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A CHILD’S INJURY CLAIM FOLLOWS DIFFERENT RULES

A child cannot file a lawsuit. A child’s claim also does not run on the same clock as an adult’s. Three differences matter more than any others, and they decide a lot of cases before anyone reaches the facts.

THE DEADLINE IS USUALLY LONGER

California pauses the statute of limitations while a person is a minor. For an ordinary injury claim with a two-year deadline, that generally means the clock starts at 18 and runs to about 20. Not every claim works that way. Some run on their own shorter deadlines that minority does not pause, so confirm which one governs rather than assuming the longer one does. Longer does not mean safe. Evidence, witnesses, and surveillance video are gone long before the deadline is.

A PARENT BRINGS THE CASE, BUT NOT AUTOMATICALLY

A parent or guardian petitions the court to be appointed guardian ad litem, the person authorized to bring the claim on the child’s behalf. It is a routine filing. It is also a step people are surprised to learn exists.

A COURT HAS TO APPROVE ANY SETTLEMENT

California requires court approval of a settlement involving a minor, through a proceeding usually called a minor’s compromise. A judge reviews the amount, the fees, and how the money is handled, and funds are often placed in a blocked account until the child turns 18. That review protects the child. It is not an obstacle to getting the case resolved.

E-BIKES ARE NOW A LEADING WAY CALIFORNIA CHILDREN GET HURT

The fastest-growing source of serious injuries to California children arrived in the last five years, and the numbers are not close. A UC San Diego study published in Trauma Surgery and Acute Care Open on July 17, 2026 reviewed statewide crash records from 2018 through 2024. It found 4,035 e-bike collisions in that window, rising from two in 2018 to 1,506 in 2024. Traditional bicycle crashes fell.

Children are taking the worst of it. Among injured e-bike riders, 15.6 percent were 14 or younger, against 10.2 percent for traditional bicycles, and the study found injuries were more severe and helmet use low. The lead author, a surgical resident at UC San Diego, described the number of injured children as the study’s most concerning finding.

Two California rules do real work here. A person under 16 may not operate a Class 3 e-bike at all, and every Class 3 rider has to wear a helmet regardless of age. Riders under 18 need a helmet on any bicycle. When a retailer sells a Class 3 bike to a 14-year-old, or a parent of a friend hands one over, those rules become the standard against which the conduct is measured.

Battery fires are the second e-bike risk. California’s SB 1271 requires e-bikes, batteries, and charging systems sold new in the state to be certified to recognized safety standards, with the certification and testing lab shown on the product. Those requirements took effect January 1, 2026. A battery fire that injures a child now sits against a clear statutory benchmark, and a claim can reach the manufacturer, the importer, and the retailer through California product liability.

WHERE CALIFORNIA CHILDREN GET HURT

Most child injury claims come out of five settings. Each has its own records and its own insurer. Evidence goes missing differently in each.

DAYCARE AND CHILDCARE

Inadequate supervision. Unsafe equipment, unsecured medication, hot liquids, and injuries a facility did not report to the parents the same day. Licensed facilities are inspected, and inspection and complaint records at the state licensing agency are obtainable.

SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL TRANSPORTATION

Playground falls and unsupervised areas. Sports injuries where the risk was not managed, bus loading zones, off-campus trips. Claims against a public school district run through the government claim process described below.

PLAYGROUNDS AND SWIMMING POOLS

Fall surfacing. Broken or non-conforming equipment, and pools without the fencing and barriers California requires. Drowning cases turn on the physical condition of the property, which changes fast once a claim is anticipated.

DEFECTIVE PRODUCTS

Car seats, cribs, bunk beds, helmets, toys, batteries, e-bikes. California applies strict product liability, so the question is whether the product was defective and caused the injury, not whether the maker meant well. Keep everything. The product, the packaging, and the model and lot numbers.

VEHICLES AND CROSSWALKS

Child pedestrians and bicyclists struck near schools. These claims often involve both a driver and, where sight lines or crossing design contributed, a public entity.

CLAIMS AGAINST SCHOOLS AND OTHER PUBLIC AGENCIES

If your claim is against a public entity, a school district, a city, or the state, the long minority deadline does not save you. A written government claim generally has to be presented to that entity within six months of the injury, and being a minor does not by itself stop that clock. Strong cases are lost this way.

