How Children Can Get Run Over
I’m Ed Smith, an Elk Grove Personal Injury Lawyer. While there are many different characteristics of auto accidents, those that involve pedestrian injuries tend to be some of the most severe. This is because catastrophic personal injuries can happen when someone is hit by a car. However, children who are struck by cars often sustain traumatic injuries. Some of the common reasons why children are prone to pedestrian accidents include:
Height: Children are shorter than their adult counterparts. This means that it can be a challenge to see a child over the hood or out of the rearview mirror of a motor vehicle, particularly a taller vehicle such as a truck.
Maturity: Young children may not realize that moving cars are dangerous and could inadvertently walk in front of it, possibly leading to wrongful death.
Inattentiveness: Children can have trouble paying attention. When this involves a motor vehicle, they may not be aware that a car is in the area. This makes it easy for them to step in front of a vehicle.
Characteristics of Accidents Involving Children
Researchers collected data on numerous run over car accidents involving children. They analyzed the studies and came up with some interesting conclusions. Some of their findings include:
Younger Children Were Hurt Worse: the younger a child was, the more serious their injuries were. This was quantified by worse outcomes, such as a potential death, and longer hospital stays, on average.
Parents Were the Most Common Culprit: the most common driver to run over a child was one of the child’s parents. This is mainly because parents spend more time with their children than anyone else. This also means that parents need to keep their eyes open in a parking lot and driveway. This is where many of these accidents occur.
Hospital Admission: over half of the children required a hospital stay after being struck by a motor vehicle. This shouldn’t surprise people because being hit by a car often leads to serious injuries, such as bone fractures, that could require operative correction or intensive treatment.
These findings should prompt parents to keep a close eye on their children, especially in a driveway and in parking lots. Failure to do so could lead to tragic accidents that should have otherwise been avoided.
Watch YouTube Video: 7% of all pedestrian deaths are children under 15. This news video provides parents with safety tips on how to keep their children safe while walking to school.
Elk Grove Personal Injury Lawyers
I’m Ed Smith, an Elk Grove Personal Injury Lawyer. Pedestrian accidents can cause serious injuries and even death. If you or someone you know has been injured involving a pedestrian accident, please call me today at (916) 694-0002 or (800) 404-5400.
I’m a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum of the greater California area. The members of our chapter have both earned verdicts and worked for settlement negotiations of greater than one million dollars for a client.
Please take a few minutes to look through our verdicts and settlements here.
See what our clients are saying about us on Avvo, Yelp, and Google.
Photo by: ab
:dr cha bw [cs 537] cv