Every parent in Texas would say that they do their best to keep their children safe. But if a new nationwide study of fatal car accidents is right, the Lone Star State’s parents are doing a poor job of protecting their kids from serious injury in traffic.
A nonprofit organization called Go Safe Labs reviewed information about deadly wrecks throughout the U.S. that involved more than 300,000 people from 2015 to 2018. Focusing specifically on child fatalities, the group found that Texas led the nation with 1,172. While it’s true that Texas has the second-highest population in the country, more children were killed in this state over those three years than California, the most populated state. In fact, the numbers were not close; 401 more children died in car crashes in Texas than in California.
Where Texas’ children are in the most danger
Digging deeper, Go Safe Labs found that the vast majority of Texas’ child traffic fatalities happened on rural roads. This was true nationwide and was also the case for accidents that seriously injured children. One reason this could be, the study suggests, is that people who live in rural areas have less access to child safety seats and information about how to install and use the seats properly.
Major car accidents happen everywhere
Here in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, most of us live in an urban or suburban setting. But that does not remove the danger to our children. We do whatever possible to protect our children on the roads, but we cannot always prevent a reckless or careless driver from crashing into our vehicle. Most of the time, children survive when they get into a crash, but they may be left with serious injuries that cause long-term or lifelong disabilities.
As a parent, you want to make sure your child has access to the best available medical care to help them recover. When a negligent driver hurt them, you have the right to seek full financial compensation from them.