There is relief if it is missed. California allows an application to file a late claim, generally within a year, and the statute has specific provisions for claimants who were minors during the six-month period. Relief is not automatic and the application has its own deadline. If a school, a district facility, a county program, or a public pool is involved, treat six months as the real deadline and get advice quickly.

Childhood sexual assault claims are the exception. Those are exempt from the government claim requirement entirely, and our San Diego child sexual abuse page covers that track.

WHAT A CHILD’S CLAIM CAN RECOVER

Damages in a child injury case reach further into the future than an adult’s, because the injury has longer to cost something. Medical care already provided and the care a child will need for decades. Therapy and mental health treatment. Assistive equipment, home modification, and attendant care where the injury is catastrophic.

Lost future earning capacity belongs in the claim where an injury will limit what a child can do as an adult. Economists and life care planners project it. The other side will contest those projections.

Non-economic damages cover pain and the loss of a normal childhood. Parents can also have their own claims in some circumstances, including for the medical expenses they paid and, in a fatal case, a wrongful death claim. Punitive damages are rare. They require clear and convincing evidence of oppression, fraud, or malice, and they are not available against a public entity at all.

WHAT TO DO AFTER A CHILD IS INJURED

Care first, then the record. The rest of this list is about what will still exist in a year.

Get medical care and say how it happened. The first record follows the case. An emergency room note that describes the mechanism accurately is worth more later than any account reconstructed from memory.

Photograph the scene and the object. The playground surface, the broken rail, the pool gate, the bike, the helmet or the absence of one. Conditions get repaired quickly once someone reports an injury, and the repair is not evidence of the condition before it.

Keep the product. Do not return it, do not accept a replacement, do not throw away the box. Model and lot numbers are what connect a specific unit to a recall or a defect.

Ask for the incident report in writing. Schools, daycares, camps, and youth programs generate them. Request a copy in writing so there is a record you asked.

Do not sign anything. No recorded statements, no releases. Not for the school, not for a facility, not for an insurer. A quick offer early is not a favor.

CALIFORNIA CHILD INJURY FAQS

HOW LONG DOES MY CHILD HAVE TO BRING A CLAIM?

Longer than an adult, with one large exception. California pauses the deadline while a person is a minor, so an ordinary two-year injury claim generally runs until around the child’s twentieth birthday. Not every claim works that way. Some are governed by their own, shorter statutes that minority does not pause. But a claim against a public entity still requires a written government claim, generally within six months of the injury, and that requirement is not paused simply because the injured person is a child. Late-claim relief exists and has provisions for minors. Do not plan around it.

CAN I SETTLE MY CHILD’S CASE MYSELF?

Not on your own signature. A settlement involving a minor requires court approval through a minor’s compromise, and a release a parent signs without it can be set aside later. Insurers occasionally offer a quick payment for a signature. That signature does not do what they suggest it does, and the offer is usually made before anyone knows what the injury will cost.

WHO CONTROLS THE MONEY?

The court does, until the child is an adult. Funds from a minor’s settlement are commonly deposited in a blocked account that cannot be withdrawn without a court order, and released when the child turns 18. Structured settlements are also used. The court reviews attorney fees in the same proceeding.

WHAT IF MY CHILD WAS PARTLY AT FAULT?

Children are held to a different standard than adults. California uses pure comparative fault in any event. A child’s conduct is measured against what a reasonable child of the same age, intelligence, and experience would do, and very young children are generally not capable of negligence at all. Fault is not a bar. Where some is assigned, it reduces the recovery rather than eliminating it.

WHAT DOES A CHILD INJURY LAWYER COST?

Nothing up front. Gomez Trial Attorneys handles child injury claims on contingency, so there is no attorney’s fee unless the case recovers money, and any fee in a minor’s case is reviewed by the court. The firm advances case costs. Whether any of those costs are charged back if there is no recovery is set out in the written fee agreement, and we go through it with you before you sign.

TALK TO A CALIFORNIA CHILD INJURY LAWYER

The useful first conversation is early and short. What happened, what records exist, whether a public entity is involved, and which deadline is actually running. It commits you to nothing. Protecting a child’s rights after an injury is its own area of practice, and Gomez Trial Attorneys brings these claims across California from our San Diego office, alongside our San Diego personal injury and child abuse work.

Call 833-GET-GOMEZ, in English or Spanish. If a school or public agency was involved, call sooner. Six months goes faster than it sounds.

This page is general information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. We do not give medical advice.