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Personal Injury & Child Pedestrian Accidents
Medical Malpractice Lawyers in Maryland, Washington, D.C. & Virginia
When a child is hit by a car, the injuries are almost always severe or fatal. Unfortunately, children are more likely to be involved in a pedestrian accident than adults, due to their low visibility and sometimes erratic behavior. About 50,000 children are struck by a vehicle each year. Many of these accidents occur when children are boarding and exiting the school bus or walking to school, even though we have laws to encourage extreme caution when driving near schools and school buses.
Drivers have a responsibility to watch for children. We all know that small children often dart out into traffic and that they are hard to see because of their size. We also know that this is much more likely to happen near schools and schools buses. Drivers are expected and required by law to drive more carefully in these high risk areas.
School Bus Accidents
The majority of children killed in school bus accidents (about 80%) are not injured while riding the bus. They are hit when boarding and exiting. These accidents are entirely preventable by simply using the most basic safety measures and caution.
When a school bus stops to pick up or drop off a child, a stop sign is extended and the bus displays flashing lights. Drivers, traveling in both directions, are required to stop and wait until the lights are turned off and the stop sign is retracted. When children exit the bus, they must often cross the street, so the bus driver is required to display these caution signs until all of the children are safely out of the road.
Common causes of children being struck by vehicles when boarding and exiting the school bus include:
- Drivers failing to heed the warning signs and passing the bus
- Bus drivers retracting the stop sign before children are safely out of the road
- Bus drivers failing to look for or see children near the bus
- Defective buses with malfunctioning warning signs
School Zones
School zones are supposed to minimize the risk of a child being struck near a school. They have drastically reduced speed limits for several reasons:
- Drivers of slow moving vehicles are more likely to see children and have the opportunity to stop
- Speed is a major factor in the severity of pedestrian injuries
- It alerts drivers to the need to use extreme caution and be on the lookout for children
School zone speed limits range from 15 to 35 miles an hour. According to a survey conducted by the National Safe Kids Campaign, in 2000, about two thirds of all drivers travel at excessive rates in school zones, and nearly 25% drive more than 10mph over the speed limit in these areas.
Most child pedestrian accidents are preventable. Pedestrian accidents are often fatal, and it is common for survivors to suffer life-altering brain injuries and required extensive, life-long medical care — care which you can only afford through just compensation. We can help.
If your child has been injured or killed in a pedestrian accident in Maryland, Virginia or Washington DC, please contact our Maryland personal injury law form to speak with one of our skilled auto accident lawyers at Chaikin Sherman Cammarata & Siegel, P.C. today.
