Children are often more capable than adults when it comes to enduring accidents without suffering serious injury. This is mainly due to their youth, health and the flexibility of their bones and muscles. However, a serious accident is more likely to involve a child. Children have less life experience and are less skilled at evaluating the danger of specific situations.
Adult Supervision
We must take care to watch over our children to ensure they are safe. Children simply are not mature enough to avoid serious accidents the way adults do. Additionally, adults in general have a duty to be more cautious when driving. This is especially true when traveling through neighborhoods, school districts and other areas where children might be present. This elevated duty of care is not only a moral duty; it is also a legal duty.
When personal injury lawsuits involve child injuries, the courts usually hold adults to a higher level of legal responsibility. If the accident was the child’s fault for darting out in front of the motor vehicle, the driver might be faulted for injuring a child pedestrian. As the law will sometimes see it, the driver should have been driving slower and more cautiously. Alternatively, if the same accident had happened with an adult pedestrian, the driver might not be held liable for the incident.
Accidents in Alaska
Alaska parents whose children have been hurt in an accident should review the facts of how the accident occurred. Particularly, who was responsible for watching over the child at the time of the accident? Was the party that hurt the child legally obligated to be more careful than he or she was? The answers to these and other important questions could determine whose at fault for the incident. It may be possible to seek financial damages in court from the person at fault.
For further information or to schedule a consultation please contact Merdes Law Office, P.C. at 866.452.3741 or visit www.merdes.com. And while we hope you never need us … We’re here if you do.
