Parenting in this age of digital communication and unlimited extracurricular involvement can often feel like being an unpaid chauffeur. You have to get your children to school in the morning, pick them up after class, get them to sports practices, competitions, enrichment classes, club meetings and play dates. Then, you have to get everyone home safely, make dinner, clean up, get the kids in bed and get ready to do the whole thing again the next day.
Driving your kids from point A to point B and back again may be such a part of your daily routine that you don’t even think about the risk involved. However, motor vehicle collisions are a leading cause of death in children, as well as a common cause of severe, debilitating injuries.
No matter how safe you try to be with your kids in the car, you can still cross paths with someone texting while driving or just not paying attention. If you get into a crash caused by another driver while your kids are in the car, chances are good that the medical expenses for your children could be extensive.
Severe injuries to a child can produce lifelong disability
It is tragic when an adult suffers a spinal injury or head injury that prevents them from working and changes the course of their life. However, they will have accumulated Social Security benefits throughout their career that can help them while they adjust to life after the accident. For children severely hurt in a car crash, they will not have their own benefits or insurance.
Injured children will be reliant on the care their parents can provide and the insurance coverage provided either through their parents or through the liability insurance of the driver responsible for the crash. A closed head injury in a young child could require thousands of dollars worth of medical care and a lifetime of extra educational interventions.
Even broken bones in young children can be far more expensive than initially thought, as there could be issues with the growth plate that require more careful treatment. Finally, as children are still growing, wounds to the face, neck, chest, forearms and hands may require expensive, repeated plastic surgery to disguise and fully cover disfiguring injuries.
It’s your job to fight on behalf of your kids
As a parent, you will be the one who has to provide your child with care and support after a major injury. If your child is among the more than 116,000 children who suffer injuries in a car crash each year, then they need you to take action on their behalf, as minors cannot bring legal action or seek compensation for themselves.
Taking action now can ensure that your family has the money they need to get your child the health care they require, as well as additional funds that can help your child navigate adulthood with a disabling injury.
