Toddlers Wander on Road Unsupervised while the Daycare Sleeps

I am Los Angeles child care facilities injury attorney, Michael Ehline. I am an expert in Sleep Medicine legalities and California daycare center negligence claims involving poorly trained or rested employees and unsupervised children.

When I heard about this recent case out of state in South Carolina, I thought it would be an opportunity to showcase my law firm’s superior experience, knowledge, and skills in suing childcare providers to keep them diligent using two recent out-of-state cases.

When you send your babies and toddlers to daycare, you have to make sure you vet them as carefully and thoroughly as possible. Remember, you are sending your toddlers, who are not the best thinkers, for themselves and their safety. If something wrong happens, things could go utterly wrong before you even know about them, assuming the childcare providers don’t fall asleep on the job.

After all, the natural consequences of staff members behaving negligently or recklessly is abundantly clear in the recent Glendale Daycare case in Arizona, where six to eight toddlers were seen on the loose, wandering around in the roadway!

In that case, no criminal complaint was brought against Happy Dayz. Still, allegations with potential civil penalties were forwarded administratively and filed by the Glendale Police with the Arizona Department of Health Services, Child Care Facilities, and Licensing. We are unaware of any personal injury lawsuits being filed in that action.

In another state, we have a female driver slamming on her vehicle’s brakes to avoid hitting two toddlers who escaped from a play yard at the Cadence Academy childcare facilities in South Carolina.

An incident of daycare carelessness occurred in South Carolina when two toddlers could sneak out and away from the institute without any authorities knowing about the alone time. The babies were then helped by a driver on the road who quickly reacted to the situation and brought them back to the daycare while also calling 911 on her way for their well-being.

Driver Sees Children on the Road

It is not rare to see children running toward a road and their mother running after them to catch them as soon as possible. However, it’s bizarre when you see children run on and toward the road with no supervisor, guardian, or caretaker running after them. This is what happened when Kirbie Washington noticed the two toddlers on the Old Trolley Road in South Carolina.

It was Thursday morning when Washington was talking to her fiancé on the phone when she suddenly noticed a boy and girl on the road. The girl was on the curb, whereas the boy was stood right in the middle of the road.
Washington immediately shut the phone, called 911, and took a hold of the kids.

She then looked for a place to take them and saw a daycare nearby. As she reached the daycare to hand over the kids, she found out that the boy and girl were, in fact, from that daycare.

Washington Shares the Shocking Incident Online

While she was thanked by the daycare for bringing the children back, Washington was not holding back from sharing the incident with others online. She wanted parents to be careful of the type of daycare they pick for their children. She shared the entire incident and accused the daycare of not being careful about children and not having proper supervision in place.

Washington was proud of how she reacted to the situation and referenced her natural mother instincts for reacting so fast. However, she wanted proper legal action taken against the daycare for being so careless about the situation.

It was a mixed response she got for her post. Some people were very angry about the situation and wanted the daycare to be held responsible. In contrast, others brushed it off as a one-off incident and said they wouldn’t consider not sending their kids to the daycare.

When you dig deeper, you can see why so many parents are protective of their kids and want to learn how to keep them safe.

The Aunt of the Toddler Steps In

While people shared their views about the situation, the aunt of the toddler girl on the road stepped in and showed disgust at the responses of the people who thought the daycare was not at fault. She reminded them that they could feel this way because these were not their children.

She was thankful for Kirbie Washington and her kind act, while she also shared the name of the daycare, i.e., Cadence Academy, for people to know who was responsible for the incident.

Parents who were relying on their childcare facility were similarly grateful to Alexis Tatman, who was driving on Olive Avenue in Happy Dayz Daycare Center in Glendale, Arizona, when she sprung into action after seeing toddlers on the road.

Tatman proclaimed:

“I was just shocked. I couldn’t believe that they were out there alone…” discussing the Glendale day care incident.

In both cases, when officers arrived, it was already too late for them to have done much but clean up toddler body parts in the street. If not for these diligent women paying attention and not playing with smartphones while driving, the wrongful deaths of children might not have been prevented. But why is it when a typical daycare provider is caught red-handed being negligent that they often don’t hold themselves accountable?

No Response from the Director

The assistant director at the daycare was brought into the loop. Still, there was no response from them about their childcare policies, procedures, criminal and civil penalties, or remedial actions against staff members. Until now, there hasn’t been any word from the parents of the children either. The only response from the families was that of the aunt, who was livid about the contented reaction from the people.

Parents Should Be Careful

If you are a parent, you must be extra vigilant with your choice of daycare. It would help if you did not forget that you are not choosing an institute for yourself but for your toddlers, who can’t make wise decisions on their own.

Your selection in a daycare facility should mean insisting they maintain safety-approved cribs with a firm mattress, fitted sheets, and supervision, assuring the infant will be placed on their back in a comfortable, safe sleep position, wearing safe garments. When toddlers are being dropped off in a passenger vehicle, the daycare staff may be busy and overlook the safe removal of a child from a car seat. So parents must do their part.

If you have more than one child, remember that each child responds differently about safety, wandering around after waking from sleep or staying in bed.

The daycare must have great staff and be trained with instructions from local health services and other regulatory agencies about alone time and making sure toddlers don’t silently crawl off into the street.

Also, they must have a proper building without any holes in the fences or walls for a dog to crawl through and attack them or for the baby to wander away to death or doom.

Schedule a Free Case Review With Child Injury Attorneys in Los Angeles, California, Today!

Did you or a loved one suffer a similar fate in California? You’re not alone. But our superior, dedicated and compassionate child injury lawyers can help you obtain an award of financial compensation for negligence or wrongful death.

Give us a call today or use our free online website contact us form for identification purposes only and a return call in confidence. There is no charge for your free initial consultation, so doing a little fact-finding at (213) 596-9642 is risk-free.

Sources:

• Arizona Republic
• Glendale Police Website