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Personal Injury Lawyers

If Your Child has Been Hurt in a Car Accident, Don’t Delay, Call our Law Offices Today

You probably have seen the car crash dummy videos. You know; the ones that simulate how a real person is likely to be thrown around the inside of a vehicle during a car crash. The replicated car wrecks are created for auto makers and consumers to get the real scoop on how well their vehicles might react if it is involved in a real accident.

It helps potential car owners to evaluate how well a car’s safety features will respond to possibly save their lives. And it helps auto makers know where they can improve their products and increase their sales compared to the competition. Depending on the speed of the vehicles on impact, those crash dummies are exposed to a lot of potential physical injury. And those are big dummies! What about the little children? Because children have less body mass, they are more likely to sustain serious injuries if they are involved in a car accident. If you are the parent or guardian of an injured child in a car accident, it’s up to you to seek justice and compensation for that child. Call the personal injury attorneys at our Law Offices today to discuss your child’s injuries. More about our Car Accident Lawyer here
Regardless of who is to blame for an injured child in a car accident, the use of child safety seats and other approved restraints provide greater protection in a crash than safety belts alone. According to The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), child restraints decreased fatal injuries of infants younger than a year old by 58-71 percent and for toddlers it decreased injuries by 54-59 percent compared to those who are not restrained. That means more than three hundred (300) children younger than 5-years-old were saved from sure death because they were restrained when the car, they were riding in was involved in a collision. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) revised its suggestions about the safest way to transport children in passenger vehicles. Anyone who has a child riding in their vehicle should adhere to the following instructions:

Phase 1 – Infants from birth to thirty-five (35) pounds should be placed in a safety seat that is rear-facing and properly attached to the car’s back seat. 

Phase 2 – After a child outgrows their rear-facing safety seat, which usually is when the child turns 3, the child can be placed in a safety seat that is forward facing, but still in the back seat, until the child weighs no more than eighty (80) pounds and/or is at least 4-years-old. Remember to NEVER turn a child forward-facing before 12 months old AND 20-22 pounds. 

Phase 3 – After age 4 and at least forty (40) pounds, children are allowed to ride in a booster seat with the car’s lap and shoulder belt used to secure them. Once the child is tall enough for the safety belt to secure them properly, usually when the child is 4’9″ tall, the booster seat no longer is needed. 

Phase 4 – Once a child outgrows the booster seat, usually when he or she reaches 4’9″ and around 100 pounds, the adult safety belt should fit them properly. The lap belt fits low over the hips and at the top of thighs. The shoulder belt fits across the center of the chest. 

If you are unsure how to properly attach the child seat to the car’s seat, your local fire department personnel should be able to assist you with. Or if you are leaving the hospital with an infant, medical professionals will instruct you on the proper use before you leave with your new family member.

The above regulations are national requirements. Additionally, in the state of Texas, a child who is less than 4’9″ tall is required to ride in a booster seat until he or she reaches 8 years old. And while the vehicle is in motion anybody who is less than 17 years old is required to have their seatbelts buckled. If a law enforcement officer observes children riding unrestrained, the driver will be ticketed.

These national laws were implemented to save the lives of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens. And anyone who has children riding in their vehicles is required to have an age-appropriate safety seat in use. The use of safety seats has drastically cut back the number of injuries and deaths. More than 250,000 children suffered from injuries sustained in car accidents yearly. And approximately 2,000 of those children perished from their injuries. Don’t let your child become a statistic. Use proper age-appropriate restrains. If your restraints don’t prevent your child from being injured, or despite using proper restraints another driver is to blame for an injured child in a car accident, you have parental obligation to seek justice for your child. 

The state of Texas also leads the nation in the number of children who have died due to hyperthermia. Hyperthermia is another name for heat exposure or heat exhaustion. These littlest victims died when a caregiver, parent or guardian forgot about them and left them strapped in their car seats for an extended amount of time in the hot Texas heat. The average outside temperature between June and September in Texas is 90 degrees. That’s in the shade. Imagine how hot it can get inside an enclosed vehicle for thirty (30) minutes – let alone an hour – on a normal sunny day in Texas. If your child was injured or has died because of someone else’s negligence, you should seek the advice of an experienced personal injury attorney like the ones at our Law Offices.

In the state Texas there is a twenty-four (24) month statute of limitation that must be adhered to in order to file a personal injury claim if you were injured in an accident. But when a child is the victim harmed, the statute of limitation ends two years after that child’s 18th birthday. It gives the underage child enough time to act on his or her own behalf just in case the parents or guardian did not fight for the child’s rights in a court of law at the time that the car wreck occurred.

Do not make the mistake of thinking that our Law Office is suggesting that it’s okay to procrastinate when it comes to filing a case against the person responsible for an injured child in car accident personal injury claim. In fact the sooner the claim is filed the better off your opportunities are of proving that your minor child has been injured in a car accident due to someone else’s negligence.

What is in the Child’s Best Interest?

Even though parents should know what’s best for their child(ren), if the parents are not attorneys, they probably do not know the best way to bring a guilty person to justice who is to blame for a child’s injuries or death in a car accident. That’s why parents of the minor should hire an experienced attorney who can present the best case now while all the evidence is still available. 

In addition, the court could appoint a third-party representative for the child, called an ad litem or child advocate. Advocate or ad litem is a neutral party who has no biological or personal connection to the parents or guardian of the injured child or the person responsible for the child’s injuries. The goal of the ad litem/advocate is to make sure the child’s interests are represented.

If you want more inside in the Carabin Law Firm follow the GMB Links below and see great articles and photos from the office:

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