Jacksonville Child Car Accident Lawyer

Children are hurt in Florida crashes every day: as passengers in a parent’s car, in a friend’s car, on a school bus, in a rideshare. Their injuries are different from an adult’s. Car seats and boosters fail, growth plates fracture, and head injuries surface months later in a classroom. The claim is different too. It belongs to the child, it is valued on the child’s future, and any settlement over $15,000 goes through the court.

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Free and confidential. No fee unless we recover compensation; costs and expenses may apply.

How Children Are Hurt in Crashes

  • Rear-end and T-bone collisions where the child’s seat took the impact

  • Car seat and booster failures — wrong seat for the child’s size, improper installation, or a defective seat

  • Rollovers and ejections, especially unbelted children in rear seats

  • Teen drivers carrying younger siblings or friends

  • Rideshare trips — Uber and Lyft drivers rarely carry child seats

  • School buses and daycare vans

Florida’s Child Restraint Law

Under Florida Statute § 316.613, a child under age 6 must ride in a crash-tested, federally approved child restraint. Children through age 3 must be in a separate carrier or a vehicle’s integrated child seat; children ages 4 and 5 may use a separate carrier, an integrated seat, or a booster. A driver who ignored that rule, or a daycare or rideshare company that didn’t provide the right seat, has handed the insurer a defense and handed us a claim. We also look at whether the seat itself was recalled or defective.

Where the Money Comes From

  • The at-fault driver’s bodily-injury liability coverage

  • PIP — the household auto policy pays the child’s first $10,000 of medical bills regardless of fault

  • The parents’ uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM) coverage, which covers a child in the household even when the child was riding in someone else’s car

  • Rideshare insurance — up to $1 million in liability coverage while a ride is in progress

  • A school district or bus contractor, subject to the written-notice rules and damage caps of § 768.28

  • A manufacturer, when a seat, belt or airbag failed

The Child’s Claim, and What Parents Recover

The injury claim belongs to the child: pain, scarring, permanent impairment, future medical care and lost earning capacity. Parents are reimbursed within that claim for the medical bills, lost wages and expenses they paid. A parent who was also hurt in the crash has a separate injury claim of their own, and a parent who watched a child be seriously hurt may have a claim for emotional distress.

Court Approval of a Child’s Settlement

Under § 744.387, a settlement of more than $15,000 net to the child requires a court order and a guardianship of the child’s property, with annual accounting. Most of a child’s recovery is structured so it is paid out at set ages rather than as one check at 18. We handle the approval and guardianship in-house.

Deadlines

Two years from the crash for a negligence claim. A claim against a public school district or city bus requires written notice within three years and has damage caps. Dash-cam, bus-camera and rideshare trip data are kept for weeks, not years; we send preservation letters immediately.

Frequently Asked Questions

The other driver’s insurer wants to pay my child’s medical bills and close the claim. Should I accept?

Not before a lawyer has reviewed it. The medical bills are the parents’ reimbursement, not the child’s claim. A child’s pain, scarring and future care are valued separately, and any settlement over $15,000 has to be approved by a judge.

My child was in a friend’s car. Whose insurance applies?

The at-fault driver’s liability coverage first, then the friend’s PIP for medical bills, and your own UM coverage if the at-fault driver was uninsured or underinsured. UM follows the child, not the car.

Does it matter that my child wasn’t in a car seat?

It can reduce the recovery under Florida’s comparative-fault rule, but it does not end the case. A young child is not responsible for their own restraint, and the driver who caused the crash is still liable.

My child seemed fine after the crash but is now struggling in school. Is that related?

It may be. Pediatric brain injuries often show up as attention, memory or behavior changes months later. See a pediatric neurologist and tell us; this is why we do not settle a child’s case early.

What does it cost to hire you?

Nothing up front. No attorney’s fee unless we recover compensation; costs and expenses may apply. The consultation is free and confidential.

📞 Call (904) 619-5244 · Text Us · Free Case Review

Free and confidential. No fee unless we recover compensation; costs and expenses may apply.

Related: Child pedestrian and school-zone crashes · Car accidents · Jacksonville child injury lawyer

Reviewed by Belkis Plata and Shannon Schott, attorneys Board Certified in Juvenile Law by The Florida Bar. Updated October 2026.