Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Scott Soutullo, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In Alabama and other states, roads are filled with teenage drivers. It is a big responsibility to get behind the wheel of a car. The teen driver is not only responsible for his or her own safety but also the safety of the passengers, other drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists. An automobile is a “dangerous instrument” that can and does cause wrongful death and personal injuries on a daily basis. In Alabama, one out of every eight teenage drivers in an automobile accident according to 2007 statistics. This amounts to 30,000 teens out of 250,000 teens according to the Alabama Safe Teen Driving Coalition.
The United States Department of Health and Human Resources has a website that has a great reference tool for parents and caregivers with children in day care centers and child care centers. Each state regulates day care centers / child care centers through a state specific administrative code and / or policy manual. Go to 
In Alabama, Florida, and other States, charter buses fill the roads. There have been several charter bus accidents and incidents in the news over the past few months. This has led safety experts and government officials to question the standards for bus manufacturing, maintenance and operation. In Montgomery, Alabama, a charter bus filled with children recently caught on fire. It appears that the fire started in the brake system and then spread to other parts of the bus. Fortunately, the passengers (adults and children) were safely evacuated from the bus. One of the adult passengers did need oxygen from smoke inhalation. Fortunately, serious personal injuries and death were avoided.
In Alabama, child day care centers are classified in one of two groups: Licensed or License Exempt. All centers, under Alabama law, that require a child day care license must be licensed by the Department of Human Resources. Child day care licenses need to be renewed every two years. The Department of Human Resources sets for minimum standards to qualify for a license. Once a license is approved, child day care centers must remain in compliance with these licensing regulations.
The Alabama Safety Belt Use Act of 1991 (“ASBUA”), codified at 32-5b-1, is Alabama’s primary law that governs safety belt use. This law requires every adult front seat occupant of a passenger car to have a safety belt fastened to their body while the vehicle is in motion. “Adult” was emphasized because Alabama law imposes a different set of requirements on the parents of small children riding with them in a vehicle. This makes perfect sense. Because a child’s body is significantly smaller in size and weight, it cannot be properly restrained by the same safety belt intended for a full grown adult. To make matters worse, fastening a child in an adult restraint could cause even more severe bodily harm / personal injuries to a child in an automobile accident. For these and other reasons, Alabama’s primary safety belt law refers us to a completely different code section at 32-5-222 which specifically governs child safety restraints. You can read this code section and others at the 
In Alabama and Other States, children suffer personal injuries and in some cases, death, as a result of an incident or accident at a child day care center. In Alabama, a child day care center has reporting and documentation obligations and responsibilities for these incidents pursuant to the 
The State of Alabama has special laws in place pertaining to the liability of owners for dog bites. Children in Mobile, Birmingham and other Alabama cities and towns are especially at risk for serious injuries from dog bites to the size and strength of the child as compared to many medium and large sized dogs. Furthermore, many children lack the judgment and experience with dogs to know when there is danger lurking nearby. In Alabama, a dog owner is liable for damages / injuries caused by a dog bite when the incident takes place on the dog owner’s property or when the dog chases a person off the property and pursues the victim of the dog bite. The Alabama dog bite statute is narrowly defined. Even if the dog owner is liable under the Alabama dog bite statute, the dog owner can still argue or file a pleading that the damages should be limited to actual damages (i.e. medical bills, loss of wages, and other economic damages) by alleging that the dog owner had no knowledge or reason to believe that the dog was dangerous. You can read through the dog bite statutes at the