A 2-year-old child killed Wednesday in a lawn mower accident had been riding on the mower with her father and brother when she fell off, Fayette County Coroner Gary Ginn said.
Ginn said Adelaide McReynolds died from multiple blunt-force and sharp-force trauma at the family farm at 2011 Hillgate Drive in Lexington.
Ginn said the child was riding on a zero-turn lawn mower with her father when her brother ran up to the father. The father then put the son on his lap, holding both children on the mower with him.
When the father made a hairpin turn, the girl fell off and was caught underneath the mower.
Ginn said the father had a history of letting his children ride on the mower with him.
"This has been a practice with him and his children," Ginn said. "He's been having his children on the mower for some time."
Ginn said it appeared to be an accident.
Police spokeswoman Sherelle Roberts said police will be "looking at any kind of circumstances" relating to the accident. No charges had been filed as of Thursday evening, but it's "still an open investigation," Roberts said.
Consumer Reports described the zero-turn mowers as having a zero-degree turning radius that uses the rear wheels to steer the mower. Those attributes also make the machines riskier if there's a wall, pond, road or other potential hazard at the bottom of a slope.
Consumer Reports also found the machines hard to steer downhill.
A general increase in deaths related to riding mowers appears to coincide with the growth in market share for zero-turn models, prompting Consumer Reports in 2009 to take a closer look at steering control on hills. Loss of control was a factor in many injuries and deaths, based on its analysis of Consumer Product Safety Commission data.
-- Lexington Herald-Leader
Published in Lexington Herald-Leader on May 27, 2011
