By David A. Wolf, Attorney
Child Injury Lawyer Blog
There are times of the year in which children and others are out at a bit of a higher risk that other times of the year. In the United States, New Year’s Eve, July 4th, and other holidays / celebrations throughout the year, tend to bring out firework purchases and enthusiasts. Any time that a fireworks are ignited, even by professional, there is a risk for injury. When the fireworks are ignited by people without training including those under the influence of alcohol, people including children can suffer personal injuries in the form of eye injuries, burn injuries, and other injuries.
Concerned and dedicated parents worry about the safety and health of their children and make it priority one to protect their children. However, a parent is only human and can only provide so much protection of a child especially when the child is in a place other than the family home. Well there is good reason for the worry with young children or really children of any age. A parent really never stops being a parent whether the child is an infant, todder, pre-schooler, school aged, a tween, a teen, or young adult. Children by their nature are inquisitive and want to see all that life has to offer. That explorative lifestyle can put children in some very scary scenarios, especially when people who are not the parents are involved.
So what happens when a person or business entity is negligent and causes injury to a children in the form of an eye injury?Well for starters, there are many different scenarios in which these types of injuries may occur. It is important to note that any person, including children under the age of 18 years of age, has the ability, if not addressed personally, to seek solutions for an injury and all costs / damages that are associated with the personal injury. The injury victim or the parent of an injury victim who is a child may pursue a negligence claim or cause to seek compensation for the personal injuries and related damages.
Under a negligence claim four elements need to be proven to have a viable negligence claim:
Duty,
Breach of Duty,
Causation, and
Damages.
There is a general duty to act in a reasonable and safe manner. This general concept applies especially when the person or business at issue is using or igniting fireworks. Basically, if people are popping fireworks and your child is near or with them, whoever is in control of the fireworks has a duty, to keep your child safe as well as other people near the activity, in the most reasonable manner possible. Now for breach, did the person breach that duty owed to you, and your child? In other words did that person put your child in a position that was dangerous. For instance, if the child was just five feet away from the bottle rocket when it was ignited, this could be considered a breach of duty as the children should have been kept further away from the fireworks in a reasonably safe place. Moving further to causation. If the breach of duty is related to the resulting injuries, this would then prove up the element of damages. The evaluation of a potential claim or case involves both an analysis of the legal elements as well as practical considerations. For instance, if the child only suffered a minor scratch that merely required the placement of a band aid, this may not be enough from a practical standpoint to pursue even if all of the element of a claim or case can be established from a legal standpoint. Each case or claim must be evaluated on its own facts and merits.
David A. Wolf is the author of 10 books including the book titled – The ABCs of Child Injury – Legal Rights of the Injured Child – What Every Parent Should Know. This book has chapters on Amusement and Theme Park Injuries, Homeowner’s Insurance, Day Care Center Injuries, and other topics. Get this book for free at The ABCs of Child Injury.