Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Archive for January, 2010

More than 30,000 children are struck by cars each year in the United States.  Additionally, Florida is home to 4 of the 5 most dangerous cities for pedestrians in this country.

Nothing is more precious than the safety of one’s child. As a Florida Child Pedestrian lawyer, undertaking the representation of an injured child in a pedestrian accident case is extremely difficult. Yet, the fact is that child pedestrian injury is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among children ages 5-14.  Why? Simply because children are exposed to traffic threats which far exceed their cognitive and developmental abilities. Children are impulsive and lack the ability to sense danger.

Their vulnerability  is  further compounded by Florida’s lack of adequate infrastructure to prevent child pedestrian accidents. More and better sidewalks, reduced speed limits, wider medians, adequate pedestrian signage, intersection signals and well marked crosswalks are all needed.

At the same time, let’s not overlook our need to educate our children about pedestrian safety, the dangers of the road and our responsibility to adequately supervise our children to prevent accidents from happening.

 Car accidents are THE MAJOR cause of childhood fatalities and injuries. Fifteen thousand (15,000) children die and over 1 million are injured in the U.S. yearly in motor vehicle accidents.

Children learn more from what we do than what we say! Here is a list of precautions you must insist upon when transporting your child:

SAFETY GUIDELINES:

1. Mom’s lap is unsafe. In a collision, a child could be crushed between the adult and the auto interior. Even if the adult is wearing a safety belt, a child could be wrenched from her arms in a collision. Also, never put a seatbelt around both you and a child, or even two children.
2. All car doors must be locked. Engage door handle locks (if your vehicle is equipped with them) if you’re riding with small children. These devices prevent rear seat passengers from opening the rear doors from the inside.
3. Children must never be loose in the front seat and, most importantly, never stand in the front seat. It is impossible to prevent a child, who is sitting beside you, from being flung forward by extending your arm during a crash. In a 20 mph crash, an unrestrained 25 lb. baby has a weight equivalent to 500 pounds!
4. Children must never be unrestrained in the cargo section of a station wagon or let loose to run around inside a van or SUV. Also, NEVER let anyone ride in the bed of a pickup truck, even one with a tarp or shell.
5. Children should sit in the back seat. If a child has no choice and must sit in the front seat with a passenger air bag present, always use a car seat, booster seat or seatbelt (whichever is appropriate), and have the passenger seat as far back as it can go. If the car has an airbag that can be deactivated on the passenger side, do so before placing your child in the front seat. Never put an infant less than 1 year of age in the front passenger seat of a vehicle with a passenger side airbag that cannot be deactivated.
6. EVERYONE in the vehicle must buckle up. An unrestrained adult is a poor role model and can be thrown into others causing serious or fatal injuries.

 A child injury prevention fair is being held at Lee Memorial Hospital in Ft. Myers, this Saturday, January 23rd.   The Emergency and Trauma Services wing at Lee Memorial will be working in conjunction with The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida to provide activities and information to educate families on how to avoid childhood accidents. 

Some of the areas to be discussed include how to prevent child injuries such as fall accidents, child burn injury and car accident injury.  Healthy snacks will also be available. 

 Michele King, director of the Child Advocacy Program at The Children’s Hospital stated. “There will be so much good information for parents and kids.  It is very interactive.”

 To find out more information on the event, please contact Karen Krieger, Director of Public Affairs at 239-454-8765.

Last month, we reported over 2 million drop side cribs manufactured by Stork Craft had been recalled due to the danger of child entrapment and  strangulation.  Just this week, another manufacturer of drop side cribs, Dorel Industries, is being forced to recall 635,000 cribs due to hazards of infant and toddler strangulation, suffocation and even infant death.

 An online report was published this week suggesting that Dorel Industries may have been persuaded with the recall by actions the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission planned to take.  The report quotes a spokesman with CPSC as saying the commission would take unilateral action to recall 20 various models of Dorel cribs due to hardware issues in drop-side cribs as well as for slats that break.

The report continues to say that because of the potential embarrassment of not issuing a recall in the aftermath of dozens of incidents and the fatality of a baby — Dorel announced the recall with the traditional language of  “in cooperation with” the CPSC.

 In a written statement, Dorel said, “The recall is motivated by isolated reports of broken crib slats and drop-side hardware. In total, 67 incidents were reported and 10 children were bruised or scratched.”  The statement described the circumstances surrounding the infant’s death as highly unusual. 

For more details,  please visit CPSC or call Dorel Asia toll-free at  (866) 762-2304        

Athletics, for many children growing up, is a rite of passage.  For middle school  and high school student athletes, sports offers competition as well as opportunity.  But there can be risks, as well.  Many parents, as their children  become involved in competitive sports, share concerns about head injuries.

