While motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of child fatalities, our Washington DC personal injury lawyers want to warn you of other auto vehicle-related dangers that could put a kid at serious risk. Here are a few of these safety hazards, as identified by the National Highway Safety Administration:
Backover accidents: This usually involves a vehicle backing out of a driveway or parking lot and the driver not realizing that there is a child behind the auto. Backover accidents can prove fatal. Because the vehicle is being operated in reverse, the motorist must take extra precautions to check all viewing mirrors, footage from the backup camera, and perhaps even physically look back to make sure there is no one there.
Power windows: Power windows can entrap a young child’s hands, fingers, feet, neck, or head. It is important to make sure that power window switches have been locked. Otherwise, a child can accidentally activate the switch.
Vehicle rollaway: Leaving the key in the ignition with the vehicle unattended may result in the automatic transmission shifting out of “Park.” This can cause serious injuries to a child left alone in the auto or children outside the car in the event of an accident.
Hyperthermia: According to the NHTSA, heatstroke is the number one cause of non-crash auto deaths for kids under age 14. Already, there have been 21 hyperthermia child fatalities this year. Last year, there were 49 child heatstroke deaths. It is important that young children not ever be left alone in a vehicle—especially in hot weather.
Just this month, the family of one 22-month-old boy filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a day care center because they believe that he was left inside the transport van. With temperatures in the mid-90’s that day, it would have been a lot hotter inside the vehicle.
If your child died in a vehicle-related incident that you believe was caused by another party’s careless, reckless, or negligent acts, contact our Washington DC injuries to a minor lawsuit. Our DC injury law firm would like to offer you a free case evaluation.
Family sues Miami-Dade day care in toddler’s death, Sun-Sentinel, July 15, 2011
NHTSA Steps Up Efforts to Prevent Child Deaths in Hot Cars, NHTSA, June 26, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Keeping our Kids Safe, NHTSA
Hyperthermia Deaths of Children in Vehicles, Department of Geosciences
More Blog Posts:
Nearly 800,000 Dorel Child Safety Seats Recalled, Washington DC Injury Lawyer Blog, February 16, 2011
Anne Arundel Accident News: Reckless Driving Blamed in Single-Car Crash that Killed 3-Year-Old, Maryland Car Accident Attorney Blog, July 23, 2011
Toddler and Teen Pedestrians Injured During East Baltimore Car Accident, Maryland Accident Law Blog, July 12, 2010