 The BMW plunged from the car park onto the beach below |
The death of a boy crushed by a car on a beach could have been prevented if lessons had been learned from a previous tragedy, it has been alleged. Maximillian Holden Young, two, was killed on Saturday when the BMW plunged 12ft from a car park above Yaverland Beach on the Isle of Wight.
It is the second such incident in a year after Professor Harvey Flower was killed by a car in nearby Shanklin.
The council has said it is now conducting a review of car park safety.
The driver of the BMW, a 44-year-old local man, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving.
A breath test on the driver was negative and he was freed on police bail until September.
A Home Office pathologist will carry out a post mortem examination on the boy on Tuesday.
He and his family were visiting the Isle of Wight from Fulham, west London.
The tide was in at the time of the accident, leaving only a small exposed area of beach for sunbathing.
The boy's 42-year-old father was also trapped under the car and is being treated at a London hospital for multiple injuries, the most serious of which is a broken pelvis.
His mother witnessed the accident but was uninjured.
'Distraught father'
Residents have criticised the lack of barriers at the Yaverland car park to prevent cars driving forward onto the beach.
Graham Barnes of Yaverland Sailing and Boat Club helped move the car, which was carrying four people, off the boy and his father.
He said: "Luckily there were enough people on the beach to roll the car up to get the chap out from underneath.
"The father was distraught and he was leaning over his child but there were a couple of paramedics at hand on the beach off-duty and they dealt with the little chap until the ambulance arrived."
Harvey Flower, 58, an academic from Beckenham, Kent, died on 16 August last year when a car fell on to him as he was reading on the beach at Shanklin.
Mr Barnes said: "I think it's the council's fault.
"They should have learned the lesson from there - no crash barriers, no railway sleepers along the front - an accident waiting to happen, to be honest."
Sgt Andy Timms, of Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police, said the latest incident happened as the car was coming in to park.
"The car was on the move as it came into the car park and came around for the parking spaces," he said.
"Then for some reason it went over the kerb."
'Deepest sympathies'
Cllr Shirley Smart, leader of the Isle of Wight Council said: "We would like to express our deepest sympathies to those affected by the incident.
"We understand the police are investigating the road safety aspects of the accident and we cannot comment further on these at this stage.
"The council is reviewing existing health and safety arrangements across all our facilities and will bring forward the review as it relates to car parks next to the coast in the light of this tragedy."
Police say forensic examinations of the car and the scene of the accident will continue this week.
They are appealing for witnesses to get in touch.
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No crash barriers, no railway sleepers along the front - an accident waiting to happen, to be honest 
