New York Court Allows Lawsuit to Proceed Against Child Who Was 4 When She Allegedly Rode Her Bike Into a Woman Who Died

New York Times:  “a judge has ruled that a young girl accused of running down an elderly woman while racing a bicycle with training wheels on a Manhattan sidewalk two years ago can be sued for negligence. . . . [The child] struck an 87-year-old woman . . . [who suffered] a hip fracture that required surgery. She died three weeks later.”

See UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh’s article called “The Negligent 4-Year-Old” in which he writes:

“But I’m inclined to say that the wiser move for a state legal system would be to set the absolute bar to liability for the child (setting aside the possibility of the parent’s being liable for negligent supervision) at a considerably higher age — maybe seven, or maybe even older. Otherwise, the result is more litigation with no real likelihood that we’ll have any sensible jury decisions in such litigation.”

See another New York Times story called “Reflecting on a Lawsuit Against a 4-Year-Old.”