Child injured in Farmers Branch: why the standard of care is different

FOX 4 reported a collision in which a child was hurt in Farmers Branch on April 11, 2025. Someone was hurt. We had no involvement in it and we are not going to speculate about the facts. What we can do is set out the legal questions an incident of this kind raises in Texas, because families dealing with one are usually working it out from scratch at the worst possible moment.

Cases involving children are analysed differently

Texas does not hold a young child to an adult’s standard of care. What counts as ordinary caution for an adult is not the measure applied to a child, and very young children may not be capable of negligence at all as a matter of law.

That matters because the reflexive argument in these cases — that the child ran out, or was not being watched — carries far less weight than the person making it usually assumes.

Where the duty sits

• Drivers, who are expected to anticipate children near schools, parks, residential streets and stopped buses, and to moderate speed accordingly.
• Property owners, under doctrines that address hazards attractive to children who cannot appreciate the danger — pools, equipment, unsecured structures.
• Schools and districts, where supervision or transportation is at issue, subject to governmental immunity limits.

Deadlines work differently too

Limitations periods for a minor’s own claim are generally tolled — the clock does not run in the usual way while the injured person is a child. But this exception is narrower than families assume, and it does not extend the separate claims parents may hold, nor does it extend the short notice deadlines that apply when a governmental entity is involved.

Settlements for a child are supervised

A minor’s settlement generally requires court approval, and funds are protected rather than handed over. That is a safeguard, not an obstacle, and it is one reason these cases are not resolved over the phone.

Finding the insurance is often the case

In serious collisions, liability is frequently obvious and the real work is establishing what coverage exists. Texas requires only modest minimum liability limits, and a single hospital admission can exceed them.

• Your own uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage, which exists for exactly this gap.
• Medical payments or PIP, which pays regardless of fault and arrives early.
• An employer’s policy, if the at-fault driver was working at the time.
• Commercial or umbrella policies sitting behind a personal one.
• A vehicle owner who entrusted the car to someone unfit to drive it.

One warning that costs people real money: do not settle with the at-fault driver’s insurer without your own underinsured carrier’s written consent. Doing so can void that larger claim.

The deadline is shorter than two years in more cases than people think

The general limitations period for a Texas personal injury suit is two years from the incident, and the same period generally governs wrongful death. That is the number everyone has heard.

The number that catches families out is the other one. Claims against a city, county, transit authority, school district or other governmental unit require formal written notice within a short statutory window, and municipal charters frequently require less — sometimes a matter of weeks. Miss it and an otherwise strong claim can be barred long before the two-year period runs.

Government involvement is not always obvious. A road defect, a work zone under public contract, a public vehicle, a transit bus, or a municipal employee running an errand all bring those rules into play. If there is any prospect of it, the matter should be assessed in the first weeks.

What to do now

• Get medical attention and keep going — gaps in treatment become the argument that something else caused the injury.
• Ask that any vehicle involved not be repaired or sold until it has been inspected.
• Write down who stopped, what they saw, and anything said at the scene.
• Decline a recorded statement to the other side’s insurer until you have advice.
• Keep every document in one place: the report number, bills, mileage, days missed.

Reporting that prompted this post

We write about incidents reported in the local press to explain the legal questions they raise. We don’t represent anyone involved unless we say so.

• WATCH: Unlicensed teen crashes into Farmers Branch police cruiser (FOX 4)

Our Garland injury attorneys handle matters like this every day. The case review is free.