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Topic: Infant dies after being run over by car at drive-in theatre
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Frank Cox
Film God
Posts: 2234
From: Melville Saskatchewan Canada
Registered: Apr 2011
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posted 08-01-2019 12:18 PM
Infant dies after being run over by car at Boucherville, Que., drive-in theatre
quote:
An infant has died after being run over by a vehicle at a drive-in theatre on Montreal's South Shore Wednesday night.
It happened around 11:30 p.m. at Ciné-Parc Boucherville, as people were leaving the outdoor cinema in their cars.
Witness Jean-Simon Lavoie said that as cars began pulling out from the theatre, a vehicle backed over a small tent with a four-month-old sleeping girl inside.
He heard people nearby screaming and learned that first aid was performed on the infant, but to no avail.
"There was blood," Lavoie said. "I've never seen something like this."
Cars were starting to pull out of the drive-in theatre when the four-month-old was struck Wednesday night. (Alain Béland/CBC)
Longueuil police spokesperson Mélanie Mercille said the baby was transported to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Mercille said the baby's parents were gathering their lawn chairs when the vehicle parked next to the tent drove over the child.
The parents and first responders are being treated for shock, she said.
Police believe it was an accident and do not expect charges to be laid.
A spokesperson for Cineplex, which owns the drive-in, offered condolences to the family in an email to Radio-Canada.
"We are deeply saddened by what happened," wrote the spokesperson, Sarah Van Lange.
"We are doing everything in our power to help the local authorities conduct their investigation."
'Truly shocking'
Jean-Yves Martel, who runs a drive-in theatre in Orford, Que., said the incident was "truly shocking."
"This is the first time that this has happened in a Quebec drive-in in 50 years," said Martel.
He said at his drive-in, which is not affiliated with the Boucherville theatre, eight security guards patrol the area and signage advises parents to watch over their children.
While he says ensuring the safe movement of vehicles is the theatre's priority, motorists and parents must always pay close attention to their surroundings so that no one is put in danger.
"We can't have have eyes everywhere," he said.
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 08-02-2019 01:54 AM
It's obviously sad for the family involved, it's even sad for those who caused it, because they've to live with the feelings of guilt...
But what is often forgotten is that's also pretty sad for the business owners, who often see their businesses decline for a considerable amount of time after such incidents occur.
I remember a small, locally owned supermarket where something similar happened about 20 years back. A toddler was hit by an incoming delivery truck and, sadly, didn't make it. Apparently it was a pretty visual scene with quite a lot of witnesses...
I knew the owners back then via my family. They went almost bankrupt afterwards, because nobody seemingly wanted to shop anymore at that place where this awful thing happened.
Also, there was a whole lot of blame afterwards, like the parking lot supposedly not being properly laid out, etc...
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Dave Bird
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 777
From: Perth, Ontario, Canada
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted 08-07-2019 09:20 AM
This is heartbreaking, truly, this is about the only thing I worry about at our place and I'm not sure what to do about it. By the grace of God I suppose, nothing like this has happened here or very often anywhere. Where I get stuck is once you make it a stated "rule" that nobody is to lay on blankets, then are you liable for such an incident? As it is, we say that we "don't recommend" blankets and that lawn chairs must be set up in front of your car and children attended, because we could never monitor such things in the dark for the entire evening. Maybe it's all the late nights of the season catching up, the fact it's a drive-in, fairly close to us or just being a parent, I'm really finding myself quite upset reading this this morning.
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 09-02-2019 02:38 AM
quote: Dave Bird
Where I get stuck is once you make it a stated "rule" that nobody is to lay on blankets, then are you liable for such an incident?
Actually, the question is: "Did you know or should you have known that something like this could happen?"
If incidents like this have happened before, you SHOULD know. The news story, above, proves it. Furthermore, it is common sense. People shouldn't sit on the ground in a dark area where there are cars moving around. Somebody could get run over.
Putting up a sign...or NOT putting up a sign...doesn't change your liability one bit.
The only thing that can save you is whether you TAKE ACTION to prevent it.
Patrolling the lot and telling people who are camping out that it's unsafe is one thing you can do.
Making a special area for people to camp out with blankets and lawn chairs could also help.
You have to be able to show that you were aware of the danger, that you took reasonable measures to prevent accidents and that you enforced those measures.
Just having a "No Camping Out" policy then kinda-sorta enforcing it when you notice a problem won't cut it. You need to have a policy and you need to be able to prove that you enforce it.
You should probably have somebody walking the lot on a regular basis, at least once or twice per show. That person should be on the lookout for people camping out as well as for other problems.
You should probably keep some kind of record or log book of when you walked the lot, what time you made the rounds and you should make notes of anything that happened...
"9/2/2019 - 9:30 p.m. - Patrolled lot area. Warned 2 groups for camping out. No other problems. - R.S."
Even if you just kept notes in a spiral notebook, if something bad ever happened, you have some kind of a record to show that that you are doing something to prevent this kind of problem.
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 09-05-2019 02:06 AM
Unfortunately, drive-ins have pretty much vanished around here. Every now and then someone organizes a summer-revival with a pop-up kind of drive-in. But it was probably a combination between customer preferences, lack of space, too many ambient light and lack of stable weather around the season that killed them many years ago. The last time I've been to one was in the U.S. and that one did still have posts, but no speakers (you could probably get them at the office or refreshment center).
Besides some utter stupidity or mistake, the only reason for backing up I could come up with is, because the lane behind you is moving faster. I've often seen people do all kinds of crazy stuff, only because they think they can win a few seconds of time by doing so...
On the other hand, I think I would never put my child, in a tent, right behind someone else's car, probably not even behind my own car...
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