Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In recent years, the number of school-age athletes sent to the emergency room with concussions has skyrocketed. This fact suggests that the intensity of youth-sports has increased. The study examined national data of concussions in youth sports involving children from ages 8 to 19. The findings of this study were that ER visits for teenagers ages 14 to 19 visit than tripled from 1997 to 2007 and more doubled for children ages 8 to 13.
In North Mankato, Minnesota, the State of Minnesota Department of Human Services recently fined a day care center for failing to follow procedure in contacting 911 regarding the incident. While the State did not find that the day care center were negligent as to the incident itself, the State of Minnesota did fine the facility as to the timeliness of the reporting of the incident to 911.
In Tyler, Texas, there was an accident involving the rear end collision of a school bus. Typically, school buses are quite large and a bright yellow color. Despite the size and color of the typical school bus, there continues to be reported incidents of crashed into school buses. Whether the crash involves excessive speeding, driver inattention, or other unsafe driving, all drivers need to a better job of yielding to school buses and keeping a safe distance away from school buses. Furthermore, obey all school zones and slow down in school bus stop areas. School bus accidents similar to the one in Tyler Texas involved a rear end collision that most likely could have been avoided with better driving and less driver distraction. You can read more about this story at 
A Pennsylvania school district has settled the case of a student for $33,000. The student through an attorney claimed that her rights were violated when the school principal searched through her mobile phone and found nude photos of the student. Thereafter, the principal turned the phone / photos over to prosecutors. While the $33,000 settlement was reached with the student, the school district denied any wrongdoing or fault for the incident. The ACLU was involved with this case.
The packaging, scent, and color of common household cleaners are alluring to children. And, instead of looking like toxic chemicals, these products appear to children as fascinating toys or cool treats and drinks. According to a study in the September issue of Pediatrics, household cleaners such as bleach, drain cleaner and swimming pool chemicals put 267,269 children 5-years-old and younger in U.S. emergency rooms between 1990 to 2006. Most of the child personal injuries noted in the study were a result a swallowing products. Other personal injuries included chemical burns or irritation to the skin and eyes. Bleach was the number one product associated with the child personal injuries and about 40% of the cases were caused by spray bottles because they are easy to trigger, even for young children.
The 2010 – 2011 school year has now officially started in most school districts across the United States. It is a good time for everyone (whether you have a child in school or not) to focus on key safety tips for children in and near school.
Below are some tips about “baby proofing” one’s home and seven safety product categories to keep “top-of-mind”.
Authorities say a mother of Farmington, Texas is likely facing charges after the mother left her two small children in her car, unattended for almost four hours. The investigation is ongoing, however, police have confirmed that the mother, identified as 20-year-old Mary Passey, left her children asleep in her vehicle while she went to visit a friend and fell asleep herself.
In Colorado Springs and other cities, child pedestrians are at risk in parking lots and roadways. A driver can never know for sure when a child is in a parking lot or attempting to cross a street. As such, drivers should be on alert and drive with care at all times. Of course, school zones, parks, and playgrounds are common areas where one would see a child pedestrian. We all also know that children are in all other areas as well. Drive with due care.
Ten million drop-side cribs have been recalled since 2007 – including 2 million in June alone. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has formed new safety standards that will ban the sale of drop-side cribs and prohibit their use in day cares and hotels hopefully by December 2011.