Children and Whiplash

Whiplash in children: can Imake a claim?

Despite the development of high quality child seatsin cars, children are still vulnerable to whiplash injury in the event of anaccident. It is a mark of the safety of child seats that more children are notdiagnosed with these kinds of injuries, particularly as the average six yearold's spine is only a quarter as strong as an adult. However, because childrentend to ride in the backs of cars, which are known to be safer that the frontand children have a greater range of spinal motion, the incidences of childrensuffering whiplash injuries are thankfully quite rare.

Having said that, avictim is still a victim no matter what age and children injured in accidentshave the same rights to compensation as an adult. Unlike adults though, thethree year limitation on pursuing a compensation claim for injury is notapplicable. A claim can be made on behalf of the child up to their 18thbirthday. Once the child has turned 18, they still have the statutory threeyears from that date to continue pursuing a claim for themselves, enabling themto pursue a claim until they are 21.

Anyone under the age of18 is seen as a minor in the eyes of the law and therefore a claim forcompensation has to be made for them. This is done by appointing what is knownas a 'litigation friend' who acts on behalf of the child and this is usually arole adopted by a parent or guardian. However, the most important thing toremember here is that the litigation friend cannot be someone directly involvedin the accident - it has to be an independent party in respect of the accidentor circumstances that caused the injury. Although evidence and eyewitnessaccounts by those involved in the accident are submitted as evidence, anyone involvedin the accident cannot take the role of a litigation friend as their positionwill be considered to be biased in favour of the child.

Whiplash injuries cantake much longer to heal fully than expected, with the pain of the injury onlybecoming noticeable some time after the initial accident. The first priorityshould be to get an injured child to a doctor or medical centre where aspecialist can check the seriousness of the injuries. The emphasis has to be ontreating the child. The thought of compensation can be dealt with at a laterdate, but during the child's treatment it may be prudent to talk to the medicalstaff and discuss the possibility of further action. In this way you arepreparing the ground to build a case to compensate your child for theirsuffering.

It's also worthremembering that road traffic accidents are not the only causes of whiplashinjury. Children can also suffer the same kind of trauma to the neck andshoulders from participating in sports, particularly contact sports such asrugby. In cases such as these a compensation claim could be justified if it isnot felt that every possible precaution has been taken to prevent the childrenbeing injured.

Specialistsolicitors who deal with child claims are aware of the sensitive issuessurrounding these cases. They are particularly aware of how traumatic theprocess can be for a young child and for the family as well. In the past,whiplash injuries in children have been overlooked. But thanks to the concertedefforts of paediatric medical experts and claims specialist lawyers theposition has shifted towards helping victims of whiplash,no matter what their age, gain the medical treatment and the support that theyso rightfully deserve. So in answer to the question, "Can I claim for mychild's whiplash injuries" the response is most definitely, yes.

For furtherinformation, please visit http://www.1stclaims.co.uk