BRANDON, Fla. — A 2-year-old boy died after his parents accidentally ran over him in their vehicle Tuesday night.
It happened around 9:45 p.m. while the family was leaving the Waffle House parking lot on State Road 60 in Brandon.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said the mother and father each thought the other parent had placed him inside their SUV.
Danny Alvarez, Public Information Officer with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said a total of two parents and seven children were leaving the restaurant Tuesday night.
"It’s too late for this family and had the most tragic outcome but if in the future, if we could just ask parents, slow down, make sure you’ve got everybody, said Alvarez. "We know we get caught up in our day but slow down and we can prevent a tragedy."
Investigators said the father was driving and accidentally hit him with the vehicle's front right tire -- causing severe head injuries.
The child was pronounced dead at Brandon Hospital.
Neither alcohol nor drugs were involved in the tragic accident.
Technology to prevent tragedy
Back-up and 360-view cameras are becoming more popular on vehicles and even if your vehicle is not equipped with the technology, you can get it installed.
Victor Ruiz is the owner of Performance Pit Shop in Brandon. He says they install cameras everyday to prevent tragedies like this.
"I got two kids myself and my little one leaves her bike all the time in the back," said Ruiz.
Ruiz showed 10News how four cameras mounted around the car- front, back, right mirror, and left mirror create a simulated bird's eye view on the screen inside the car to assist the driver.
"The software itself in the system crops all the pictures together and makes the video."
Ruiz says back-up cameras are the most popular request he gets from his customers.
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