Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Dodson Law Firm’

Elizabeth Quinn is an exercise physiologist and fitness consultant who works with organizations designing functional training programs.  Here are some important tips she supplies for parent’s whose children are involved with youth sports.

 Although some may appear to be common sense, sometimes  it’s the “smaller things” that are overlooked that could lead to child injury. Many children experience  minor bruises and injuries as they participate in youth sports. But there are some safety considerations for parents in the event an injury does occur and steps to take  to protect children from more serious injuries.

• Does the coach have first aid training and an emergency action plan?
• Is there a safety policy regarding injury, illness, and inclement weather?
• Does the coach have your emergency contact information?
• Do you have contact information for the coach?
• Is there a first-aid kit always on hand?
• Is there available water, hydration at all game & practices?
• Is there a scheduled warm-up and cool down at games and practices?
• Does your child receive guidelines and recommendations about proper safety equipment?                                                                                                                
• Is safety equipment required for play?
• Are children allowed adequate rest between games and practices?
• Is sportsmanship, and fair play a core value of the program and the coach?

 Unfortunately, tragic accidents can  happen on the playing field.   Children have the potential for suffering many kinds of  serious injuries while playing sports including: broken bones, concussion, trauma, torn ligaments, sprains and strains, eye injuries and more. If you are unsure  about answers to even one of these questions, make a point to find out. It’s in your children best interest and safety that you do.  The Dodson Law Firm protects the interests of families every day.  For a free consultation with our Florida Personal Injury lawyers contact our office @ 1-888-340-0840.

Early Friday morning a New Port Richey couple were about to retire to bed when the unexpected happened. 

 “We were walking into the bathroom and we heard this … crash. I came outside, saw the car where you see it now.”  A teen driver lost control of her car, sideswiped another vehicle, drove through the front yard and crashed into the home of Michael Whaley.  The impact pinned a van inside the garage.  Troopers cited the 17-year-old driver with careless driving.

 “I asked both kids… if either were hurt,” the retired police was quoted as saying.   Very fortunately for the teen and her passenger, there were no serious injuries in the car crash. Whaley’s home, though reportedly,  has $20,000 in damages. The accident could have had  serious injuries and consequences  had he and  his wife  been in the area where the car crashed. Whaley, it seems from a news report,  had a fairly calm reaction to the evening’s events and was relieved  no one was injured.

He remarked,  ”I got insurance…everybody got insurance.” Fortunately, in this case it sounds like insurance is not an issue, but that’s not always the case.

Many drivers in Florida are extremely underinsured and unprepared if they are responsible for damages far beyond the coverage they bought.  The damage to property caused in this accident may be covered by the driver’s Property Damage insurance on any policy insuring the car. Too many Floridians opt for the minimum Property Damage coverage of $10,000. Such coverage would pay for only half the reported loss to the home in this accident, leaving the driver on the hook potentially for the rest. Far too many crashes involving expensive cars cause property damaged liablity well in excess of $10,000 and drivers need to be aware of such potential liabilty and get the coverage they need. 

In addition,  many injured people I see in my office after an auto accident believe they have full coverage or are unclear about what they do have. Unfortunately, there are many uninsured or underinsured drivers on our roads – as many as 665,000 Florida drivers have no insurance, according to a 2004 report.  The Dodson Law Firm stresses the importance of uninsured motorist coverage - the least expensive and best bargain when it comes to your coverage. Check your policy’s coverage today!

For more information on car insurance from Florida Car Accident and Child Injury Lawyer Jim Dodson, request a FREE copy of his consumer guide about Buying Car Insurance in Florida It’s available on Amazon for $12.95 but offered at NO COST to Florida drivers on our website www.JWDodsonlaw.com.   

Last week in Orlando, a group of 50 parents, volunteers and children all gathered in front of City Hall to voice their support of the Freedom Ride program.

 The program aids disabled youths and adults at Trotters Park through therapeutic horseback riding.  Those who participate in Freedom Ride are living  with a variety of disabilities and life challenges, some of which include: cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, ADD, autism, deafness, and blindness.

 The city of Orlando has decided not to renew the lease at Trotters Park after it expires next year.  It’s reported that city officials feel the land is needed for more soccer and basketball facilities. 

 The mother of one child, Jonathon Forthuber, who has cerebral palsy, explained the importance of the program. “He can’t walk, so when he’s on a horse, he’s walking. Things these kids shouldn’t be able to do, they’re doing. They ought to have an opportunity to keep doing it.”

 Mayor Buddy Dyer is exploring other options to possibly facilitate the needs of the program. 

The Dodson Law Firm wishes the families, children and volunteers well in these efforts and hope their voices will be heard by city officials. Freedom Ride sounds like an extremely worthwhile program, reaching out to the more than 50,000 disabled people  in the Central Florida area while providing an invaluable opportunity for this group of  children and adults.

The Dodson Law Firm is committed to providing safety resources  to prevent child injury.  We want to help parents ensure a happy, healthy and safe life for their children.

 Pet access doors are an area of concern of which every parent should be aware.  Millions of these doors have been installed for convenience of allowing a cat or dog to access the outdoors. More than 70 cases have been uncovered in which a child died or nearly lost their lives after leaving their home through a pet door.  Most fatalities and accidents result from a child drowning in a pool or another hazardous place.  In all reality, that number could be much higher since often times it is not recorded how a child accessed the outdoors.

 Naturally parents and guardians of young children and toddlers always have to be on guard and never leave a child unsupervised and unattended.   According to PetAccessDangers.org, warnings by most pet door manufacturers are either insufficient or totally lacking.   

Manufacturers of products have a solemn responsibility to warn and alert consumers of the potential dangers associated with their product.

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        

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.  

The Dodson Law Firm  likes to acknowledge companies and organizations that are doing the right thing for children.  “Kids are Heroes” is a program  St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital of Tampa has instituted since 1996.  Since that time, they have recognized more than 1,000 children, between the ages 5 and 18, from Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties who have accomplished heroic deeds, or displayed acts of selflessness. 

 Every year these young heroes are selected by a panel of judges comprised of current and past pediatric patients of St. Joseph’s.  The Tampa Bay Lightning is also affiliated with this worthwhile program. 

 In 2009 there were some very special individuals who were chosen as heroes.  To find out more about the program and the winners, please visit their website, or contact Amy Gall at (813) 870-4731.

The Pinellas School Board is being sued by an Azalea Middle School student. 

 The student, Jarrard Jackson, claims that he’s been harassed and bullied on three separate occasions by the same group of boys.  The incidents have happened on a school bus, as well as on school grounds.

 A spokeswoman for Pinellas Schools declined to address the specific allegations, according to a news report.

Recent statistics show that half of all bullying goes unreported.  The Dodson Law Firm urges students who have been bullied to report the incident(s) to an adult. Most children do not report that they have been bullied to a parent or an authority figure because they fear they will become even more of a target.

 Anonymous reports can also be made by calling the Campus Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-873-8477. (Contact Information provided by the Pinellas County School Board)