Read the full article on KETV 7
Prosecutors warn parents could be held liable if their child gets into an crash while riding an e-vehicle
OMAHA, Neb. —
If your child is involved in a crash while riding an e-vehicle, you could actually be held liable, according to Douglas County Prosecutor Don Kleine and City of Omaha Senior Attorney Makayla Danner.
More kids are riding e-vehicles than ever before, increasing the number of injuries and hazardous road calls across Omaha.
Advertisement
People in Bennington and the Omaha area are already starting to feel the effects of these crashes. On Tuesday, Douglas County deputies reported that an 11-year-old drove his e-scooter into an intersection and was hit by a pick-up truck. The boy is still in critical condition.
READ MORE: DCSO investigates crash involving scooter, 11-year-old critically hurt
Kleine said there will likely be no criminal charges in this case, but parents need to know that they could be held liable in situations like this.
“There’s certain situations where … if you can show a causal effect, with negligence on the parent’s part, to what happened, then it’s a possibility. Just depends on what the evidence is, what the situation is, and every case is different,” Kleine said.
Kleine said there’s a big question to be asked about whether or not the parents should be held responsible if they’re giving all the right instructions and the kids decide not to be responsible.
Danner said parents need to be very careful about when they give their kids permission to get on scooters, where they’re allowed to go and how fast the scooter goes.
Danner said in these cases, parents can be charged with child abuse by neglect, meaning they negligently placed their kid in a situation that endangers their physical or mental health and well-being.
“Our neglect statute says that if you place your child in a situation that endangers their physical or mental health and well-being, then you can be charged with child neglect,” Danner said.
Kleine is pushing for legislation from the state.
“There’s something that’s going to have to probably be done from a legislative perspective, to prohibit or enforce, from law enforcement’s perspective, people driving, that are aren’t supposed to be driving,” Kleine said.
Danner disagrees and said she recommends that we educate our kids and parents instead of pushing for state legislation.
“There could be legislation. There can always. We can always add more legislation. But let’s educate our community on what we can do today to keep everybody safe without having to legalize everything if we can,” Danner said.
She is pushing for the community to get involved and to talk to kids and neighbors to help them follow the rules of the road so that everyone is safe.
Make sure you can always see the latest news, weather, sports and more from KETV NewsWatch 7 on Google search.
NAVIGATE: Home | Weather | Local News | National | Sports | Newscasts on demand |
