Children Are Stop Signs

In my practice, as Indiana’s serious personal injury attorney, I see little children as in need of special protection.  If you are driving down the road and you see a stop sign, you instinctively take your foot off the gas, you may coast a little, but you will move your foot to the break and stop at the stop sign, after all this is a rule of the road.  It is a rule of the road that keeps everyone safe when we are moving 2000 plus metal objects down the road.  If we think of the little child and the concept of the stop sign together we can see the wisdom in treating every little child as a stop sign.

We all know that small children do not understand the dangers associated with moving cars.  We know they are impulsive and we know that even if they are carefully instructed about cars and streets, they may not always follow the rules that adults and older children will follow.  Finally, we know that if a car hits a small child, serious personal injury and even wrongful death are likely results. So, I ask you to take the drive smart Kids Dart warnings seriously.  One way to drive smart is to see every little child as a stop sign.  If you are driving down the road, especially in a residential neighborhood, if you see a child, no matter how old, assume there are other, younger children around, even if you cannot see them.

You may not see them because they are behind cars or trees or other objects, or they are just so small they are hard to see.  So, you see the child, you take your foot off the gas, you may coast, but as you approach the child, your foot moves towards the brakes.  Maybe, even likely you will not come to a stop, but you are travelling at a speed which will allow you to stop instantly if a small child appears.  No matter how important that meeting, no matter where you need to be, 2-3 extra minutes will not kill you.  However, will you ever be able to forgive yourself if you seriously injure or cause the wrongful death of a small child?