Injury Lawyer In Kingston Sheds Light On Contributory Negligence By Children

Unlike adults, children in general are not mature enough regarding the actions to take when walking near or across roadways. An Injury lawyer in Kingston realizes that in absence of adult supervision, or road safety knowledge, the risks for children out on the road increases considerably. Here, the chances of sharing the accident responsibility increase too. For the children involved the contributory negligence for collisions is at the judge's discretion. This works as defense for negligence claims. When the plaintiff contributed to or caused the accident this occurs or when they failed to act in prudent or safe manner. Injury lawyer in Kingston says that here compensation amounts lowers by certain percentage as the negligence of the plaintiff is the cause.

The contributory negligence cases involving children remains at discretion of the court. They might want to know whether that child exercised the care, one might expect from a child at that age, experience, and intelligence. The defense might argue that the child in question did not look on both sides when crossing a street and should have known well. Now it is up to the judges to decide and they might find that a child with average IQ is familiar with the way to school and parents teach him/her to look to both sides of a street before crossing.

According to injury lawyer in Kingston, in cases involving children it is also relevant that they do not have the required capability to be a judge of speed and distances at that age. The defendant needs to give sufficient evidence to prove that a child has adequate experience in navigating busy streets. One has to find out whether crossing guard was at road intersection when the child was there. In most cases, the judges find that the children do act well within the reasonable standard of produces according to Injury lawyer in Kingston and so the damage payment decision goes against the defendant.

Exceptions to this also might be there and as such, one has to remain prepared for all eventualities. For example, one might argue that being distracted, forgetful, or confused is never an excuse for negligence of a child. Here, one has to remember that it would be wrong to expect adult like judgement from the children. They often lack maturity and judgment that we associate with the adults. For this reason, they feel confused or distracted quite easily. Contributory negligence is a contextual assessment when this involves a child according to Injury lawyer in Kingston. Every case is different and so are the related facts. Considerations include:

• Child age
• Cognitive abilities
• Road safety knowledge of child
• Route that the child travel
• Running or walking child
• Looking both ways when crossing. For more information visit here: BLPC Law