Edith Pearce, sometimes called the “Philadelphia children’s accident attorney“, is a school zone accident lawyer that helps children and their parents after a negligent party has injured them while the child was in a school zone with aggressive legal representation in a caring, genuine manner. If your child was injured in a school zone accident near you, contact her right away for a free and confidential consultation.
Philadelphia School Crossing Zone Accidents Near Me
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.
Determining Fault in School Crosswalk Accidents
In most accidents in school crosswalks, the driver of the vehicle is going to be at fault. The compensation will come from the driver’s insurance policy subject to caps and limits. However, in some cases, the school or the school district might be liable for damages. In Pennsylvania, a crossing guard can be an employee of the state or private school, or they can be volunteers, but in either case, they represent the school that they are guarding.
School and Crossing Guard Negligence
If the crossing guard or school is at fault, then the parents of the child can sue the school on behalf of the child. If the school is a private school, then a personal injury lawsuit can be filed, but if it’s a public school, then certain issues arise.
There is a law in Pennsylvania that protects the state from lawsuits, but there is another law that allows some lawsuits with limitations. School crosswalk accidents fall into that category. There are different notice requirements, statutes of limitations and a cap on damages.
There are many ways the school can be responsible for a school crosswalk accident:
- Negligence of crossing guard,
- Lack of training/background check on crossing guard,
- Poorly chosen/designed crossing zone,
- Known hazard but the school didn’t respond to it in a reasonable time.
If your child was injured in a Philadelphia crosswalk accident, or anywhere in Pennsylvania, contact our school crosswalk accident lawyer, Edith Pearce, today for a consultation.
Why You Need a School Zone Accident Lawyer
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, contact our school crossing zone accident lawyer near you, Edith Pearce, today for a consultation.
