There are always going to be accidents. We, as parents, have to decide how much freedom to give our kids. By making good judgments, we can try to cut down on the possibility of accidents happening. And those judgments will change depending on a child's age.
When my now 19 y/o dd was 3, she wasn't allowed to play unsupervised in the yard. She didn't get to go into a body of water without someone right there with her. When she got to be 5, she was allowed to play in the backyard, with me in the back of the house. It's a safe area, so not too concerned. But she still had to have someone in the water with her. Fast forward to the age of 10. When we would go to pools, she was allowed to swim along...and by that I mean, no one in the water with her. But, she was being monitored from poolside, or on the beach. She was a strong swimmer, even back then. And yes, accidents happen, but you have to loosen the parental ropes somewhere along the line.
She got to be 13....went to WDW. She was allowed to wander the parks alone, with her girlfriend. They were allowed to return to BWV alone and hang in the room. But that was for a few hours only.
You have to look at the possibilities of 'stuff' happening and then decide how much leeway to give the child. You can't be a helicopter parent for the first 15 years of life and then suddenly just say 'go for it kid!' and turn them loose and expect good decisions to be made. You have to give them bits of freedom along the way, and allow them to make mistakes in order to figure out how to make good choices.
We have so many parents now that are scared to death of something happening to their kids that they hover, constantly. They don't allow their kids to mess up, they don't allow them to 'lose'. Everything has to be perfect in their child's life. And that's just not real life. So, while I'm certainly not advocating leaving a 4 y/o alone at a swimming pool, it's not a stretch that leaving a 10 y/o alone could happen. You have to give your child the tools they need in life.....you can't just assume that it will just 'come to them' and they'll make great choices. So, that comment about risk adverse comment is spot on.
We need to realize that bad crap happens to good people. That little boy that was riding his bike over in FtW and got hit by the bus??? It was an accident. The little boy that drowned at Pop? Again, a horrific accident.
Believe me, I'm not the mom that lets her kids go willy nilly about, assuming that life will be perfect and nothing bad will happen to them. I'm the idiot mother that has stressed constantly about the fact that the Mt Hope Bridge is right by my dd's dorm. And I'm positive that she's going to end up falling off that bridge and dying!! Now, understand....there is no reason for my dd to be walking across that bridge, and she has a huge fear of heights. But, still I worry. And I worry about the stupidist things. But I try to keep those worries to myself so I don't stifle my kids. They have to be allowed to go out and find their way. IF they make mistakes along the way (and they will!) I can only hope they are fixable mistakes and that we have given them the tools they need to make just small mistakes.
This whole blaming the parents every time something bad happens to a child? It's got to stop. Sure, there are going to be times that the parent could have done a better job. But most of the time? It's just a horrific accident that just 'happened'.
However, you just never know. The lord works in mysterious ways. He just might be up and about before we know it. So keep those prayers and positive thoughts coming. 
