What if a Child Pedestrian is Hit by a Distracted Driver in the State of Florida? Legal Rights for Personal Injuries / Wrongful Death of a Child

In the State of Florida, the law classifies a motor vehicle as a dangerous instrumentality. As such, the owner of a vehicle is liable for the negligent driving of the driver under the Dangerous Instrumentality Doctrine. This same set of laws makes a company liable for the driving of an employee given permission to drive a company vehicle. In the State of Florida and other States, there is a danger that exists in every community. Negligent driving in the form of distracted driving leads to far too many crashes and accidents which cause injuries to children and even the wrongful death of children. Distracted driving presents itself in different forms forms including but not limited to mobile phone use, texting, e-mailing, reading e-mails or texts, eating, drinking, smoking, dropping items, picking up items, etc. . . . Any action that takes away from the job at hand - driving the motor vehicle - can be classified as distracted driving.

In Hernando County, Florida, it was recently reported that a child pedestrian died when the child was struck by a motor vehicle. It was reported that the driver of a Jaguar got distracted after dropping a cigarette while operating the motor vehicle. Since a death resulted form a motor vehicle type of accident, the Florida Highway Patrol will complete a full investigation and later release a report as to its findings including the estimated speed of the vehicle, distance measurements, fault, and preventability of the incident.

The death of a child due to the negligence of others is a tragedy. A young life ended way too early from an event or incident that was preventable. Certainly, accidents happen. However, it is truly a shame when a child dies from an automobile, bicycle, or pedestrian accident through no fault of the child or her parents. As parents, we work tirelessly through each day with the goals of providing for our children, of protecting for our children, and, yes, of keeping our children safe.

The book titled - When a Parent's World Goes From Full to Empty - The Wrongful Death of Child - What You Need to Know About The Florida Wrongful Death Act - has chapters on Compensation and Damages, Settlement Value, Types of Cases, and other topics. You can get this book for free at From Full to Empty.

David A. Wolf is a Florida Personal Injury Attorney with over 25 years of experience in serving clients and the community. As a parent, author, community volunteer, coach, and, yes, as an attorney, David A. Wolf understands the full impact of the wrongful death of a child. Certainly, a claim or lawsuit will never ever replace a child or heal the wounds created by the loss of the child to the parents, family, friends, or community. However, it is important to pursue and enforce the legal rights of the surviving parents nonetheless for the case at hand and to deter others from engaging in similar acts that could harm other children.