Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Stephanie F. Brown, Attorney and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
A Clayton County, Georgia mother was arrested for leaving her four month old twins in a hot car while she was inside a Wal Mart. Janesia Williams left her twin babies in her car at about 10:00 p.m. while she went into the store on June 20, 2009. Another customer heard the babies crying through a cracked window in the car and called the police. Firefighters rescued the babies from the car and paramedics were tending to the babies when their mother strolled out the store to discover the situation.
Children with disabilities are the unfortunate victims of improper and negligent seclusion and restraints in school systems throughout the nation. This, in turn, has lead to some serious personal injuries, and, in some cases, the wrongful and preventable death of a disabled child. In Texas, Cedric Napolean (age – 14) was one such victim who died when a teacher laid on top of the Cedric when Cedric would not remain seated in the classroom. This case went to a grand jury in Texas as a homicide. While the grand jury ultimately did not recommend pursuit of the criminal charges, the death of Cedric Napolean does help illustrate the dangers to disabled children in school systems when they are retrained in an attempt to punish or instruct a child. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that some restraints have been implemented when students are not even being physically aggressive or dangerous.
Texting while driving has become a major safety issue for teens and adults alike glued to their telephones while driving. Talking on a mobile phone can be distracting in that the driver’s mind is occupied with the conversation rather than the road, other drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Texting is a bigger problem because drivers are looking at the mobile phone screen. Texting can be blamed for a number of deadly automobile crashes during the past few years including the following:
Many families with pet dogs install doggie doors to allow easy access for dogs to go in and out of a house or patio area. Doggie doors are very convenient. Doggie doors can also be dangerous in that small children / toddlers get out of house through the doggie door. Once out of the house, small children / toddlers have been known to suffer serious personal injuries and death from pools, ponds, and other dangers outside of the house. In August 2006, Matthew Ranfone got out of a doggie door from his Orlando home and was found floating face down in the family pool. He died later from drowning related injuries. Carol Ranone, Matthew’s mother, has launched a website to get the word out about the dangers of pet doors / doggie doors and small children at 
Technology and lower production costs have lead to more purchases of flat screen televisions. Heavier televisions are being replaced by lighter thinner televisions. One would think that this would reduce the incidents of injuries from heavy television sets that have fallen on children in the past. However, there is a newer type of danger out there for children – flat screen television sets falling off of walls and injuring children. Many flat screen televisions are hung on walls by a wide variety of brackets. Some homeowners and renters choose to hang the televisions themselves. Others tend to hire professional installers from Best Buy, HH Gregg, Sears, and other retailers. Whoever installs the televisions needs to make sure that the brackets are properly attached to studs rather than just dry wall and that manufacturer instructions are followed. Thereafter, parents need to inspect the television set frequently to make sure that it is properly secure and that nobody moves or disturbs the television to make it unsteady, unsturdy, or at risk for falling.
In Nebraska day care centers adequate staffing is vital to the safety and educational needs of the children. In other words, it is important to have a sufficient number of child care workers in place to make sure that the individual needs of each child is met throughout the day. The State of Nebraska has instituted staff to child ratio standards for day care centers under the 
Nebraska day care centers / child care centers must follow the rules and regulations located at