Edith Pearce, sometimes called the Philadelphia children’s injuries lawyer, helps children and their parents after a negligent party has injured them with aggressive legal representation in a caring, genuine manner. If your child was injured in a school zone, contact her right away for a free and confidential consultation.
School Zone Accidents
Any parent’s worst nightmare is hearing the news that their child was injured. Under the law, the driver may be found negligent if the driver fails to control his or her car or automobile in such a way as to avoid hitting and injuring a child who is in the street, especially if the child was in the street for a sufficient amount of time for the driver to observe the child. The Pennsylvania Courts have held that a car driver must exercise a far greater degree of care or caution in areas where children may be present. Of course, this includes school zones. Under the law, even if the child was not actually in the school zone or cross-walk, the driver must anticipate children possibly darting across the street near a place where children gather like a school, park, or playground. The Pennsylvania Driver’s Manual also informs drivers that drivers should not only watch for children crossing the road, but to stop if necessary as well.
Under Pennsylvania law, school zones are 15MPH. This is because the risk of severe injury or death is very low. In fact, studies show only 10% pedestrians hit under 20MPH die and when vehicles are traveling at speeds of 40MPH 80% are killed.
Don’t be fooled by an insurance company
After any pedestrian accident, insurers may try to delay, deny or defend. Speak to an attorney before talking to the friendly adjuster who calls just to “see how things are going” as any information given to them will likely be used against you in the future. Some insurers even try to blame victims for their injuries, especially accidents in school zones as kids are often listening to music, talking to a friend or using Facetime, Instagram or Snapchat. After all, they are kids being kids. In many cases this has little or nothing to do with their injuries, especially when caused by a motorist’s negligence.
If your child was injured in a Philadelphia school zone, or anywhere in Pennsylvania or nearby New Jersey, contact us today for a consultation.