LOS ANGELES — A 3-year-old child struck and killed another toddler after getting behind the wheel of a truck over the weekend, according to police.
The truck owner left the vehicle running with the 3-year-old in a car seat in the back while he went into a 76 gas station Saturday afternoon, according to police in Woodland, Calif., a city about 15 miles northwest of Sacramento.
The child “got out of their car seat and got into the driver’s seat,” police said. “The truck began moving forward and it collided with a two-year-old child who was near a taco stand on the edge of the lot.”
The family of 2-year-old Ailahni Sanchez Martinez told KCRA-TV Channel 3 the girl was a month away from her birthday when she was hit.
Every year, hundreds of children are injured and some killed when vehicles are unintentionally set into motion, according to Kids and Car Safety, a nonprofit that works to eliminate vehicle-related risks.
The group reminds drivers always to set their parking brake when parking their vehicle and to make sure that their cars cannot be shifted into gear without a foot on the brake.
