Child Injury Lawyer Blog

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

Outside of St. Louis Missouri, a horrible bus accident was reported that involved two school buses, a semi truck, and a SUV. Tragically, two people died as a result of this bus / semi tractor / SUV accident and many others including a number of children were injured as a result of this accident. A full investigation will be conducted by State and Local authorities to determine the cause of the accident and what measures could have been taken to avoid the accident and related personal injuries.

The bus accident took place on Interstate 44. It was reported that thirty six children were transported to a local hospital (SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center) for evaluation and treatment. Other accident victims were treated at St. John's Mercy Hospital and St. Louis Children's Hospital. Photographs and video tape of the accident scene show a school bus lifted into the air on back of the semi truck. It is clear from the photographic evidence that the accident was quite severe and traumatic for all drivers and passengers especially the school children. Accidents of this nature deal with the following issues or questions:

What are the duties and responsibilities of the school? bus driver?

What was the posted speed in the area? What were the traffic conditions?

What insurance will apply to the medical bills and injuries resulting from the accident?

Were any drivers cited for the cause of the bus accident?

What follow up medical treatment will be required by the surviving victims?

What damages will be compensable for the surviving victims?

What damages will be compensable for the family member of the unfortunate people who died as a result of the bus / semi truck / SUV accident?

Typically, the roadways are safe for our children and others in large buses and vehicles. Unfortunately, tragic accidents do happen in such a magnitude that deaths and serious injuries occur despite the size of the vehicles occupied by the drivers and passengers.

The accident happened on I-44 in Gray Summit, which is about 40 miles southwest of St. Louis. The Franklin County Sheriff's Office said it was helping the Missouri State Highway Patrol respond to the wreck.

In addition, the National Transportation Safety Board says it is sending a "go team" to investigate.

One of the fatalities was in a GMC vehicle, said Missouri Highway Patrol spokesman Jeff Wilson, and the other was on the first bus. Crews were trying to pull all the vehicles apart so they could identify both fatalities. The tractor-trailer was stopped for traffic in a construction zone, Wilson said.

Renee Ridling, president-elect of the St. James Chamber of Commerce, said the town is a small, rural community about 100 miles west of St. Louis with a population of about 4,000. Ridling is a nursing facility administrator, and some of her staffers had children on the buses.

"Everybody's pretty anxious right now, wanting to know what's going on," she said.

Kelsie Parton, 25, is a volunteer at the St. James Tourist Information Center.

"The news spread really, really fast," Parton said. Once one person knew about the wreck, everybody called one another. There are also a lot of Facebook updates, she said.

She said the only local person who had come in to the center is her grandmother, who works at a pharmacy, and "they're all kind of worried" there.

"I've had a lot of travelers come in and ask if everybody's OK," she said. Some of them heard about the crash on the radio, while others passed it, she said.

She knows one boy who was on one of the buses and has spoken to his mother. He is OK. She said his last Facebook update said he was headed to Six Flags with the band, then the last one only said, "please pray."

CNN affiliate KTVI reported the two school buses involved in the crash were carrying high school band students from the St. James, Missouri, School District who were on their way to a Six Flags amusement park in Eureka.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

A church bus crashed and rolled onto Interstate 35 in Franklin County, Missouri, injuring nine children. The victims ranged in age from 8-17, three of which suffered critical injuries. One child was flown to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri and the other two were taken by ambulance. Five other children suffered from serious injuries, said authorities.

According to Franklin County Sheriff Jeff Curry, the bus went into the center median, came back onto the road, turned over onto the driver's side and eventually came to a stop blocking the right lane of traffic. Neil Stanley, Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper, said a total of 34 people were on the bus: 29 children, 4 teenage counselors and 1 adult driver. Ann Marie King, 42, the adult bus driver, had the proper license to be operating the church bus.

Stanley said the cause of the crash is unknown. If you would like more details on the accident and the names of the injured children see Church bus rolls over in Missouri.

