. On his return trip he saw the boy but did not see where the girl had gone. He got into the seat and proceded to pull away. The girl was in front of the package car. Unfortunately in this situation the little girl was killed after we struck her. As we get into the warmer weather of spring and especially in the summer our drivers have to use all of their professional skills in residential neighborhoods. We need to stay out of residential driveways and if we are not sure of something we need to stress the importance of getting out and looking. We also need to reinforce the need to keep the camera and sound on the backing monitor. During the summer we see increased incidences of kids getting onto our bumpers. The girl killed in this incidence was a niece of a UPS driver in a different district. Our driver and the girls family our going to have to live with this unnecessary incident forever.

Tie,
Whenever I make residential deliveries on quiet streets where children are playing I always make a mental note of each child and count them before I open the bulkhead door. When I am finished with the delivery I count the kids and make sure each one I saw when I pulled up is visible to me before I pull away.
 
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