Ditto. I did some research on mower "back-up" accidents. There are stats out there that are quite revealing. The victims are ALWAYS under 5 years old - usually considerably under. The mower operators are almost ALWAYS parents or kin, and the primary injuries are ALWAYS gruesome and disabling, lost feet, partial legs, arms, sometimes even internal organ damage and, although not often, death. What follows is years of extensive medical treatment, prosthetic limbs, ruined lives and ALWAYS massive and inescapable guilt on the part of the operator that cannot be remedied!
The chief cause of these tragic incidents lies in allowing toddlers to be or not knowing they're outside during a mowing session. That's just plain old child endangerment!!! I've always disabled the reverse safety switch on all my mowers. But I have no small children or pets, nor do my neighbors. Furthermore, I mow a one-acre field which has many obstacles and is super hilly AND my one-half acre home lot, which is chain-link fenced, has an outbuilding, wife's huge flower garden, a huge deck, many angular in corners, several large rocks and the like. I would never, ever disable the seat safety switch, but my mowing situation requires reverse on demand not only as a matter of convenience, but also of safety- especially on steep hills in the field. I must reverse repetitively, and very quickly! It would add hours to my mowing and unnecessary frustration and risk to leave that switch operational. I'm sure many of you have similar situations. For those of you who sell mowers, I understand the legal risk of modifying or advising modification of the switch. I get it. You can't!
Finally, unless I'm backing up just a couple feet or less, I ALWAYS look behind me. It's just common sense. Keep your kids, especially toddlers, off the lawn while you're mowing. Make sure someone's there to watch them. Look behind when backing. Be smart and not sorry (sorry doesn't even cover it)!
