TRACTOR TRAGEDY HAPPENED IN A SECOND Death of 4-year-old Revives Campaign to keep Kids Away from Tractors
The death this spring of a 4-year-old Oklahoma boy who fell off a tractor and into the blades of a trailing mower has rekindled frustration among safety experts regarding adults who allow children to ride tractors.
Barbara Lee, Ph.D., director of the National Farm Medicine Center (NFMC) at Marshfield Clinic, said a shared commitment to end this traditional but dangerous practice led the NFMC and other farm safety organizations to form a network two years ago and launch "Easier to Bury a Tradition than a Child", a national campaign to keep children younger than 12 away from tractors.
The Childhood Agricultural Safety Network has a dedicated Web site
Childhood Agricultural Safety Network with free materials that include public service announcements (PSAs) by country singer-songwriter Michael Peterson. The scenario described in a 30-second video PSA matches almost exactly events surrounding the death of 4-year-old Zachary Tollett in Oklahoma.
The boy´s stepfather, "turned his head for a second and said he heard a thud," according to a law officer interviewed by The Oklahoman newspaper. "He turned around, and saw the upper part of the boy's body already wrapped in the brush hog.
Lisa Rhoades, administrator for the Oklahoma Child Death Review Board, said she´s seen too many unnecessary deaths among children in nearly 10 years on the job.
"I get irritated by the lack of common sense, Rhoades told The Oklahoman. Why would you put a child on the fender of a tractor?"
