Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In Littleton, Colorado and other cities, the new school year has begun. For most children, the first days and weeks of school are filled with fun new learning adventures, seeing friends, and making new ones. Unfortunately, the new school year has greeted some children with injuries, abuse, and neglect at the hands of child care and day care providers. In Littleton, Colorado, a child care worker showed poor judgment by duct taping a boy’s hands to his head. This bad judgment in child care resulted in the day care worker’s arrest by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office. Matthew James McGregor, age 21, was employed for Roxborough Roxstars, a program run for before and after school care for the Douglas County School District.
A 2-year-old girl was seriously injured at her day care in Raleigh, North Carolina. Apparently the toddler was attempting to climb a bookcase, when the bookcase fell and hit her on top of the head. The incident is being investigated by the Tennessee Department of Human Services – specifically the supervision issue.
The results of a recent New York booster seat law found that traffic injuries among children ages 4-6 dropped 18% – the New York booster seat law required certain children to seat in car seats and took place in 2005.
Colorado has a adopted a new law that changed the requirements for children who have to use booster seats. Under the previous law, children between the ages of 4 and 5 were required to be restrained by a booster seat while in a motor vehicle. Now, under the new law, children who are 6 and 7 are also required to be restrained by a booster seat. Also, a child’s height and weight are no longer the determining factors of whether or not a child should be restrained in a booster seat – the new law only has an age requirement affecting children under 8-years of age.
Playgrounds are great environments for children to have fun and get exercise. However, parents need to ensure that the playground area is safe before they allow their children to play on the equipment. According to group reports, approximately 200,000 children in the United States visit the hospital after sustaining playground-injuries. Nearly 80% of playground-injuries are the result of falls, says the National Playground Safety Institute. And about 45% of those injuries are considered severe, meaning the injuries are fractures, internal injuries, concussions or dislocations.
Choking is a leading cause of injury and death in children, especially children under the age of 4-years-old. The main reason for this is because children have a tendency to put almost anything inside their mouths. The most common objects are food, toys and coins. And, although toys are labeled as choking hazards, food is not. According to a published study by Dr. Gerry Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, a child will die every 5 days in the United States from choking on food. Smith urges the government to place warning labels on foods that pose choking hazards.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), families of about 200,000 children confront injuries associated with unsafe playground areas and equipment annually; an estimated 51,000 incidents / accidents occur on home playground equipment. Most of the injuries result from falls.
Participating in youth sports is a great way for children to learn sportsmanship and the importance of exercise. However, it must be noted that dangers and risk of injury will always be present if your child does decide to participate in athletic sports.
As parents head off to work and school this summer they leave their children in the care of daycare providers. Below is safety and health suggestion parents should look for in daycare facilities.
A 30-year-old woman and 52-year-old man were arrested in Ypsilanti, Michigan after authorities found the couple pushing a baby stroller holding two young boys with containers of alcohol and a bayonet inside the stroller. A statement by police said that police were called after the woman was observed trying to remove a bicycle off of a porch at 1:30 a.m, Friday, July 2. The two boys were 1-year and 4-years-old. The officers described the weapon as a “double-edged bayonet.” the children were turned over to a relative and charges are pending. To read more on this story see