WFAA-TV

About 500 children died last year, run over by the family car.

There are no government statistics, but some estimate the family car killed as many as 500 children across the country last year. And the accidents happened in their own driveways.

While some may wonder what kind of parent could do that, Rachel Clemens said it could happen to just about anyone.

Two years ago, her daughter Adrianna wandered out of her Garland home.

That’s when Adrianna's father accidentally backed over the child with his SUV.

"He didn't see her," Clemens said. "That was the last day I saw my daughter alive."

So, how could you not see a child behind the family car?

Three Dallas moms agreed to take a safety test with the understanding that they would not know exactly what the tests were about.

While they were distracted filling out a questionnaire, News 8 placed an orange cone about 8-feet behind their vehicles and the drivers were then asked to back up.

All three plowed right over the cone.

"Did I just run over something?" Adrienne Ludlow as said as she backed up.

"Oh, I hit the cone," said Amy Gordon.

"I figured it was a branch or something," said Merideth Manning.

News 8 measured the blind spot behind each of their vehicles. The Honda Pilot had a blind spot over 30 feet, an Infiniti G35 about 18 feet and a Chevy Tahoe more than 35 feet.

The eye-opening experiment had all three women interested in the same thing, which was looking into safety equipment like a rear sensor that beeps faster the closer a driver gets to an object.

Safety cameras mounted on the rear of car are also available. The cameras relay a picture of the blind spot to a screen on the dashboard.

Both technologies are available on new cars with after-market installation costs less than $500.

"I would absolutely buy it, but wouldn't think of it until you came over and showed me how dangerous this could possibly be," Gordon said.

Attorney Windle Turley represents the Clemens family, which sued Nissan, the maker of the family's SUV. They claim the technology should have been standard equipment. The case is still pending.

"Manufacturers take off this needed safety equipment so they can market their vehicle a little bit lower in price than their competitors; and that's really wrong,” Turley said. 

The trade group representing automakers says, "the best defense against back-over accidents is to check around the vehicle before you back up."

"That does not work and you're sending the wrong signal,” Clemens said. 

Clemens, and several lawmakers in Washington, support legislation that would require automakers to put back-over safety equipment on all new cars.

Experts say it would add up to $200 to the price.

"To me, I think to anybody, any parent, the cost is nothing compared to a child's life," Clemens said.

There are no official numbers, but one safety group estimates that in Texas more than 90 children have been killed in or around parked vehicles in the last 15 years.

E-mail dschechter@wfaa.com.