Florida Passes ‘Child Safety Alarm’ bill
In recent years, we have seen more and more headlines regarding the tragic deaths of children left in vehicles in hot temperatures throughout the State of Florida. Heatstroke has been the cause of death for too many children, including while in the care of childcare workers. Now, Floridians took action to try to curb future deaths of small children due to heatstroke, at least when it comes to negligent childcare workers.
If your child suffered injuries or tragically died from heatstroke or other causes in an accident, you need to contact an experienced Brandon personal injury lawyer as soon as possible.
New Florida Law
In late June, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Child Safety Alarm Act into Florida law. This law requires special safety alarms to be installed in vehicles used to transport children watched by childcare facilities. As of January 2, 2022, any vehicles that childcare facilities use to transport children must have an alarm system installed that alerts the driver or other adults to check the backseat for children before leaving the vehicle. Hopefully, compliance with the new law will prevent the deaths of numerous children from heatstroke.
Children and Heatstroke
The following are some tragic statistics regarding children and fatal heatstroke in cars:
- Children can die in cars when it is even 50 or 60 degrees outside since a car has a greenhouse effect
- Young bodies overheat three to five times faster than adult bodies
- 26 percent of children who died in cars climbed into vehicles on their own
- 56 percent of children who died in cars were unintentionally left by an adult
- 88 percent of children who died in cars were age three or younger
In some situations, it is childcare workers who leave a child in a car, where they suffer fatal heatstroke.
Childcare Injuries
Childcare facilities have the duty of care to keep your child safe. You might carefully select a childcare provider – and pay significant sums – to trust someone with your child while you are at work. However, some parents know all too well that kids can suffer injuries due to the negligence of childcare workers.
There are many ways that daycares, camps, and other facilities can be negligent, including:
- Inadequate supervision
- Negligent driving or transportation
- Allowing dangerous hazards
- Inadequate security
If you believe that your child suffered injuries because childcare workers or facilities were negligent, you should hold that facility liable for all of your child’s injuries and losses. This can be a difficult process, especially when you want your attention to go to your child’s physical recovery first. Let a Brandon personal injury lawyer help.
Speak With Our Brandon Child Injury Attorneys
At Carman, Bevington & Finegan, P.A., we hope that the new Florida law will prevent avoidable tragedies involving children and heatstroke. In the event your child suffers injuries and someone else was to blame, please contact us online or call 813-654-3444 for a free case evaluation and discussion today. We are here to help your family.