News reports indicate the accident occurred on an unlit street. Is Ms. Harper another victim of the early school day in which children are forced to wait for buses or walk to school in the early morning hours before the crack of dawn. One life lost is enough but this is happening often enough around the Tampa Bay area, that I dare use the word epidemic.

I understand that parents and children have some responsibility, but they have no choice regarding when the school day starts and many times, no options regarding transportation.

The National Center for Injury Prevention and Control has recently published a study trying to identify strategies for preventing Child pedestrian accidents in the future. This advocacy group is working with other agencies in trying to implement these strategies and prevent these tragedies from occurring.

About the Law Offices of James W. Dodson

The Law Offices of James W. Dodson, a Florida based wrongful death legal firm, has successfully handled Florida pedestrian accidents & personal injury cases for over 20 years in Pinellas County, Pasco County, Manatee County, and throughout Florida.

Chronologically, the tragic events occurred as follows:

• July 3, a 16 year old boy, Landon Dillard, was struck while bike riding at summer camp in Colorado.
• July 5, a 19 year old man, Korey Moore, was struck embarking onto a pontoon boat from a jet ski on Lake Marion in Georgia.
• July 6, a 23 year old woman, Stephanie Kirpes, was tragically struck while joggin on the beach in Virginia.
• July 7, a 16 year old boy, Ben Richter, was struck while standing under a tree on his family’s farm in Wisconsin.
• July 7, a 16 year old boy, Lucian Ellis, was struck while his family sought shelter from a storm under a stilted structure in North Carolina.

These unfortunate losses are reminders to the rest of us of the dangers of lightning, especially during the summer months when we increase our outdoor activities. The National Weather Service has publications available for download to educate the public on the dangers of lightning and other weather phenomena, as well as national statistics of weather related injuries.

According to a recent tampabay.com article notifying the public of the law change, ATV accidents have killed or injured many children. Citing 2006 statistics, the article reported that according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, 111 children under the age of 16 died while riding ATV’s, while the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles cited 771 ATV crashes in 2006.

In fact as recently as June 24, of this year, a colleague and fellow child safety advocate, David Wolf reported on the death of a 9-year old Bradford County Florida boy who died after the ATV on which he was a passenger crashed in Baker County.

Although one cannot say with any certainty whether a safety course would have changed the circumstances of the young boy from Bradford County, since he was not the operator of the ATV and only a passenger, certainly any law designed to protect our children, even if the law has some flaws, should be a good thing.

Adults (actually 16 years and older) need licenses to operate motor vehicles and now anyone under 21 must take a safety course to operate a motorcycle or scooter, it follows logically that children take a safety course before operating an ATV or dirt bike on public land. Note that the law does not affect riders on private property.

About this Law Firm

James W. Dodson, P.A., is a Tampa based Bike accident lawyer.