Parents do everything they can to keep their children safe, and that includes placing them into a car seat whenever they’re in the car. Just like other products however, sometimes car seats simply aren’t designed properly, or aren’t manufactured properly, and that can lead to serious injuries for any child placed inside. Most of the time, these injuries are severe and in the very worst cases, even fatal.
Some of the most common injuries associated with defective car seats are:
- Paralysis. This can be paraplegia which affects the lower body, or quadriplegia, which affects the upper and lower body. When a child is paralyzed by a car seat, it’s most often caused by being thrown from the seat, typically because of faulty or weak straps.
- Amputations. Sometimes the straps are too easy to adjust, and so a child can accidentally tighten them to the point where they cut off the blood supply to a limb. Or, the latches on car seats can be defective and so, they can’t be undone, even in the event of an emergency, and a child’s limbs need to be amputated to get them out.
- Strangulation. This is also typically due to straps that are too tight and/or too easy to adjust. There may also be a design flaw that leaves strings or cords hanging too closely to the child, and these can also cause strangulation.
- Skull fractures/traumatic brain injuries. Trauma to the brain or skull can occur in a defective car seat for a number of reasons. The cushioning throughout the car seat may not be adequate enough to protect a fragile head from injury, or the restraints can be inadequate, causing the child to be thrown from the car seat and sustain injuries to their head or skull.
- Wrongful death. If a child is thrown from a car seat, they will be even more at risk than if they had never sat in a car seat at all. This is because not only are they susceptible to injuries from a car accident, but being ejected from a car seat causes their body to be thrown around the car, which can cause even worse injuries. In these cases, a wrongful death case may be appropriate.
There’s nothing worse than doing everything you can to protect your child, only to have that same protection actually be the cause of their injury. At Jurewitz Law Group Injury & Accident Lawyers, we know that injuries and death from defective car seats don’t just hurt the child, they hurt the entire family. We are the compassionate and experienced San Diego car seat failure attorneys, and we want to help your family during this difficult time. Call us toll-free today at (888) 233-5020 and get a free consultation today.
