One of the most tragic pedestrian accidents involves children, who can suffer even more catastrophic injuries or death due to their small size. Unfortunately, children are often the victims of these crashes. If your child was struck by a motor vehicle, you will need to prove the driver’s negligence in order to obtain the compensation your child deserves for their injuries.
How Negligent Drivers Cause Child Pedestrian Accidents
Many child pedestrian crashes occur when children are in their own neighborhoods walking to or from a friend’s house or school, walking their dog, or delivering newspapers for a first-time job. Others occur when they are playing in their driveway or are in parking lots. Here are some of the leading reasons these accidents happen:
- Back-up accidents. Backover accidents occur in driveways and parking lots when a driver does not look carefully enough for a child before backing up. Often these collisions are caused by a relative or family friend.
- Distractions. The result can be disastrous when a driver is distracted by talking on their cell phone, texting, looking at a GPS, or eating and drinking while driving. They are much less likely to see a child walking nearby before it is too late to avoid striking them.
- School accidents. Many child pedestrian accidents happen when a child is walking to and from school or is getting off or on a school bus. Failing to stop at a crosswalk, speeding, or trying to pass a school bus that is stopped to let students on or off the bus are a few of the reasons that drivers cause these preventable collisions.
- Drunk driving. Drunk driving is especially dangerous when children are nearby because the drunk driver will be less likely to see a small child or be able to quickly take actions to avoid hitting them.
- Speeding. Children hit by a speeding driver are much more likely to suffer permanent injuries or death because of the greater force of impact when the car strikes them.
- Visibility. Drivers often say that they just did not see a child walking before striking them. However, this is not a valid excuse for causing an accident. Motorists have a duty to share the road with pedestrians and carefully watch for smaller, less visible children.
Contact Us for the Legal Assistance Your Child Needs
Was your child the victim of a pedestrian accident? Our knowledgeable car accident lawyers are here to explain your child’s rights and to fight for the compensation they deserve for their injuries. To get started, call our Norfolk office to schedule your free consultation today.
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