7-4-07
Most parents expect the backyard to be one of the last remaining safe places to play. Which is why parents of a little girl in Westminster, Colorado, are shocked after she was hit by a car … in her own backyard.

The 4-year-old was playing by herself in the backyard of heparents home, when she was run over by a neighbor’s SUV. The vehicle crashed through the fence, struck the girl, drug her several feet, then crashed through the fence again, before finally coming to a stop after striking and uprooting a neighbors tree. The accident occurred around noon on the fourth of July.

The girls father, Casey Barnes, said he had left his daughter, Allie
Vining-Barnes, playing in the backyard with the two family dogs to
go inside and get his 14-month-old son. It was then that he heard what he described as “a loud bang and crash.” He ran outside to find the family dogs fleeing back into the house. He yelled for his daughter, who in turn began screaming for her father. He found her curled up in the fetal position in the backyard.

Little Allie suffered multiple injuries, including a broken collar bone, a broken upper arm, a fractured elbow, a bruised lung and ribs, multiple abrasians, and what her father described as “road rash from head to pelvis.” She was recovering at the Children’s Hospital in Denver, and thankfully, was expected to make a full recovery.

“You think your kids are safe in their own backyard” said Allies
mother, Yvette Vining. Describing her daughters injuries, she said
“she can’t sleep through the night because she wakes up crying in
pain. … She wants to know why she can’t go out and play. … Why she can’t move her arm.

After backing out of the garage and running over her mailbox, the
driver of the vehicle, 56-year-old Sosyma Zwierzynski, apparently hit the accelerator when she thought she was applying the brakes. Ac-cording to police, Sosyma told them she then put the car into drive and accelerated again, crashing through the fence a second time. If you’re having a hard time following, so are we. But to wrap it all up…

1) Loose control accelerating out of the garage

2) Run over your mailbox

3) Put the car in drive

4) Hit the accelerator instead of the brakes

5) Run over neighbors fence

6) Plow into neighbors child

7) Accelerate again

8) Run over neighbors fence again

9) Plow into other neighbors tree

10) Conclude your melee, because the SUV is finally sidelined on the tree. Wow.

It’s certainly one of the most unique accidents we’ve ever followed. It sounds a little like something out of an episode of the Simpsons.
Homer switched sexes and now lives in Colorado. We’re only thankful nobody was killed, and I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to that tree. One can only wonder how much longer it would have continued if it weren’t for the fine community service our wooded friend provided.

Zwierzynski returned to her home after the wreck, not knowing she had struck the girl. Accident investigators determined that driver error and unfamiliarity with the vehicle contributed to the accident. In all fairness, none of us can ever know exactly what happened that day to cause the wreck. Zwierzynski was obviously distraught about what happened, and needless to say, she was charged with careless driving.

None of us can ever know exactly what happened that day to cause
the wreck. Zwierzynski was obviously distraught about what happened, and needless to say, she was charged with careless driving.