- Call 911 immediately — Request emergency medical services even when the child appears uninjured. Pediatric traumatic brain injuries, internal bleeding, and spinal trauma frequently present with delayed or subtle symptoms. A documented emergency response also creates the official crash record essential for any insurance or legal claim.
- Document the scene thoroughly — Photograph the vehicle exterior and interior, the child’s seating position, any deployed airbags, the car seat or booster if one was in use, and all visible injuries. Note exactly how the child was restrained. Contemporaneous documentation is often the most powerful liability evidence available.
- Seek pediatric medical evaluation within 24 hours — Follow up with the child’s pediatrician or a pediatric emergency physician as soon as possible after any initial emergency assessment. Request neurological screening for any head impact. Retain every medical record, diagnostic image, visit note, and billing statement generated from that point forward.
- Preserve all physical evidence — Do not clean, repair, or modify the vehicle. Do not discard the car seat, booster seat, or any restraint device involved in the crash. These are potential physical evidence in both a negligence claim against the at-fault driver and a product liability claim against a manufacturer.
- Report the crash to the California DMV if required — Under California Vehicle Code § 16000, any driver involved in a crash resulting in injury, death, or property damage exceeding $1,000 must file a Report of Traffic Accident Occurring in California (SR-1 form) with the DMV within 10 days of the collision.
- Contact an experienced California child injury attorney — Compass Law Group serves families from offices in Long Beach, Oakland, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Bell Gardens. Early legal involvement preserves evidence, controls the narrative with insurance carriers, and ensures your family’s rights are protected from the outset.
- Decline recorded statements to insurance adjusters — Do not provide recorded statements to any insurance carrier — including your own — before speaking with an attorney. Adjusters are trained to elicit statements that limit or deny valid claims. Politely decline and refer all requests to your legal representative.
How Does Compass Law Group Help Families After a Child Passenger Injury?
Compass Law Group, LLP has recovered more than $250 million for California injury victims, including families whose children sustained preventable injuries in vehicle crashes. From our offices across Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Long Beach, San Francisco, Sacramento, Oakland, and Bell Gardens, we conduct full liability investigations in every case — examining the at-fault driver’s conduct, the vehicle’s restraint and airbag systems, event data recorder downloads, and road conditions — to ensure no avenue for recovery is overlooked.
Attorneys Joseph Shirazi (California Bar #265403) and Simon Esfandi (California Bar #275307) lead a team experienced in pediatric injury litigation. We work with board-certified pediatric neurologists, life-care planners, and accident reconstructionists to build damages models that reflect the true long-term cost of a child’s injuries — not just the immediate hospital bill. Our fee structure is straightforward: no fees unless we win. All litigation costs are advanced by the firm, so financial pressure never stands between your family and effective legal representation.
For additional resources on California vehicle accident law and child passenger claims, visit our legal blog or call us directly at (213) 320-1001 for a free, confidential consultation with no obligation to proceed.
Q: At what age can a child legally sit in the front seat in California?
Under California Vehicle Code § 27360, children under 8 must ride in the back seat in a car seat or booster. Once a child turns 8 — or reaches 4 feet 9 inches in height — California law permits front-seat travel with an adult seat belt. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that all children under 13 ride in the rear seat on every trip, because front-seat airbags are calibrated for adult bodies and present documented injury risks to younger passengers regardless of legal eligibility.
Q: Can a child under 8 ever legally ride in the front seat in California?
Yes, in one narrow circumstance. California Vehicle Code § 27360 creates an exception when all rear seating positions are occupied by other children under 12 years old. In that situation, a child under 8 may ride in the front seat only when properly secured in an age-appropriate car seat or booster. Even in this scenario, parents should take additional precautions — including disabling the front passenger airbag if the vehicle permits it and positioning the seat as far rearward from the dashboard as possible.
Q: What should I do if my child was injured by a front-seat airbag in a crash?
Seek emergency medical evaluation immediately — traumatic brain injuries and internal trauma can present with delayed symptoms in children. Photograph the crash scene, the child’s seating position, and the deployed airbag before the vehicle is moved or repaired. Preserve the restraint device. Then consult a California personal injury attorney promptly. Claims may exist against the at-fault driver and, if the airbag deployed outside design parameters, against the vehicle manufacturer under strict product liability. California’s two-year statute of limitations applies, though tolling rules extend deadlines for minor victims until age 20.
Q: How long do I have to file a claim for my child’s car accident injuries in California?
Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, the standard filing deadline for personal injury lawsuits is two years from the date of injury. For minor plaintiffs, the statute is tolled until the child’s 18th birthday, giving them until age 20 to file independently. Despite this extension, waiting significantly longer than necessary risks the loss of physical evidence, degraded witness recollections, and reduced insurance cooperation. An attorney should be consulted as early as possible — ideally within the first weeks following the crash.
Q: Who can be held liable when a child is injured as a passenger in a vehicle crash?
Multiple parties may be liable depending on the facts. The driver who caused the crash is the most common defendant under California’s negligence framework. If the airbag deployed incorrectly or the restraint system failed, the vehicle manufacturer or a component maker may face a strict product liability claim. If the car seat or booster was defective, its manufacturer may also be liable. In some cases, a government entity may bear responsibility for road design defects that contributed to the collision. A comprehensive liability investigation — rather than relying solely on the at-fault driver’s insurer — routinely uncovers multiple recovery sources and maximizes a family’s total compensation.
No Win, No Fee — Compass Law Group, LLP | Call (213) 320-1001
Source: Compass Law Group | Car Accidents
Get Your Free Consultation Today
If your child was injured as a passenger in a California vehicle crash, Compass Law Group, LLP is ready to evaluate your case at no cost and no obligation. No Win, No Fee — you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for your family.
