Whose fault is it? Boy dashes out, gets knocked down by car at Depot Walk

Being prone to run off without warning, children can be quite a handful lot.

A mum got the shock of her life when her toddler dashed onto the road outside Sri Ruthra Kaliamman Temple on Saturday (Oct 5) evening.

As she chased after him, the woman wailed as she saw him get struck by an oncoming car.

Despite the scare, the boy appeared to have survived without sustaining serious injuries — he attempted to get to his feet before getting scooped up by his mum.

The heart-stopping moment was captured on the dashcam of another vehicle from the other lane.

Its driver could be heard yelling in alarm as he watched the child run right into the path of a red sedan.

After the footage was shared on Facebook page District Singapore, netizens were divided on who was to blame for the accident.

Many netizens said it was the parent's fault for not keeping a close eye on the child, while others questioned whether the sedan driver could have braked in time to prevent the collision.

A few pointed out that the driver couldn't have seen the boy coming due to an (illegally) parked car that obstructed his view of the boy.

Several others mentioned that the woman's companion, who also had a child with her, demonstrated the proper way of caring for children when out on the road.

The police told AsiaOne that a three-year-old boy was taken to National University Hospital on Oct 5 night for injuries sustained in a traffic accident. Police investigations are ongoing.

Parents, perhaps it's time to refresh your knowledge of road safety and hold your kids' hands tight when you cross the road.

According to an article on pedestrian safety, children in Singapore require close adult supervision navigating cars, roads and carparks until they reach the age of 10 or 11.

Besides holding your child's hand when he or she is near cars, parents should also demonstrate pedestrian safety steps such as:

• stop, look, listen and think before crossing a road;
• use pedestrian crossings wherever possible;
• cross at the safest point, even if you have to walk further out of your way;
• wait for the green man while crossing at traffic lights;
• put away phones and other devices when you're walking around roads and cars

lamminlee@asiaone.com