Fortunately, basic guidelines for recognizing minor concussions in scholastic sports have been developed. An understanding of these can prevent more serious injuries and consequences. Neurologists and neuropsychologists have recognized that the length of loss of consciousness is somewhat related to the severity of injury. The amount of time an adult or child fails to recall before the trauma  and the period of time not recalled following the trauma  are also somewhat related to the extent of injury.

 According to the CDC, a concussion is a brain injury that can be brought on by a bump, blow or jolt to the head and although not all bumps to the head involve a brain injury, concussions should never be taken lightly. They can show up right after an injury or take days or weeks to emerge.   Parents, student athletes and  coaches should exercise great caution, as the long term effects  of multiple concussions can be severe.

Additional resources:

ImPACT, a neuro-cognitive test  -A 20-minute computerized examination that  judges reaction time, memory and attention span through a progression of mental challenges.

www.AAN.COM- The American Academy of Neurology

We recently became aware of some very compelling information regarding the growing concern of backover accidents. 

 All vehicles have blind spots, where visibility may be limited. High profile cars such as SUV’s, trucks and vans can be dangerous due to  their design.  As a result, unsuspecting children are seriously injured and even fatally injured. Backover accidents occur in both residential areas, as well as other common  places such as parking lots. 

 Here are some astonishing facts and figures to consider:

1. Most victims of backover accidents are toddlers (12-23 months old)
2. 60% of the time, Trucks, Vans, SUV’s and other large sized vehicles are involved in the accident 
3. A parent or close relative is behind the wheel in over 70% of these accidents 
4. Annually over 2,400 children are attended to in emergency rooms, as a result of being struck by or rolled over by a vehicle

It’s reported that 100 children are killed each year from these accidents.  Improved technology by manufacturers and standards to increase rear visibility could potentially be a true safeguard to children.  But the ultimate responsibility is to the driver.  Backing up is risky and requires a driver’s complete attention. Patience and a willingness to slow down and drive defensively…even while backing out of a driveway, will provide a safer haven to children and prevent a real tragedy.

Our Florida Child Injury document library contains  a resource article with information concerning safety devices to reduce the risk of backover accidents.  

During the holiday season we see reports of various toys that are recalled, as well as safety rankings evaluating children’s toys.  Obviously safety does not stop there.

 Last month Timberland Company and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of 21,000 Classic Scuffproof Boots that were sold nationwide last year between June and October.  The hazard resulted from an excessive amount of lead found in the logo that was stamped onto the boot’s insoles. 

 Consumers who may have purchased the boot for a child are being advised to take the boot away from the child and contact Timberland for a free replacement insole.  For more information, please contact Timberland at (800) 445-5545 or visit, www.timberland.com.

Information surfaced recently that TASER International, a leading provider in technology solutions, would be unveiling a new platform designed to help parents monitor their children. 

 The product is called PROTECTOR.   It’s an extraordinary toolset that gives parents the ability to monitor  their child or teen’s cell phone usage as well as driving habits. Parents will have the opportunity to manage the contact lists and content of their child’s mobile phone.  The intent is to help parents help their children.   Calls, texts, emails, photos and videos can all be monitored.  Phone functionality can also be limited to stop dangerous distractions while driving.  

 PROTECTOR works on multiple devices and is accessible through smart phones, PC’s Mac’s or smart TV’s.  Permissions and settings can be changed in real time.  Interested parties can call TASER International at (800) 978-2737 or visit their website at www.TASER.com.

In the event of an injury to your son or daughter, you experience doubts and a sense of anxiety about  your child.  In a great article from WHYY news it states: “In the aftermath of a child’s injury, parents often struggle with pain of their own.”

The article explains a new study from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and examines how parents cope psychologically after a child is injured.

According to the study, “Doctors at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention at the Children’s Hospital found that one month after a child’s injury, 37 percent of parents experienced symptoms of traumatic stress including high levels of anxiety.”

In the event of an injury to your child, you may experience these same kinds of symptoms.  We have found an excellent website to help parents deal with the trauma after an accident or injury. AfterTheInjury is a great website with alot of resources.

All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg had a successful moving day! Eight hundred staff members moved 169 eager patients into its new facility. 

The new 10 story, $403,000,000 hospital has almost a million square feet of space dedicated to pediatric care, including 259 rooms, most of which are private.

The children were wheeled through an underground tunnel that connects All children’s to neighboring Bayfront Hospital.  The patients were then  transported  across elevated walkways which connect Bayfront to the new hospital. 

The new medical facility, took nearly 5 years to build.