The child serious injury and death rate has increased significantly in recent years. Today, unintentional injuries seriously injure or kill thousands of children every year. The tortfeasors (negligent actors) in the below examples usually don’t intend the result. They normally don’t intend to hurt children. But their negligence is usually intentional. Therefore, they’re responsible for the injuries they cause.
Childhood injuries not only deny children a head start in life. They also have lingering effects. The physical and emotional wounds are usually permanent, at least to an extent. So, a Columbia child injury lawyer is usually able to obtain substantial compensation in these cases. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering.
Car Crash
Driver and/or caregiver negligence (lack of ordinary care) usually causes child injuries in vehicle collision matters.
Driver error causes over 98 percent of the car wrecks in South Carolina. This driver error, like speeding and alcohol impairment, is usually a lack of care. In all five examples in this post, a Columbia personal injury lawyer can obtain compensation in these cases.
Caregiver negligence is usually a failure to properly install and/or use child safety seats. Caregivers must closely follow the manufacturer’s instructions when they install car seats. Otherwise, it’s like the child is unprotected. Additionally, the manufacturer’s guidelines about child age and weight aren’t suggestions. Failure to follow them could result in a child injury.
Swimming Pool Drowning
Young children need close supervision when they play in kiddie pools. A toddler can drown in one inch of water. Furthermore, serious injuries, like cerebral palsy, usually set in very quickly.
Adult-sized pools are very dangerous as well. Sometimes, the shallow end quickly becomes the deep end. Furthermore, pool drains usually create riptides that adults can resist but suck children under the water.
Because of these risks, state and local laws in South Carolina impose restrictions on swimming pool owners. Usually, owners must ensure that children cannot sneak into a pool. Owners must also keep lifesaving equipment near the water’s edge.
Falls
A slip-and-fall injury might not cause more than a skinned knee or another non serious injury. A fall from a height is much different. A fall from more than two stories above ground is usually fatal to a youngster. So, once again, South Carolina law imposes a strong duty of care on landowners, especially regarding balconies and other such fall hazards.
Playground/Amusement Park Accident
Children need and deserve so much protection that the same high duty of care usually applies to playground and amusement park owners.
Older play equipment built over grass or another solid surface is especially hazardous. The school, church, park, and other playgrounds are especially common in older parts of town. Falls aren’t the only playground hazards. Hoodie ties often cause strangulation injuries.
Falls and assaults are the most common injuries at amusement parks. Owners have a legal responsibility to provide safe environments. That includes not only removing fall hazards, but also providing adequate overall security. A childhood bully is usually more of a threat than a stranger with a gun.
Abuse
Until recently, if young children died under mysterious circumstances, doctors often claimed the mysterious Sudden Infant Death Syndrome caused the tragedy. More often than not, caregiver negligence, like failure to address a serious illness, caused it. Sometimes, abuse is an intentional tort, which means that slightly different rules apply.
Connect With a Detail-Oriented Richland County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Columbia, contact the Marc Brown Law Firm. Virtual, home, and hospital visits are available.
Source:
dppps.sc.gov/Victim-Services/Restitution