HANSON, MASS. (WHDH) - Police are turning to the public for help tracking down a motorist after surveillance video captured the moment a child fell out of a moving vehicle onto a busy roadway in Hanson on Monday morning.
Officers responding to a reported incident on Liberty Street around 10 a.m. learned a child had fallen into the middle of the street after opening the rear driver’s side door of a vehicle that had pulled out of the Hanson Town Hall, according to the Hanson Police Department.
The child tumbled into the road and quickly stood up and ran toward the vehicle, police said. The female driver of the white midsize SUV pulled over, got out, and ran toward the child.
Video showed the woman picking up the child and bringing them back to the vehicle. They remained at the scene for a short time before driving away.
Arthur Kennedy, who pumps gas at Ferry’s across the street from where the child fell out, said he didn’t realize what had happened until he heard the child’s cries.
“I might have been looking down or whatever. I heard the crying. I looked up and that’s when I saw the car in the middle of the street the door open,” Kennedy said. “Craziest thing I’ve ever seen here.”
“Everyone just kind of stopped and watched,” said station owner Jack Ferry. “It was kind of like slow motion.”
When a police officer came to the gas station a short time later to get an inspection sticker, Ferry showed him the video and police launched an investigation. Police believe that the vehicle in question is a Dodge Journey.
“We want to ensure the safety and well-being of the child, as well as determine how this event happened,” Hanson Police Chief Miksch said. “Thankfully it appears that the child may not have been seriously injured. But we want to make sure and we would like to speak with the driver.”
Miksch shared the following safety tips on driving with young children:
- Teach children the proper times in which they can open a car door. Failure to have child locks on and children playing with the door may result in children opening the door at the wrong time and possibly falling out of a moving vehicle.
- Teach children that car doors are not toys and shouldn’t be played with. Children may sustain injuries while fooling around with the door, including injuries to fingers and hands.
- Child locks should remain on rear doors at all times to ensure your child’s safety. Children should also be taught a safe procedure for entering and exiting the car.
- Always make sure your car seat is installed correctly. For a seat belt to fit properly the lap belt must lie snugly across the upper thighs, not the stomach. The shoulder belt should lie snug across the shoulder and chest and not cross the neck or face. The proper placement of a seat belt restrains the child safely in a crash.
- Infants under the age of one should always ride in a rear-facing car seat. A rear-facing car seat has a harness and in a crash, it cradles and moves with your child to reduce the stress to the child’s fragile neck and spinal cord.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Hanson Police Department at 781-293-4625.
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