Injured children and their parents can trust Maison Law of Bakersfield to determine who is responsible for an accident and then demand the most in compensation possible for young victims.
Our team of personal injury lawyers helps those injured in accidents, and none of our clients are more important than the youngest and most vulnerable victims. Child accident victims need to get the best care available and continued support as they grow to make sure an injury doesn’t affect their development.
Contact our office today for a free consultation to go over the best options for getting your family the settlement needed to pay for a full recovery.
Do I Need a Lawyer If My Child Gets Hurt?
If your child is in an accident and comes away with a serious injury, and someone’s negligence is to blame, you may need a skilled attorney to hold those at fault financially responsible. If your child simply has a few scratches or some minor bruising after a mishap, your family may not need a lawyer’s help.
However, when a child victim suffers a broken bone, perhaps in a car accident, or endures a deep wound, perhaps from a dog bite, the medical costs can jump to enormous levels. These elevated costs trigger insurance companies for at-fault parties to do everything possible to avoid responsibility. Insurance adjusters may look for ways to blame the child for the accident.
These unfair tactics are meant to rob your child of the money it will take to get completely better. A Bakersfield Child Injury Lawyer fights back.
These are just a few of the steps we will take to make sure your child receives the maximum in compensation:
- Fully investigate the accident and those involved
- Collect all evidence
- Work with your child’s doctors to fully document the injury
- Represent you and your child with as little disruption to your family as possible
- Handle frustrating negotiations with insurance representatives
- Demand the maximum in compensation available for your family
- Ready to file a lawsuit if an insurance company won’t accept full responsibility for your child’s wellbeing
The money Maison Law can win for your child is often much more than you could secure by handling a claim yourself.
Will an Accident Claim Pay All of My Child’s Hospital Bills?
When an at-fault party causes harm to your child, you can seek full compensation for every medical bill sitting on your table currently, and every potential medical expense in the future.
This should include all emergency response fees, ambulance fees, and every hospital invoice your child receives.
Unfortunately, insurance companies can try to save money by downplaying the victim’s injuries. Insurance adjusters might question your child’s doctors about how serious the injury is and how long it will take to heal.
An experienced attorney knows how to shut these tactics down. An attorney would be listing every medical bill and working with doctors to document how badly they are hurt and the level of support the victim needs.
These are a few of the factors your attorney will make sure are considered when the insurance company writes an accident settlement check.
- Medical expenses, to cover past, current, and future medical costs.
- Property damage, which includes repair or replacement costs for damaged personal items.
- Out-of-pocket expenses, covering costs like transportation to medical appointments and prescriptions.
- Pain and suffering, which will address physical and mental anguish.
- Emotional distress, which will be built around any resulting anxiety, depression, or PTSD after a child lives through a frightening accident.
- Loss of enjoyment of life, which will deal with reduced ability to enjoy activities.
Why Maison Law Seeks Additional Support for Your Child
A broken leg or a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) can affect your child’s wellbeing for months, years, or over a lifetime. Those consequences can be especially critical as a child grows into adulthood.
A broken bone may appear to heal. But years later, as a teenager’s body matures, complications may occur. Surgery could be necessary to make sure an old injury doesn’t affect bone development as the child grows into adulthood. Children may need additional physical therapy for an injury from the past. Children need financial support for care now and money to pay for medical monitoring in the future to make sure an old injury doesn’t affect the body’s natural development process.
Maison Law uses testimony from medical experts to calculate the level of support a child could need in the coming years. These possibilities must be included in any settlement offer.
Accident Risks for Bakersfield Children
Unfortunately, there are many locations and activities that can prove dangerous for the smallest residents in our city.
The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics found that in 2020, fall injuries were the number one reason children aged 1 to 14 were sent to the emergency room. Being struck was second on that list. There are many areas around Bakersfield where children can suffer falls, like on an unsafe stairwell, or be struck, such as a trip on Ming Avenue.
There are careless and reckless people everywhere we go and on every road we travel. They may not be paying attention to see the smaller figure of a child riding a bike on a neighborhood street or playing in a driveway.
Children can be hurt and end up in the emergency room at Dignity Health Memorial Hospital. They may quickly get patched up and sent home. But other young victims can suffer traumatic injuries and end up staying days or weeks in the hospital.
These are just a few of the daily stops for children that might become the scene of a frightening accident:
- Schools – Since kids spend a lot of time at school, accidents there are common. They can happen on the property, playgrounds, or even on school buses.
- Daycare centers – Sometimes, supervision lapses at daycare centers, leading to falls or kids swallowing harmful materials. Playtime accidents and choking hazards are also big concerns.
