Children’s Injuries

Children’s Injuries Lawyer

Children are more prone to injuries than adults. Small children don’t have the life experience to foresee dangers, and they often get hurt. However, children’s injuries can be due to other people’s negligence.

Common examples of wrongful behavior causing child injuries include: 

  • Lack of supervision.
  • Reckless driving.
  • Distribution of faulty products.
  • Failure to safeguard dangerous objects or animals.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning and motor vehicle accidents cause the most deaths in children.

Did someone else’s carelessness cause your child’s injury? You can claim compensation for your child’s mental and physical pain. This article looks at the elements and procedure of a personal injury compensation claim.

If you want to file a lawsuit on your child’s behalf, our legal team at Zweben Law Group can help. Call us today at 772-223-5454 to schedule a free consultation.

Children’s Injuries and Negligence in Florida

To successfully claim compensation for your child’s injuries, you must prove that: 

  • The defendant had a duty to take reasonable care of and/or prevent harm to your child.
  • The defendant breached the duty to take care.
  • The child suffered damages.
  • The damages were due to the defendant’s breach of duty.

The first two elements have to do with negligence. The courts use the “reasonable person” test to determine if a defendant was negligent. This test asks the question: “how would a reasonable person have acted in the same situation?”

Let’s look at an example of negligence.

Homeowner A owns a large, aggressive dog that has a history of biting people. Child B is a 10-year-old whose parents recently moved in next door to A. One day, B plays with a ball, kicks it into A’s yard, and climbs over the fence to retrieve it.

Homeowner A notices B climbing over the fence but doesn’t stop B or call the dog into the house. The dog comes around the corner and bites B, injuring him. B’s parents take him to the emergency department for treatment.

In this case, a reasonable person would have foreseen that the dog would injure B, and they would have taken steps to prevent this from happening. Because A breached his duty to take care, his conduct is negligent.

Comparative Negligence in Florida

Under Florida law, a child over 6 years old can be comparatively negligent. For example, suppose the court finds that the child was 25% responsible for an accident. In this case, the child’s negligence can reduce the compensation claim value by 25%.

Consider the example above. Child B is older than 6 and can be comparatively negligent if he knew about the aggressive dog and decided to retrieve the ball anyway. 

Damages in Florida Child Injury Cases

Damages are emotional, financial, or physical injuries resulting from another party’s negligence. In child injury cases, damages typically include: 

  • Pain and suffering.
  • Mental anguish.
  • Medical bills.
  • Loss of quality of life.

In the United States, unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death in children. If you lost a child in an accident, you might be eligible to claim compensation for emotional trauma.

Are the Damages due to the Defendant’s Negligence?

Proximate causation is an element of a personal injury claim. The child’s injuries must directly result from the defendant’s negligence for the claim to be successful.

For example, person A drives recklessly, causing a motor vehicle crash that disables child B. The court finds that A is liable for the disability.

Two years after the accident, B ignores medical advice and sits in their wheelchair for long periods. Consequently, B develops a pressure ulcer.

In this case, B ignoring medical advice is not a natural sequence of events, and A is not responsible for compensating B for the pressure sore treatment.

Filing a Lawsuit on Behalf of a Child

When it comes to children’s injuries, a parent or legal guardian must file an injury lawsuit on behalf of a child under 18.

School Injury Claims in Florida

If your child sustained an injury at school, you need to file a claim with the Florida Department of Financial Services. This claim must provide sufficient proof of negligence, causality, and damages. In Florida, the compensation caps are $300,000 per incident and $200,000 per person.

Contact Zweben Law Group

At Zweben Law Group, we go the extra mile to protect our clients’ legal interests after children’s injuries. To start the claims process, call us today at 772-223-5454 and schedule a consultation. Based in Stuart, Florida, we serve you across all of Florida..

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