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Friday, March 29, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

4-Year-Old Can Sue Father Over Car Seat

(CN) - A 4-year-old girl can sue her father for injuries she suffered in a car crash after her father failed to place her in a proper car seat, the Virginia Supreme Court ruled.

In a lawsuit filed through her mother, Hannah Leigh Evans sued her father, Billy Bradley Evans II, for negligence after she was severely injured in a car crash.

Billy had placed Hannah in a portable foam seat in his 1972 pickup truck, which was hit head-on by an oncoming car and knocked into a roadside fence.

Hannah suffered a fractured skull, a brain hemorrhage and a ruptured bladder, among other injuries.

The trial court dismissed the case, ruling that the Virginia General Assembly did not intend for the state child-seat law to lead to a civil action.

However, the state high court overturned the decision after considering case law and the statute requiring children under the age of 8 to be secured by a car seat.

"We conclude that the General Assembly intended preclusion of a per se negligence action ... but did not abrogate a common law action for negligence," Justice Donald Lemons wrote.

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