Hopefully all the injured children in this accident make a full and speedy recovery. Roads, highways and interstates can be very dangerous. Drivers need to stay attentive and avoid distractions while on the road; avoid texting or talking on a cell phone, wear your seat belt, do not speed and always be aware of your surroundings. Obeying traffic rules will decrease the chances of having an accident and make roads a safer place for transporting children.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

The recent pool drowning of a five-year-old boy in Springfield, Missouri should prompt parents, child care providers, babysitters, and others to be on high alert when watching their children at the pool. Safe Kids USA, a nationwide network that works to prevent unintentional child injury, estimates that drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury-related death to children ages 1-14; 900 child deaths occur each year. A coordinator from Safe Kids, Daphne Greenlee, stated the most effective way to prevent your child from sustaining these types of injuries is to keep at watchful eye on them at all time – no talking on the cell phone, reading, or sunbathing. A Safe Kids report revealed the main cause of drowning was lack of attention on behalf of the supervising adults. Greenlee also suggested the “buddy system” as another way to prevent child drowning-related accidents. If a child is in the water he or she should always be with a buddy, whether it is an adult of another child. The buddy should know the rules of the pool such as no running around the pool and where the permissible diving areas are located.

Safe Kids reports that inflatable toys, such as noodles, were not appropriate safety devices and would not prevent drowning. The presence of a life guard should not be a reason for a decrease in adult supervision. The Drowning Prevention Foundation reported that almost one in every five drowning deaths involving children occurred while a lifeguard was on duty at a public pool.

Infants can drown in as little as one inch of water. Therefore, it is important to empty all buckets, containers and wading pools immediately after you’re done using them. To read more about this topic see Pool safety for children.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

The Missouri State Patrol reported an accident involving serious personal injuries to a 3 year old child (Kaleb Jones). Airin Holloway, age 26, was driving a vehicle on Route A 2when the vehicle went off the side of the road, hit a turn, and then overturned. While both driver and child were wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident, both required urgent medical attention. The driver suffered minor injuries. The child, however, suffered more serious injuries that required the child to be airlifted to University Hospital in Columbia, Missouri. Details were not released as to why the vehicle drove off the roadway. You can read about this story at Child Injured in Crash Near Route A in Missouri.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

The Missouri Department of Social Services is proposing new regulations for day care centers / child care issues throughout the State. Government officials may have been prompted to revise and improve the regulations due to Missouri's ranking completed by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies. Missouri was ranked 44 out of 50 States for child care safety and performance standards.

Changes to Missouri's laws and regulations include the following:

*Increasing the required training time for new child care workers;

*instituting new caps for the size of pre-school classes;

*changing the teacher to child ratios;

*requiring some new background check measures especially as to out of state child care workers; and

*requiring a person with CPR training to be present at the facility.

Hopefully, changes and improvements will be made to the regulations which, in turn, will promote the health, safety, and welfare of the children. You can read more about the changes to Missouri law at Day Care Regulation Proposals in Missouri.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

In St. Louis, Missouri, a child was left a day care center van at the zoo. According to reports from the St. Louis Police Department, a 3 year old was left on a day care center van. The van was operated by the Heaven 24 / 7 Learning Center that was on a field trip on June 9th to the St. Louis Zoo. A visitor to the zoo heard a child yell for help from the van. The concerned patron was able to locate the day care group a few minutes later. The day care child care workers later admitted to failing to conduct a head count and failing to realize that a child was left behind. This kind of negligence could have caused serious personal injuries and even death to a child in a hot vehicle over summer months. You can read more about this story at Child Left in Day Care Van at the St. Louis Missouri Zoo.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

In Missouri and other states, it can be dangerous to ride a motorcycle. In most any crash, a motorcycle is no match for a car or truck. In Clay County (near Kearney) Missouri, a teenage motorcyclist (Alex Myers) recently died in a motorcycle accident crash with a vehicle making a left hand turn. News reports did not indicate if either driver was at fault. Typically, a person making a left hand turn must yield to oncoming traffic. Regardless, it is tragic that a teenager died at such a young age. It is a tragedy for the Myers family and the community. You can read more about this story at Missouri Teen Dies in Motorcycle Accident.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

