MADISON, Wis. -- Whitewater police confirm that a 13-month-old girl was killed on Sunday in her church parking lot.

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The incident happened in Whitewater at St. Patrick's Church. Officers said the toddler was hit by a car driven by her own mother. Somehow the girl got out of the vehicle and wandered in front of it.

Accidents like the one in Whitewater are unfortunately common. According to the national advocacy organization Kids and Cars, around 50 children are backed over by vehicles every week. Forty-eight of those children are treated in emergency rooms, but approximately two die each week. Most of the children are between the ages of 12 months and 24 months old, the group said.

Statistics also show that in more than 70 percent of these incidents, a parent or close relative is behind the wheel.

Kids And Cars officials said that most incidents can be chalked up to the "goodbye syndrome." This is when the adult in the vehicle is unaware that the child approached one last time to say goodbye to them. Often the driver is focused on preparing to drive, rather than checking for a child again.

Last week, the 5-year-old daughter of gospel singer Steven Curtis Chapman was struck and killed in the family's driveway by a Land Cruiser driven by her teenage brother.

Last July, state Sen. Dave Hansen accidentally backed over and killed his granddaughter in Green Bay.

Miracle Matthew Survives Backover

Anthony knows firsthand. As a family with five children, they are always on the go.

"We're always in such a hurry to get someplace," said Paul Anthony. "We need to just slow down."

Five years ago, his wife Dianne accidentally backed over their 23-month-old son, Matthew, in their Germantown driveway. She was driving a full-sized Ford Econoline van that weighed around 4,600 pounds, WISC-TV reported.

"I backed into what I thought were the railroad ties and I'd actually backed into Matthew and didn't know it," said Dianne Anthony.

Dianne Anthony said just seconds before, Matthew had been inside the home with his brother and grandfather.

"My one middle son had opened up the door and let my young one out and I didn't see him," she said.

Dianne thought the bump she felt were her tires hitting the railroad ties that lined their narrow driveway. She and her husband said they had hit the ties many times before.

"I pulled forward and backed up again and hit him again, and pulled forward and backed up and hit him a third time," said Dianne Anthony.

Even now, five years later, the memory of that horrible accident brings her to tears. Dianne Anthony said she felt helpless.

"I saw him laying there covered in gravel and he was all wet and his eyes were really wide. He wasn't crying. I picked him up and moved him inside and called 911," she said.

Matthew was flown by Flight For Life to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee.

He had a broken femur, crushed liver and perforated intestines.

The Anthonys said that they believe Matthew's survival was a miracle from God.

"I kept saying make him better because I felt so guilty," said Dianne Anthony. "I didn't know how I would trust myself to raise my other kids if Matthew didn't make it."

The Anthonys have shared their story nationally on "Oprah" and on "The Montel Williams Show," along with countless stories to national and international magazines and newspapers, but they said sharing their story personally with other families is even more important.

As members of the Kids And Cars organization, the Anthonys volunteer to counsel families going through similar situations. Many times, those families' stories don't have happy endings.

Dianne Anthony said one of the hardest things to work through as the driver, was the guilt.

"I believe that the guilt that you felt at the time, I don't believe it really ever goes away, even though you don't have anything to be guilty about," she said. "It takes a lot of people around you to say it was an accident."

"You really need someone who's actually been in your shoes so you know you're not the only one out there," said Anthony. "The question that always comes up is, 'Why did Matthew live?'"

"We believe that we do have, he has, a purpose in this life and that is to educate others and to help save other children," she said.

The Anthonys are advocates for higher safety standards for cars such as back-up sensors and cameras. They recently had such a system installed in their SUV, WISC-TV reported.

"If there's something in your way, it beeps at you," said Matthew.

"The cost is not that great, we're talking hundreds of dollars not thousands," said Dianne Anthony.

On Monday, local dealerships said rear-sensing systems start around $300 and can run up to $1,500 or more. Soon, rear sensors could become a regular feature in cars.

Earlier this year, legislation was passed that mandates the Department of Transportation establish rear-visibility performance standards for cars, SUVs and minivans within three years.

Kids And Cars pushed for the law, which is named after Cameron Gulbransen, a Long Island toddler who was backed over and killed by his father in 2002.

The law is based on the fact that most drivers cannot see children in the blind spot behind the vehicle.

Statistics taken from 2002 to 2007 show that 61 percent of all fatal accidents involving children are from backovers or frontovers. Those numbers don't include traffic crashes.