- Churches – In churches, injuries can happen from falls caused by uneven floors or accidents in play areas. Additionally, accidents can occur during events or gatherings.
- Stores – Falls and injuries can occur at stores due to uneven floors or mishaps in play areas. Also, accidents with other shoppers can happen.
- Rental Properties – When Children live in apartment complexes, they can be at risk around dogs that are on the loose and at apartment pools where safety isn’t prioritized.
- Roads – Pedestrian and bicycle accidents, and incidents involving school buses, are common on Bakersfield’s roads. A driver on a cellphone may strike an SUV that a child is riding in, causing an arm fracture or a serious bump to the head.
- Parks and public areas – Parks might not always be safe, leading to playground injuries, trips, falls, or encounters with dogs or water-related accidents.
At each spot, young victims are supposed to receive extra care from the adults around them. That extends to highways, schools, Walmart, and around the neighborhood. When that care isn’t paid for and a child is hurt, the at-fault party is legally liable for all hardships the victim suffers.
Who Can Be Held Responsible for a Child’s Injuries?
Another area where a child’s injuries are similar to any other claim is liability–or the legal responsibility for covering their injuries and other losses. Obviously, this is going to depend on the circumstances, but in general, liability will fall on whoever:
- Failed to reasonably ensure your child’s safety, directly causing the accident and their injuries.
Different parties may be responsible for an accident that involves a child, such as:
- Schools and their boards of education
- Churches or religious groups
- Property owners or managers
- Store owners
- Product manufacturers
- Vehicle drivers
- The City of Bakersfield, Kern County, or the State of California, if it happened on public property
Like any accident, it’s sometimes difficult to nail down all the liable parties–particularly in an accident with your child. They usually don’t understand the implications of an accident and may not be able to recall specific details. This is where our compassionate legal team can be a huge help, providing the necessary support and using our resources to investigate what happened and led to the accident itself. But prior to that, it’s important to know what you need to do.
How Should You Respond After a Child Gets Hurt?
The trauma that comes with a child injury or accident can be serious, indeed. Although children are incredibly resilient, it’s still troubling to witness them get hurt. So, when it does happen, you should take the following steps to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible:
- Assess and explain the situation – First, examine the severity of the accident and check if your child is injured. Call 911 if anyone is injured. Stay calm to avoid upsetting your child, and reassure your child that help is on the way. Try to keep them calm. Stay by their side until paramedics arrive.
- Move to safety – If the accident occurred in a hazardous location, like a busy street or near a fire, try to relocate your child to a safer area. However, if they’re seriously injured, avoid moving them unless they’re in immediate danger.
- Get medical help – If your child is injured or you’re uncertain about their condition, immediately call emergency services. Provide emergency responders with a clear description of what happened and follow their instructions. If you have knowledge of first aid and it’s safe to do so, administer aid to your child while awaiting medical assistance. This could involve applying pressure to wounds, stabilizing broken bones, or performing CPR if necessary.
- Say Something at the Site – Report the accident to whoever is in charge, like a store manager or a property management company, so they can respond and prepare an incident report.
- Gather information – If possible, determine the cause of the accident and if there were any witnesses. Take photographs of injuries and damage if feasible. This information is usually vital to your child’s claim.
In many instances, you’ll be injured or at least present during the accident involving your child. It’s vital to prioritize your own health and safety, as well. Once you’ve addressed those concerns, reach out to our team for guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions
In California, children have until they are considered adults to file a claim. Parents can file at any time, but when a child turns 18, they have an additional two years to file a lawsuit over an accident and injury.
Yes. Parents may file a wrongful death claim against an at-fault party and the insurance company representing them. A wrongful death claim would ask for support for the parents to pay funeral costs and any leftover medical expenses. Parents should also receive support for the loss of companionship they’ll have to cope with in the future.
If you need a lawyer to secure more support for your child, you can afford to hire Maison Law. Our Child Injury lawyers work on a contingency basis. It means we don’t ask for anything up front, and only get paid if we win your case for your child. Then our fee is paid out of the money the insurance company turns over to your family.
Contact a Bakersfield Child Injury Attorney
After your child has suffered a serious injury caused by someone’s carelessness, contact a skilled Bakersfield Child Injury Lawyer to discuss your case, free of charge. It’s a no-risk opportunity to find out about all the benefits available to you and your child, and how to hold an insurance company fully responsible.
Maison Law compassionately protects child victims and their families and makes sure they receive every benefit available to rebuild their lives. That means we work hard to cause as little disruption to family life as possible during the claims process. We handle the sometimes frustrating battle with insurance companies so children can focus on healing.
