Children face dangers in car accidents that adults simply do not. Their growing bones, smaller size, and different muscle strength make them more likely to suffer serious injuries—but if you know how to spot the warning signs, take extra precautions, and get children the care they need after a crash, you can help protect your family and little ones.
Key Takeaways
- Children’s heads and spines are still developing, so they are especially vulnerable to head, neck, and back injuries.
- Using the right car seat cuts injury risk by up to 82%, but most seats are installed incorrectly.
- Invisible injuries—like internal organ damage from a poorly fitted seat belt—can be as serious as broken bones.
- Car crashes can leave lasting emotional scars that need attention just as much as physical wounds.
Why Do Children Get Hurt More Easily?
Children’s bones are not as hard as adults’, so they can crack or bend more under force. In addition, their heads are larger relative to their bodies, which makes sudden stops or impacts more likely to jolt their necks and spines.
Until children reach their early teens, their spine and neck muscles are still finding their strength, so they cannot hold up their heads as firmly as adults can in a crash.
What Happens to Their Heads and Brains?
Head injuries are the most common and frightening outcome: Children can suffer concussions, skull fractures, and bleeding in the brain. Even a “mild” concussion can leave them sensitive to light, prone to headaches, and struggling with attention or memory. Babies under one year of age often have more facial injuries because they cannot brace themselves or turn away in time.
How About Neck and Back Injuries?
With big heads and weak neck muscles, children under 8 years old are especially at risk for neck fractures or spinal cord damage. Rollover crashes are particularly dangerous, since they can twist and bend your child’s entire spine in strange ways. A broken vertebra or slipped disc in a child can lead to lifelong mobility issues or even paralysis.
What Internal Injuries Should Parents Watch For?
Internal injuries hide behind intact skin: When a seat belt rides up over a child’s belly, it can squeeze the liver, spleen, or kidneys against the spine. Tears in those organs can bleed silently into the body, showing up hours later as dizziness, belly pain, or fainting. Broken ribs can also puncture lungs—a danger that needs immediate medical evaluation.
Which Bones Break the Most?
Children often break their collarbones and wrists as they try to shield themselves. Pelvis and thigh bone fractures happen in high-speed crashes, and unlike adults, children have growth plates at the ends of their bones, so breaks there can stunt the bone’s future growth. Even well-healed fractures sometimes leave one leg or arm shorter than the other.
How Do Crashes Affect Children’s Faces and Feelings?
Flying glass or debris can cut a child’s face, leaving scars that may need surgery and therapy to help them feel confident again. Beyond the physical pain, children can struggle with nightmares, anxiety, and sudden fear of riding in cars for years after the incident. Some children even cry or cling to parents at the first sign of a vehicle, which is often a sign that they need time (and perhaps professional intervention) to heal emotionally.
Why Proper Car Seats Matter
Using the right car seat for your child’s age, height, and weight can cut injuries by more than two-thirds. A rear-facing seat helps babies absorb force in their strongest torso and neck muscles, while a forward-facing seat with a five-point harness keeps older toddlers safe. A booster seat prevents a lap belt from sliding up over delicate organs. But nearly three-quarters of car seats are installed incorrectly—often too loose, with harness straps too slack, or missing the top tether strap.
Get the Help You Need With the Brooklyn Car Accident Lawyers at Rubenstein & Rynecki
If your child has been hurt in a crash, you do not have to face the aftermath alone. The Brooklyn car accident lawyers at Rubenstein & Rynecki have decades of experience fighting for families. For a free consultation, call us today at 718-522-1020 or fill out our online form. Located in Brooklyn, New York, we proudly serve clients in the surrounding areas.
