Having your child suffer a serious accident is devastating, and made worse knowing that a child’s accident is due to another person’s misconduct or negligence, and knowing that unintentional injuries among infants, children and teens are preventable.
Sadly, a serious injury often changes, forever, the entire family. A child’s medical care can be financially draining and the consequences of the accident can result in missed opportunities for your child’s education and normal social growth.
Catastrophic accidents causing permanent disability can mean lifelong care and parents often sacrifice their careers to care for their child. Of course no words can describe the pain of an accident resulting in a child’s wrongful death.
You are right to want to hold that person or company accountable for your child’s accidental injury or death. You are also right to seek compensation for all losses resulting from your child’s injury by working with a skilled child accident lawyer. Child accident attorney and child advocate Jeffrey Killino protects the rights of children. Attorney Killino can help you:
- Recover costs for all past and future medical needs
- Provide compensation for the child’s injury, pain and disruption
- Get justice for your child
- Prevent this type of accident from occurring again or to others
Why Child Accidents Occur
Child Neglect and negligence (such as negligent school bus drivers or daycare workers) is one of the main reasons why child accidents occur. Attorney Jeffrey Killino understands there is no excuse for the negligent actions or inactions that cause a child to be hurt in an accident.
If your child is an accident victim you might want to seek legal help. Jeffrey Killino and his child accident team know it is heartbreaking to see your child in pain, that you are consumed with grief and maybe even guilt. We can help your family through this difficult time and guide you through every step to hold the responsible parties accountable for their negligence.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), unintentional injuries or accidents —such as car crashes, burns, drowning, and falls—are by far the leading cause of death among children in the United States. Every hour, a child dies from an injury caused by an accident. Nearly 1,000 more are injured – 25 serious enough to require hospitalization. Even though unintentional injuries among children and teens are preventable, more than 9,000 die each year.
Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of child death in the U.S. The highest death rates were among occupants of motor vehicles in traffic, and not far behind are pedestrian and pedal cyclist deaths.
Besides motor vehicle accidents, highest death rates are suffocation for children less than one year and drowning for children 1 – 4 years of age. Other main causes of accidents are falls, choking, burns and poisoning.
Motor Vehicle and Transportation Accidents
Of children ages 0-14 years killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2004, half were unrestrained (studies have repeatedly shown that most children who ride in safety seats are not correctly secured) and defective car seats are often involved. One in four car accidents involved a driver who had been drinking alcohol.
Other common types of accidents include motorists striking a child on a bike or crossing a street. Truck and delivery drivers breaking the rules too often cause child accidents.
As children get older, the risk for motor vehicle crashes increases. Recent national estimates of unintentional pedal cyclist injuries treated in US hospital emergency departments resulting from an encounter with a motor vehicle showed that children, aged 10-14 years, had the highest injury rate, approximately 80% of those injured were male, and a common body part affected was the head, with the majority sustaining traumatic brain injury
Child Pedestrian Accidents
A child pedestrian is no match for a negligent driver. Too many child-pedestrian injuries and child-pedestrian deaths occur because of motor vehicle drivers speeding, intoxicated or distracted while behind the wheel. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that in 2011 there were 516 children and teen pedestrians killed and another 22,000 injured in traffic accidents. 20% of traffic fatalities involving children between five and nine are pedestrian accidents, with pedestrian accidents being the fifth largest cause of children deaths for ages 5-19. The CDC reports that one in every five children under the age of 15 killed in traffic crashes were pedestrians in 2017. Tragically, there was an increase in the number of pedestrians killed in traffic crashes in 2018, including children.
Child Bicycle Accidents
Children ride their bicycles onto roads shared by other bicycles and vehicles and disastrous consequences can result if the drivers of these vehicles fail to take reasonable care for the safety of others. Both bicyclists and motor-vehicle drivers are required to follow traffic laws, or “rules of the road.” Teaching your children proper safety guidelines—such as always wear a helmet and bright clothing—will decrease their chances of being injured as a result of the negligence of other cyclists and motor-vehicle operators.
Child Truck Driver and Delivery Driver Accidents
Some child bike accidents are the result of a truck driver’s or delivery driver’s negligence, while other accidents may result from a combination of bicyclist and truck-driver negligence. A truck driver may be held liable for injuries suffered by a child bicyclist even if the driver’s negligence does not include a traffic violation. For instance, if a delivery driver fails to keep a proper look-out for kids on bikes and causes a collision and injuries to the bicyclist as a result, the driver may be held liable for damages as a result of negligent driving even in the absence of a specific traffic-law violation.
School Bus Accidents are mainly caused by driver error. The most common causes are drivers improperly trained to safely handle their vehicles and make prudent travel decisions such as travel in bad weather. Other causes are failure to maintain buses by school districts and school buses with defective parts, such as tires or brakes. And in most school buses, children are unrestrained—seat belts are not mandatory in all states.
Choking is one of the leading causes of death and injury from ages 0-5. Choking on toys, food, batteries, and countless other small items is a leading cause of death among infants and children. Despite detailed warnings on labels and specific manufacturing regulations for toys and other products that are intended for use by children, manufacturers are still a cause of child choking hazards. Each year, poorly designed products kill hundreds of children nationwide through choking injuries—despite recalls. Small items such as coins, toys and products with small, removable parts pose significant choking hazards for infants. Poorly manufactured goods may break into pieces small enough to creating choking dangers. Items such as window cords, swing sets, jewelry items, or clothing drawstrings may create strangulation risks. Manufacturers have a duty to create safety devices for such items that allow parents to keep long cords from window blinds, for example, out of children’s reach.