Social networking websites like My Space and Facebook are seen as a tool and a toy. Others see these sites as weapons as well when people go online to bully children, defraud children, and / or to otherwise harm children. In Missouri, Lori Drew was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of accessing computers without authorization. Ms. Drew went on My Space and posed as a teenage boy who was supposedly interested in a girl named - Megan Meier. Ms. Drew went online to find out information and to ultimately humiliate and cause mental pain and suffering to a vulnerable 13 year old girl who eventually committed suicide. While Ms. Drew was not convicted of crimes that caused the death of this child, Ms. Drew's actions are still criminal and she has been convicted. It is a shame that a mother got involved in the manner that she did and caused such heartache for Megan Meier. This case made national headlines as a cyber bullying case. As you can see, anybody is capable of being a cyper bully even a mother that lives down the street. Parents should spend their time supervising children and teaching them good habits and manners. Instead of parenting her child, Ms. Drew inserted herself into this situation which had a tragic ending. You can read more about this story at >Missouri Prosecutors Seek Prison Time for Mom Convicted in My Space Hoax.

By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

The United States Department of Health and Human Resources has a website that has a great reference tool for parents and caregivers with children in day care centers and child care centers. Each state regulates day care centers / child care centers through a state specific administrative code and / or policy manual. Go to State Administrative Rules and Policy Manuals for Child Care. Another good resource is located at the website for the National Resource Center for
Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education. Parents should use these and other resources to educate themselves on the various state specific rules and regulations for day care centers and child care centers. Each state regulates day care centers slightly differently. As such, parents should be informed on the regulations that apply to their children's day care center. Is the facility following the law? Are the state specific requirements for staffing being met? Are records being kept according to the state law? What information as a parent and caregiver am I entitled to regarding incidents and accidents? What disciplinary measures are allowed? What disciplinary actions are prohibited? These and many other issues are addressed in these day care rules and regulations. In addition, parents concerned about the care being received in a day care center / child care center can also consult with a child injury attorney / lawyer to find out if there is a viable case or claim to be pursued on behalf of a child who has been injured in a day care center as a result of day care negligence, abuse, or neglect.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

In Arcadia, Missouri, there is a great sigh of relief for the family of Joshua Childers and the surrounding community. Joshua got out of his house one night while his mother was on the telephone and his father was sleeping. The family looked for Joshua for about 45 minutes and then called for help. Search parties were organized and luckily the boy was found by a volunteer.

This Missouri missing child story has a happy ending . . . Unfortunately, many stories just like this do not. It just shows you that a few minutes of inattention can lead to a child being missing. Some are never found.

Hopefully, Joshua learned a lesson and will not put such a scare into his parents ever again. Joshua' story should serve as a motivation to other parents to make sure that their children are safe and do not wander off without supervision.

You can read more about this story at Arcadia Missouri 3 Year Old Boy Found After Being Missing for 3 Days.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

Investigators have turned over video surveillance and other evidence showing that two adults provided alcohol to a minor who later died from an alcohol overdose. Perry McClenahan, age 16, died from an alcohol overdose on April 18, 2009. Perry and other minors were provided with alcohol by adults. The minors attended Lebanon High School. Video surveillance from the store where the alcohol was purchased along with the receipt will serve as evidence in an expected criminal prosecution of this matter.

Why is there a minimum drinking age in place?

Why should both minors and adults follow the law?

What are the dangers of providing alcohol to minors?

There are basic questions that really should not be questioned by any thinking adult. Teens often times lack the judgment to deal with the safe consumption of alcohol. Combine age, inexperience, and peer pressure and you get a deadly combination that can lead and does lead to alcohol related deaths in Missouri and other States. You can read more about this story at Adults in Lebanon, Missouri Suspected of Buying Alcohol for Underage High School Students.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

The Christian County (Missouri) Optimist Club hosts an annual event called Safetypalooza. This program promotes bicycle safety to children. The event provides children with important safety lessons for riding bicycle. Every year, children are unfortunately injured while riding bicycles in Missouri and other States. Safetypalooza is an important program that helps prevent serious personal injuries and wrongful death to children who ride bicycles.

