When a child is hit by a car while riding a bicycle at home, it’s a serious accident that needs to be addressed. The driver is obligated to show an increased duty of care, so he or she should have been looking out for children in a residential area, around schools or whenever it’s reasonable to suspect a child could be nearby. If it’s your child who’s hit, you may be able to seek compensation from the driver for the accident.
How many bicycle accidents involve children?
Most bicycle accidents involve kids, and part of the reason for that is because children are not as careful as older people would be. They are not yet old enough to recognize all signs of danger, so they are held to lower standards when it comes to carefulness near and on the roadways. For this reason, parents should discuss road hazards with children, but drivers must also be careful to abide by traffic laws when children are in the area.
What should drivers do when children could be present?
Drivers must be more cautious. If the driver speeds in a residential area and strikes a child, then that driver was being negligent. Likewise, if the driver notices a child near the side of the road, he or she should slow down. Children could suddenly run out in front of a vehicle, forgetting to look both ways, or they could dash out because of being surprised by the vehicle.
Drivers aren’t always held accountable in these accidents, but if the driver was not being as cautious as he or she should have been, then it’s more likely that the child’s case will have a positive outcome.
Source: FindLaw, “Child Bicycle Accident Liability,” accessed June 24, 2016