Shocking Video Shows Toddler Running Down Busy Highway

Police are sharing dashcam video of the horrifying moment that an officer spotted a 2-year-old boy running down the middle of a highway, in an effort to remind drivers they have to be alert every second that they’re behind the wheel.

Deputy Jeremy Gautney was driving in the dark on Route 101 in Newport, Ore., Jan. 9, when he realized that there was a toddler “running down the middle of the highway in his lane of travel,” Lt. Curtis Landers revealed in opening statements in the video, posted on the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page on Thursday. Gautney “quickly came to a stop and rescued the child from the danger of passing motorists.” Soon after, the officer “was alerted to the child’s frantic parents who were searching for him,“ Landers added of the boy, who was not harmed and quickly returned to his family.

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How on earth did this happen? The child’s mother and father had been “cleaning up after a gathering at a nearby community center” when the boy dashed out an open door and ran toward the highway, Landers explained.

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“The incident was investigated thoroughly and determined to be accidental and no criminal charges will be brought to the parties involved,” reads a statement posted along with the footage on Facebook. "We share this video,” said Landers, “as a reminder of how quickly things can go wrong and the danger and potential result of distracted driving.”

That’s the takeaway commented on by many of the 20,000 viewers who’ve watched the footage so far. “It can happen so fast, my daughter ran out of a store on 101 last year while I was paying,” wrote one visitor to the department’s page. “She was right next to me one second playing with my nephew and out the door in the road the next. I can’t pass that store now without remembering that day. Thank God that light was red.”

“This is so very real and scary,” added another commenter. “I will never forget when my son was that age and disappeared from our front porch just in a flash. … Once he was out of sight he had plenty of time to get to the highway while we were running around the house looking for him, assuming he would be just around the house. All of a sudden I’m standing on the porch freaking out and I look down to the highway and see traffic stopped and horns honking. I thought I was going to die that day. … I got there and there was a lady who had him in her arms and was just as freaked out as I because she almost ran over him.”

Each day in the United States, more than 9 people are killed and more than 1,153 people are injured in crashes that are reported to involve a distracted driver, reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Indeed, “distracted drivers pose a deadly risk to everyone on the road,” according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA), which identifies talking and texting on phones, eating, grooming, and reading as activities that can easily divert motorists’ attention off of the road.

Here are a few easy tips from the GHSA to manage these risks:

Turn your phone off or switch it to silent mode before you get in the car. Then stow it away so that it’s out of reach.

Record a message on your phone that tells callers you’re driving and will get back to them when you’re off the road, or sign up for a service that offers this feature.

If you need to make a call, pull over to a safe area first — or ask a passenger to make the call or respond to a text for you.

If using a GPS device, enter your destination before you start to drive. If you prefer a map or written directions, review them in advance. If you need help while driving, ask a passenger to assist you or pull over to a safe location to change your GPS or review your map/directions.

Secure your pets. Unsecured pets can be a big distraction in the car.

Mind the kids. Pull over to a safe place to address situations involving children in the car.

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