Negligent Supervision
Attorney Jeffrey Killino believes that anyone who works with children should be required to take the utmost care for the safety of every child within their care, from foster parents to daycare workers to teachers and in any environment, from the classroom to playground to home.
Children are easy targets for neglect and abuse, and none are as vulnerable as foster kids. One study reported at least 28 percent of kids are abused while in the foster care system, but that is likely a greater problem than statistics suggest because many foster kids do not speak up about abuse they endure. One main reason foster abuse under-reported is because children often feel neglect or abuse is their fault.
Victimized foster children typically do poorly in school, develop a distrust for authority, and may be more likely to engage in harmful behaviors such as alcohol abuse, drug abuse, and promiscuity at a younger age. When kids are victimized by abuse and neglect due to institutional failures, it is important that they understand their legal rights and are able to make appropriate damage claims to hold foster care agencies accountable.
Daycare providers are expected to be trustworthy and educated professionals. When they fail to meet the standard of care owed to clients and their children, the results can be disastrous, from physical to emotional to sexual abuse. Some licensed daycare workers make serious mistakes, while others are intentionally abusive. Still others lie about their licenses or fake documentation.
Schools are expected to provide children with the valuable education they need and to safeguard them from harm during the school day. Parents rightfully entrust their school districts to provide well-trained instructors, secure and well-maintained properties, and to react swiftly and appropriately to any problems that may arise. Should a child’s school accident occur, a teacher and/or the school district may be liable in a negligence action.
Although parents of students engaging in school sports often sign releases stating that the parents and children assume the risk of injury while engaging in the particular sport, the coach and school district may be held liable in a negligence action if an increased risk of injury due to actions of a coach or other instructor that increased the child’s risk of injury.
Pools with a distracted or improperly trained lifeguard can result in drowning, which is a leading cause of child death. Anyone who owns a pool, public or private, has a very important responsibility to meet and maintain regulations such as keeping gates closed, filter systems regularly checked, etc. Private and public pool owners can also be found negligent.
Defective Products are often the result of negligent manufacturers putting profit over safety. Too often, toddler’s car seats, infant cribs, rockers, sleepers and toys etc. are put on the market (sometimes even re-introduced after being recalled), which actually harm children. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), dangerous toys and other products continually pose risks for children, despite countless product warnings or recalls related to children. In addition to toys other defective product examples include:
- Inclined Sleepers and Cribs
- Furniture – mainly 4-drawer chests
- Car Seats
- Bicycle helmets
- Magnets
- Strollers
Other Serious Child Accidents
Falls
Falls are the leading cause of nonfatal injury for children. Children ages 19 and under account for about 8,000 fall-related visits to hospital emergency rooms every day. One study found that falls represented the seventh leading cause of traumatic death in all children 15 years of age or younger, but the third leading cause of death in children 1 to 4 years old.
Falls can happen anywhere, including places you think are safe, such as your own home or daycare. Stairs and windows account for most children’s falls. Every six minutes, a child falls down stairs somewhere in the U.S., usually while the parent is holding the child. More than 5,000 kids and teens—14 per day— fall from windows. Poorly designed or manufactured windows can pose serious threats to young and curious children. Every year, an average of 18 children, most of whom are under the age of 10, die in window-fall accidents.
Playgrounds and parks are supposed to be fun but they can surprisingly be hazardous. Badly designed and manufactured playgrounds and defective playground equipment can cause severe injuries and death: Most playground deaths are caused by strangulation and falls. Climbing equipment is the most dangerous, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Amusement Park Accidents can be the result of a defective product or negligence by amusement park owners, ride manufacturers and/or operators. Amusement park attractions are supposed to appear dangerous to deliver a thrill, but some actually are dangerous: about 4,000 children (average age is 8) are treated in emergency rooms for amusement park injuries every year.
While certain high-speed or potentially hazardous rides do have restrictions regarding the height, age, or health-status of riders, park workers don’t always enforce these rules. Equipment may be faulty or poorly maintained by park owners, or state officials have inadequately inspected rides. Head and neck injuries are the most common, according to the Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Most causes are mechanical issues and structural failures.
Water Park Accidents
Many amusement parks contain water parks and water rides and they are extremely popular. But water park rides, such as water slides, wave pools, water coasters and inflatable floats, also cause serious waterpark accidents. Improper warnings/signage, rides demanding more physical strength and control than riders have, poor maintenance and ride failure are leading causes of water park accidents. Another main problem is that patrons can’t anticipate how their bodies will respond to the components or conditions of a ride. If a rider doesn’t know how to react or adjust and control their body, then they may suffer serious injury or worse, death.
Risk Factors and Preventing Child Accidents
Keeping the environment free from hazards and negligence are crucial as children grow and develop. Although risk-taking during adolescence is normal (as peers and community replace family as the primary influence for safety), excessive risky behavior and exposure to high-risk environments can be particularly dangerous.
When a serious child accident or death occurs, Attorney Jeffrey Killino has the know-how and resources to guide you through the legal process to get what you and your family are entitled to. He can achieve your need to obtain your child’s rights and obtain justice for your child by:
- Preserving evidence and investigate the cause;
- Dealing with insurance companies or corporations;
- Collecting medical expenses, both past and future.
Jeffrey Killino is not only an experienced lawyer for children — he is also a child advocate. He will do everything in his power to prevent such tragic accidents from occurring again or to others. If your son or daughter has suffered a serious injury from an accident that could have been prevented, contact child accident attorney Jeffrey Killino today at 877-875-2927.