Helmets are an important component of this and other safety programs. We recommend that parents start children with helmets and make the wearing of a helmet a good habit that is never optional. Whether the child is riding a bicycle in a driveway or for a long ride, make sure that the child wears a helmet. Serious injuries while riding a bicycle happen in driveways and long rides as well.

You can read more about Safetypalooza at Kids Learn About Bike Safety in Nixa, Missouri.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

In Missouri and other States around the nation, it appears that more and more stories are being reported about female teachers having inappropriate (sexual) relationships with male students. Some believe that these situations are different from male teachers having a relationship with a female or a male student. I disagree. Teachers are put in a position of trust with students. Teachers are not placed into schools to hit on or pick up students like at a singles bar. Teachers are there to supervise and educate our children - not have sex with them. In St. Louis (Breckenridge Hills), Missouri, an investigation is under way regarding a Special School District teacher who allegedly had an inappropriate relationship with a 17 year old male student at Ritenour High School. See Missouri Teacher Faces Allegations of Inappropriate Relationship. The teacher was placed on leave pending the investigation. Of course, the teacher has a right to defend herself against any administrative or criminal charges.

In many instances, text messages and e mails prove to be the downfall for teachers. There is an entire electronic trail that helps prove up the relationship. Of course, e mails and text messages must be confirmed forensically to make sure that they indeed were sent or received by the teacher. It is truly amazing that teachers who go through college think that their activities both in person and electronically would go unnoticed and undetected by school and law enforcement officials.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

Missouri day care / child care caregivers in the State of Missouri. According to 19 Code of State Regulations 30.60.070, Responsibilities of Caregivers, the following responsibilities apply to caregivers:

1. A caregiver is responsible for admitting the child upon arrival to the child care facility and shall personally dismiss each child to a parent, guardian, legal custodian, or other person authorized by the parent, guardian, or legal custodian;

2. During napping time, a caregiver shall remain in the room with infants, pre-school and school age children and shall be in a position to both see and hear the children if they are having any problems napping and when they awake; and

3. Caregivers should be aware of the various needs of the children such as the basic needs of hunger, thirst, diaper changes, aggression, and the basic need for attention.

The above requirements are basic in nature and should be followed with or without formal rules in place. In caring for children, the caregivers have a duty to provide adequate and appropriate care and supervision of the children. A caregiver should act in the best interests of the child and provide for a safe clean day care / child care environment. You can read the Responsibilities of Caregivers and other Missouri Code of State Regulations at Missouri Day Care / Child Care Laws and Regulations.

You can read the full text of important day care / child care regulations at the Missouri Code of State Regulations - Day Care / Child Care Facilities.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

What are the staffing requirements for Missouri day care centers? Pursuant to 19 Code of State Regulations Section 60.050 - Staffing Requirements, a day care facility has a legal duty to provide supervision and basic care of all children in the day care facility program. In particular, staff members must provide care to promote the health and safety of the children. In addition, staff members shall not be under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs when providing care for the children. There are specific staff ration requirements set forth by the Missouri Code of State Regulations. The staff ratios are dependent on the age of the children and the number of children in a group being supervised by the day care facility.

You can read the full text of important day care / child care regulations at the Missouri Code of State Regulations - Day Care / Child Care Facilities.

By Joseph R. Hillebrand Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network

News reports out of Normandy, Missouri indicate that as many as 50 teenagers may have been exposed to the virus that causes AIDS. The school district is currently consulting national AIDS organizers to try to minimize the scare and rumors associated with such a situation. In addition, it is vital that parents, AIDS activist, teachers, and students minimize activities that may increase the spread of the AIDS virus. You can read more about this situation at Normandy Missouri High School AIDS Scare

While the AIDS scare in Normandy Missouri is a compelling story, Normandy, Missouri is not the only place where high school students should act responsibility when it comes to issues of dating, peer pressure, driving, and other issues that could lead to injuries or even death.