Personal injury lawsuits are often filed by adults who are seriously injured in accidents or after using a defective product. Yet children can also suffer debilitating and life-threatening personal injuries, often in similar circumstances to adults. In some situations, kids can be at even greater risk of injury than adults in the same or similar circumstances. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on average each year, more than 7,000 kids aged 19 and under are killed every year in accidents and as a result of other unintentional injuries. In fact, the CDC reports that unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death for kids and teens in the U.S. today. Some children are at more serious risk of injury than others.
What should parents know about child injuries and common injury risks? Our West Palm Beach personal injury attorneys have information for you.
Understand Child Injury Risk Factors and Injury TypesÂ
What are the most common risk factors for child injuries, and how do the risk factors affect certain types of injuries that tend to happen among younger kids and teens? According to the CDC, unintentional injury deaths are most common among male children, children who are Black or Indigenous, and children who are either under the age of 1 or between the ages of 15-19.
The specific type of injury risks a child face will depend in part on the child’s age. To be clear, younger children are at greatest risk of injury and death from suffocation and drowning, while older children tend to be at greatest risk of injury from falls and motor vehicle collisions. Even though the age group makes a significant difference, the CDC data suggests that Black children, Hispanic children, and Indigenous children tend to sustain serious and fatal injuries at higher rates than white children in the same age groups. To sum up some of those common child injury risks:
- Suffocation is most common in infants who are under the age of 1;
- Drowning is the most common cause of death among kids aged 104;
- Car crashes are the most common cause of injury and death among children and teens between the ages of 5-19; and
- Falls can affect children at any age and are also a common cause of injury among toddlers, children, and teens.
Prevention and Liability for Child InjuriesÂ
The CDC emphasizes that prevention methods do exist for many types of injuries that affect kids most often, and parents and other caregivers can take steps to ensure that children do not sustain serious or life-threatening injuries. For example, caregivers can ensure that kids of all ages are properly secured in a vehicle in a child safety seat that is age-appropriate or with a seat belt, caregivers can takes steps to reduce suffocation risks in cribs, and caregivers can ensure that children are properly monitored when they are engaged in activities that could result in drowning or fall-related injuries and deaths.
Liability for child injuries will depend upon the circumstances. You should seek advice from a lawyer to determine who may be at fault for your child’s injuries.
Contact a South Florida Personal Injury AttorneyÂ
If you need assistance seeking compensation after your child was injured in an accident or because of another party’s careless behavior, one of our South Florida personal injury attorneys can help you. Contact Lesser Lesser Landy & Smith PLLC for more information.
Source:
cdc.gov/injury/features/child-injury/index.html#:~:text=More%20than%207%2C000%20children%20and,Child%20injury%20is%20often%20preventable.
