See it: New Jersey police officer saves child from getting pinned between SUVs
PARK RIDGE, N.J. -- A New Jersey police officer was caught on camera saving a child from getting pinned between two SUVs last week.
It was a typical busy morning during student drop-off outside of West Ridge Elementary School in Park Ridge until a kindergartener ran behind a reversing van to pick up a hair clip. That's when Officer Mike Stallone snatched her up, potentially saving her life.
"It happened very quickly, so when I bent over to pick her up and I saw the reverse lights were right at my eye level and she was a small child right at that level, too. It was shocking," Stallone said.
The father of three is a special enforcement officer assigned to Glen Ridge schools and had only been on the job for about three weeks.
"It took a while to console her, quite a while. But as of now, she's been back to school every day and seems to be happy," Stallone said.
Police and school districts have been working together to assign Class III Special Law Enforcement Officers (SLEO IIIs) to keep kids safe at school. Mike Stallone (SLEO III) is newly assigned to West Ridge Elementary School. Mike’s quick actions prevented a child from being seriously injured last week. Mike quickly recognized that a child could be pinned between two cars during school drop off and jumped in to help. We salute Mike Stallone for his valiant act. Fox News News 12 New Jersey Daily Voice Bergen County Bergen County Sheriff's Office Park Ridge Boro CNN Pascack Press ABC 20/20
Posted by Park Ridge Police Department on Thursday, June 15, 2023
"Just be hyper aware," said Amber Rollins, director of the organization Kids and Car Safety.
Rollins says pick-up and drop-off times at school are when drivers should especially be on alert for kids.
"I always roll my window down halfway and turn my music off so that I can hear if somebody's trying to warn me that a child is coming to the back of my vehicle," Rollins said.
It's believed that the car in the video did have a backup camera, a requirement in all new cars since 2018, after the passage of the Cameron Gulbransen Kids Transportation Safety Act. The legislation was passed after a Long Island father accidently backed over and killed his toddler son.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, only about 50% of cars on the road had them last year.
"This new technology can help, but it's still gonna be a while until almost everybody has it," said Jessica Cicchino, vice president of research for IIHS.
The IIHS estimates that it won't be until about 2040 that all cars on the road will have backup cameras, but advocates remind drivers not to solely rely on them and to just be alert and aware.