Child Safety

For society’s youngest and most fragile members, the world can be a dangerous place. From playground accidents, to negligence at daycare centers, to unsafe products and dangerous toys, the statistics related to childhood risks are sobering.  On average, over 12,000 children die each year in the United States from an unintentional injury.  N.N. Borse, et al., CDC Childhood Injury Report:  Patterns of Unintentional Injuries among 0-19 Year Olds in the United States, 2000-2006 (Dec. 2008). Emergency departments nationwide treat an estimated 9.2 million children each year for injuries sustained as a result of accident of all kinds.

Poisons and toxins are one potentially lethal threat. The CDC reports that in the U.S. every day, 374 children are treated in an emergency room for poisoning.  (The Nationwide Poison Control Center phone number is 1-800-222-1222. Program it on your wireless phone and tape the number to your refrigerator.).

Sometimes, however, the threat is obscure, as it is with amusement parks.  Accidents there can stem from operator negligence, like inattentiveness or overloading of passenger vehicles, equipment or ride malfunction or breakdown, improper maintenance or equipment fatigue, improperly secured or unsecured riders, or other unsafe conditions. Less well known are the dangers posed by inadequate security at amusement and theme parks, which has led to assaults and other crimes of violence against guests on park property.  Florida’s major theme parks, which include Walt Disney World Resort (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Disney’s Hollywood Studios), Universal Orlando (including Universal Islands of Adventure and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter), SeaWorld Orlando, and Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, file regular reports of such occurrences with the State of Florida.

 

As parents with children of our own, we know the dangers.  We represent families whose children have been injured or killed as a result of those risks.  We work closely with our clients to discover the causes of and responsibility for the injuries to their children, and we help them recover.

The attorneys of Grossman Roth, P.A. represent clients in state and federal courts in Florida and around the United States, helping those whose children have sustained serious personal injuries obtain justice.  Formed in 1988, the firm has established an unrivaled record of favorable verdicts and multi-million dollar settlements for clients and their families.  These include:

• Settlements totaling $3.1 million on behalf of a boy who suffered brain and other injuries as a result of repeated abuse at the hand of his caregiver, after various state agencies and medical personnel failed to intervene on his behalf.  The settlement will provide a lifetime of care and educational assistance for our client.

• A $2.75 million judgment against the City of Miami for improperly restraining an autistic young man, leading to his death.

• A confidential settlement for a teenage girl paralyzed after falling from an amusement park ride called Terminal Velocity, where the ride operator failed to insure that the gear designed to prevent riders from falling to the ground was properly deployed.

• A confidential settlement for a teenage girl seriously injured after being ejected from the Gravitron ride at the Miami-Dade County Youth Fair.  Our investigation discovered that a sheared bolt on the ride failed to keep a panel secured, causing the failure and accident that injured our client and her friend. The same ride had a history of problems, and the company operating it had poor inspection and maintenance practices.

If your child or a minor relative has been injured or killed, contact the Florida child safety attorneys of Grossman Roth, P.A., today by calling 1-888-296-1681 for a free evaluation of your case.  Or, you can fill out the contact form on our website, and someone will contact you.