Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
In Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania, police reported that an 8 year old brought bags of heroin to school and passed out some of the heroin stamps to the children. Unfortunately, students bring dangerous items to school every day including drugs, alcohol, and weapons. Teachers and school staff should always be on the lookout for these dangerous items. Timely and consistent supervision can prevent many personal injuries and accidents from happening at school. You can read more about the incident that took place in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania at Police – 8 Year Old Child Brought Heroin Into Elementary School.
High school students anticipate Prom Night every year. Plans are made including dinner, the dance, and many parties. As parents, we hope that our children will be safe and smart on Prom Night. Many things can go wrong with a late night, wild parties, and, yes, the presence of alcohol and drugs as well as the presence of those on alcohol and drugs. An article posted at Liberty County (Montana) Times had some good safety tips on Prom Night including the following:
In Minnesota and other States, there is a consistent problem with DUI incidents. Tragically, many DUI incidents cause serious personal injuries and even death of innocent people and children. In every DUI incident, there is a danger or risk to any children who is in the vehicle or near the vehicle as it is being driven. Parents especially should consider the best interests of the child when getting behind the wheel. The safety of the child should always take precedence over the convenience or selfishness of the parent especially when it comes to drinking and driving. In West Hennepin, Minnesota, a mother was arrested after a complaint was called in about her driving to the West Hennepin Public Safety Department for poor driving. When police attempted to stop or pull over the driver (Monica Say – age 29) – she refused and kept on driving another 4 to 5 miles. Along this dangerous drive, the chase and / or Ms. Say’s driving almost caused other automobile accidents. It was later determined that Ms. Say’s blood alcohol level (BAC) was .17 which amounted to in excess of two times the legal limit in Minnesota. Ms. Say was transporting two children during this dangerous drive who were 4 years old and 2 years old. The news report also stated that Ms. Say was in possession of marijuana and an open bottle of rum in a diaper bag. Ms. Say was arrested at the scene by the police. You can read more about this story at 
A sixteen year old girl with no driver’s license and a borrowed car drove into a tree outside the Wagon Wheel Mobile Home Park in Alamosa, Colorado. She had three other teenagers and two small children, aged 20 months and 4 years, in the car with her at the time. The car had been borrowed from a relative of one of the passengers. The girl is expected to be charged with drunk driving (DUI), driving without a license and criminal negligence resulting in the injury of a child. The driver is claiming that a steering malfunction caused her to miss the turn she was trying to make into the park, and sent her into the tree instead.
Common household items can be quite dangerous to children who have a poor safety awareness. Hand sanitizer liquids can be quite dangerous to children due to the high alcohol content of these products. A review of most hand sanitizers will reveal that the liquid has a high percentage of alcohol in the product. As such, a simple product like hand sanitizer liquid, lotion, or soap can cause serious personal injuries and even death to a child who ingest or swallows the product. Because of these dangers, parents, caregivers, teachers, and day care center employees should take that extra effort to keep sanitizers in a safe location and to monitor children while using this product.