Child Struck by Rolling Vehicle
A six-year-old child was run down by a rolling car in San Antonio in mid-July after the car’s owners forgot that the car was in neutral, according to KSAT.com. The child was taken to University Hospital in critical condition, and police have not yet released details about the family, or whether the injured child was the son or daughter of the car owners. The car was forgotten when the couple got into an argument and left the car in neutral. They did not notice the car rolling until it was too late and had already struck the six-year-old. If the child’s parents were not those whose car rolled, the child’s parents are well within their right to sue the other couple for negligence. Most cases brought to court for fatal neglect or negligence of a child are those in which the victim’s parents are the charged party. The most common form of parental negligence, according to a report issued by KidsAndCars.org is hyperthermia or overheating, when a child is left in a car in extreme temperature conditions. Fatal Neglect Cases, according to this report, are broken down into three categories:
- Failure to provide (food, water, medical care)
- Failure to supervise
- Failure to Intervene (to protect a child from the abuse or neglect of another adult)
The incident in San Antonio would fall in the third category of these. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children & Families, “differences in definitions of child neglect in State laws and in community standards reflect the significant variations in the judgments of professionals and nonprofessionals concerning what constitutes child neglect.” That is to say, it’s murky water. While the San Antonio child’s parents may have the right to sue, it could be a long legal process. If you or someone you know has been wrongly injured in Texas, don’t go through it alone. Contact a dedicated New Braunfels injury attorney today.
