You can file a personal injury claim when children are involved in an accident caused by negligence. These injuries have the potential to permanently alter promising young lives, shattering families and restricting a child’s future opportunities.
Personal injury cases involving children are handled differently than those involving adults. The parent’s concern for the child’s safety and health is paramount, often taking precedence over the necessity for or desire to pursue legal action.
Seeking medical treatment for the child involved should come before filing a claim or going to court. The doctor must document your child’s injuries when you take them to seek treatment. Any injuries that developed because of the accident will subsequently be used in proving negligence in a child injury case.
Whether you are a parent seeking compensation for your child’s accident or an adult seeking compensation for injuries suffered as a child, you must find the right personal injury attorney to meet your demands. This blog post outlines the types of injuries children can sustain.
Car accidents
Car accidents are one of the major causes of child injury. Distracted driving, speeding, driving under the influence, or irresponsible driving may all lead to a vehicle collision.
Even if the children in the vehicle are properly restrained with booster seats, car seats, or seatbelts, they might receive significant injuries in a major vehicle accident.
In these accidents, children may suffer a wide range of injuries, including traumatic brain damage, broken bones, spinal cord injuries, and even death.
Bicycle injuries
Children like riding bicycles but might be hurt if distracted drivers hit them. A lack of structural protection against a vehicle may cause catastrophic injuries, such as head trauma, spinal cord injuries, fractured bones, and facial injuries that can cause permanent scars and disfigurement.
In severe circumstances, a child may be permanently disabled or even killed in a bicycle accident.
Medical malpractice
Injuries in children also often occur as a result of medical malpractice. Children are particularly vulnerable to the long-term effects of medical professionals’ mistakes.
However, minors are the only people who may sue for some forms of medical malpractice—injuries to the mother during pregnancy or delivery, for instance.
Defective product injuries
Failure to implement adequate quality controls may lead to releasing defective items that may harm children. For example, a toy’s design or toxic paint might harm younger children.
While some faulty children’s items may be recalled if they are proven harmful, injuries may occur between the time the product is purchased and the time the recall is made. These injuries are what prompt a product recall.
Dog bites
Around 3.8 million dog bites occur every year, with children under 12 accounting for half of those casualties. Furthermore, 70% of all recorded dog bite cases include pediatric patients who were bitten in their own or a friend’s yard, and each year, roughly 25% of toddlers are attacked by dogs.
Dogs that are not adequately trained to be around children often attack them. Dog bites may result in significant injuries such as puncture wounds, infections, and disfigurement.
Pedestrian accidents
Based on preliminary data, the Governor’s Highway Safety Association (GHSA) estimates that 7,400 pedestrians were killed by vehicles in the United States in 2021.
One in five pedestrian deaths are children under the age of 15, and this percentage is expected to rise unless steps are taken to reduce the vulnerability of pedestrians under the age of 15. The number of fatalities will keep growing until concrete action is taken to make streets safer for pedestrians and children.
Statistics show that most minor pedestrian accidents occur in or near school zones and bus stops, parks and play areas, driveways, parking lots, and residential areas with a high concentration of parked vehicles.
Injuries and fatalities among children aged 1 to 4 caused by vehicles backing out of driveways account for almost half of all such incidents.
