Don't put yourself in this situation.

Richard Harrow

Deplorable.
Every driver's worst nightmare came true for someone yesterday in New Jersey.

Always, always, always glance under the car before you get in.

My thoughts are with all those involved.

UPS truck runs over, kills 5-year-old boy chasing ball


WOODBRIDGE TWP. — A UPS truck ran over and killed a 5-year-old Iselin boy Thursday evening as the boy chased a ball under the truck, police said.

At about 6:30 p.m., the driver of the truck — a 38-year-old male whose name was not released by police — had just finished making a delivery at an apartment complex on Cheryl Drive, officials said.

The driver got back in the truck without seeing the boy, who was still under the vehicle, and as the man began to drive, the boy was run over and killed, according to Capt. Roy Hoppock of the Woodbridge Police Department.

No charges have been filed at the time, said Hoppock, who described the incident as "a tragedy."

"I can't imagine," he said, referring to the parents of the child.

The incident, however, remains under investigation, Hoppock said.

Satya, a man who said he lived in Building 6 at the Village Apartments on Cheryl Drive, the same building as the boy's family, said he heard the soccer ball the boy was playing with pop when the child was struck.

"It sounded like a small explosion," said Satya, who declined to give his last name.

Satya, who has two 8-year-old twin boys, said he did not see the 5-year-old boy get hit, but said about 10 children were outside playing when the incident occurred. He is unsure of which kids saw what.

"It takes a split second to happen," he said. "He was just a little kid. He had a lot of years left."

The boy was an only child, Satya said. He said the family is still grieving and is not in the right state to talk about the incident.

Stanly Samuel, 34, and Esther Victor, 31, who for a year have lived across the street from where the boy was struck, said they were putting their two children, 2 and 4, in the car when they also heard the ball pop.

Samuel said the UPS driver got out of his vehicle immediately and made a phone call. Police and emergency responders were on scene in about five to 10 minutes, he said.

While there is a playground down the street, Samuel said one for older children needs to be installed so incidents like this don't occur.

"We don't have a proper playground here for older kids," he said.

Dwaraka Yallaturu, 45, who also lives in the same complex as the boy's family, said the family moved to the neighborhood from North Carolina about three months ago. They were planning on leaving New Jersey soon, he said, to head for Texas.

As for Yallaturu, he said he does not know how to tell his twin 7-year-old boys about what happened. The child used to come over and play with him and his kids frequently.

"One of my kids is very sensitive," he said. "I don't know how he is going to react. I don't know."

Reporter Luke Nozicka contributed to this report

Spencer Kent may be reached at[email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.
 

realbrown1

Annoy a liberal today. Hit them with facts.
Look under you vehicle every time you come back to it?

What's next, look to see if kids climb on the roof?

It's a terrible tragedy, but the blame is on the parents.

I have 3 kids and trust me when they were 5, we watched them like hawks.
 

MC4YOU2

Wherever I see Trump, it smells like he's Putin.
They drilled us here on this exact situation. We had a driver in our district who backed up in a cul-de-sac and killed a child on a tricycle. There was a local school principal here who backed over his own child, killing him, on the way out of his driveway going to work, thinking he was still in the house.

We were also told to do a head count of kids playing nearby on the way to the delivery and one on the way back as verification. I sure tried to be religious about it, but wasn't always. The wilder their I playing the more it pays to know where they're at when you leave. It's a good habit to be in for your own sake.

Both families changed forever.
 

rod

Retired 22 years
A terrible accident. That's what it is --an accident. If anyone is to blame it should be the parents or babysitter. Now days a 5 years old is too young to be outside playing without supervision.
 

Billy Ray

God, help us all.....
If there are kids present when I pull up to stop, I am extra careful about leaving that stop.


counting the kids, parking at a distance, checking the truck on the return walk, blowing the horn before cranking the truck, asking any adult present "Can you see all the kids now?", leaving slowly
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
Imagine if the driver had a fair days work. He probably would of been home with his family vs being in a residential neighborhood making deliveries when all the kids are out playing ball.

No reason we should be making deliveries at 6:30pm.

UPS will surely put all the blame on driver, and none will be because of being over dispatched.
 

Future

Victory Ride
Imagine if the driver had a fair days work. He probably would of been home with his family vs being in a residential neighborhood making deliveries when all the kids are out playing ball.

No reason we should be making deliveries at 6:30pm.

UPS will surely put all the blame on driver, and none will be because of being over dispatched.
Just yesterday I was thinking that ....7pm ....every child in the hood ....out playing
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
Just yesterday I was thinking that ....7pm ....every child in the hood ....out playing

We have to be 100% on our game for 10+ hours daily. One mistake by a driver, and a life could be lost. Our management team can't get our call tags in the correct hands of the drivers. Trips sitting frequently do to "oh we forgot Harry was off". I could go on and on.
 

Future

Victory Ride
We have to be 100% on our game for 10+ hours daily. One mistake by a driver, and a life could be lost. Our management team can't get our call tags in the correct hands of the drivers. Trips sitting frequently do to "oh we forgot Harry was off". I could go on and on.
Disgusts me ... What this company has become....and the puppets that r pulling the strings
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
Disgusts me ... What this company has become....and the puppets that r pulling the strings

The sad part, we will be drilled on this. We will be the ones who will have to make changes to avoid situations like this. As we should. But will management look at giving us less work? Give preload more time to give us a better load? No, it will rest on the shoulders of the drivers through out the company. We will be expected to be 100% and implement whatever knew initiative they come up with, while they continue to cut the loaders hours, cut trips, and jam bigger packages into our package cars.

Less trips running, less hours for our loaders to load our cars, bigger packages in our trucks, more micro managing, working in fear of losing job over insignificant metrics = greater risk to the public.

I will end my rant, and add my thoughts go to the driver and of course the family of the child.
 

Future

Victory Ride
The sad part, we will be drilled on this. We will be the ones who will have to make changes to avoid situations like this. As we should. But will management look at giving us less work? Give preload more time to give us a better load? No, it will rest on the shoulders of the drivers through out the company. We will be expected to be 100% and implement whatever knew initiative they come up with, while they continue to cut the loaders hours, cut trips, and jam bigger packages into our package cars.

Less trips running, less hours for our loaders to load our cars, bigger packages in our trucks, more micro managing, working in fear of losing job over insignificant metrics = greater risk to the public.

I will end my rant, and add my thoughts go to the driver and of course the family of the child.
Truely saddens me this occurred
 

Wally

BrownCafe Innovator & King of Puns
"Under" is the key word here. There is no way the driver can see under the truck. No one could. There is no blame here, other than supervision of the child in question. So lets end the "driver mistake" talk right now.
 

kingOFchester

Well-Known Member
"Under" is the key word here. There is no way the driver can see under the truck. No one could. There is no blame here, other than supervision of the child in question. So lets end the "driver mistake" talk right now.
I wish management would see it this way.
 
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