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012 How Parents Can Keep Kids Safe in the Car

Lawyers in the House with Montlick

Attorneys Orlando and Michael are back in the house, plus special guest Jenny Harty, giving parents the info you need to know about teen distracted driving and child passenger & carseat safety. Jenny is a mom of two and the catalyst behind the Georgia Booster Seat law, named after her daughter Madison. Listen to Jenny and Madison’s incredible story of survival and determination to keep our youngest car passengers safe on the road.

Read the Episode Transcript

00:04 ANNOUNCER: Welcome to lawyers in the house with Montlick. Wish you had a lawyer in the family? Now you do. Here’s your host, Veronica Waters.

VERONICA: All rise. Lawyers in the House is in session. We are here on WSB in the studios in Atlanta, Georgia, your capital city.

00:28 VERONICA: I am Veronica Waters, and we are here for another fabulous episode with a room full of heavy hitters. Some of the most dynamic people I have had the pleasure to get to know. Very honored to be presiding for this very special episode. This is our first sequel, everybody, because we had so many questions and so much information the last time a couple of these guys were here when we talked about parental responsibility.
00:56 VERONICA: So a dynamic duo is back by popular demand. So without further ado, allow me to reintroduce you to these guys. Orlando Marra, whose reputation for caring, integrity, and being able to distill and navigate the complexities of the law and the nuances of it actually precedes him. His clients applaud him for his empathy as well as for bringing home some outstanding results for them. Fighting for the rights of injured people for more than 30 years now.
01:26 VERONICA: He joined Montlick in 1996, right?

MICHAEL: That’s correct.

VERONICA: And has recovered millions of dollars for his clients, Michael N. Rubin.

MICHAEL: That’s me.

VERONICA: And the N stands for “never give up.”

MICHAEL: That’s absolutely right. My parents knew right away. That’s what I hear.

VERONICA: That’s the reputation that you got.

MICHAEL: I came out with a full head of hair like you.

VERONICA: And you’ve lost it because of all these hard fights. Is that what you’re saying?

MICHAEL: Maybe.

01:56 VERONICA: We know you fight hard for your clients and you often win. I’ve learned that Michael is among the 1% of attorneys who are members of the very exclusive Million Dollar Advocates Forum, that group extending membership only to folks who bring home these million-dollar settlements or verdicts for their clients. But Michael’s priority for his clients remains their health and their wellbeing.

MICHAEL: Absolutely.

VERONICA: And he has been at Montlick for more than 20 years.

MICHAEL: That’s right. Since I was a baby.

02:24 MICHAEL: Since I had that full head of hair.

VERONICA: You and me both, brother. You and me both. And a bonus today- proof that not all heroes wear capes. Jenny Harty is director of the I Ride Safe program, and her journey here to this moment in time is a prime example of how life can turn on a dime, and how the trajectory of your life after that can be all in your making. She has an amazing story.

02:52 VERONICA: New York native, unfortunately a Buffalo Bills fan, like my buddy Orlando here…

MICHAEL: We don’t hold that against them.

VERONICA: We don’t hold that against them. Go, Titans.

ORLANDO: And go Bills.

VERONICA: I’m sorry I brought this up. We’ll get into this part later, okay? But we are so happy to have Jenny here. And I know you’re going to be so compelled by her story and what she has done. All of us really owe her a standing ovation.

03:20 VERONICA: Thank you so much to Jenny Harty, Michael Rubin, Orlando Marra, for being here on Lawyers in the House. Thanks for being in the house with me.

ALL: Yeah, thanks for having us.

VERONICA: Listen, per mile driven teen drivers aged 16 to 19 are nearly three times as likely as drivers aged 20 or older to be in a fatal crash. It’s a perfect time to talk about these statistics and how that plays out on the roads.

03:46 VERONICA: Because as we sit here, we are smack dab in the middle of Teen Distracted Driving Awareness Week. And it’s also the middle of football season. Lots of folks on the roads and distracted driving. Maybe if we’re not at the game, we’re not at the tailgate, we might be driving there; and unfortunately, we might be checking the scores on our phones or whatever the heck we’re doing. So I always tell people to look forward to the Montlick closing argument, right? But today, let’s focus on an opening statement.
04:17 VERONICA: Orlando, what do you want us to know?

ORLANDO: Well, I think everybody’s aware that you should be hands-free when driving. That’s extremely important. I think the CDC even did a survey of teenage drivers, and they mentioned the teenage drivers actually admitted -40% of them- to driving while on their phone. And that’s just the ones that admitted to it,

VERONICA: Right? Just the ones who admit it.

ORLANDO: Exactly. But I think that’s… But there are other types of distractions as well.

04:45 ORLANDO: And just to bring that a little more into focus… Basically, we had a client one time that was driving… A woman in her thirties, two-year-old’s in the backseat, driving her sedan north on a one lane highway -one lane each way- and divided by a double yellow line. She’s driving 55 miles an hour. In the other direction is a lady in her minivan. Again, lady in her thirties, a mom, two children in the back.
05:16 ORLANDO: At one point, she’s driving along, and I think all parents can feel this… She turned around to address the children- they’re fighting or whatever- one short sentence to them. As she turns back, she crosses the double yellow line and hits (who turns out to be) our client head on. More on the driver’s side. And unfortunately, our clients suffered severe injuries, including a rotator cuff tear, broken ribs, but the most significant of which was a fractured left leg, severely fractured.
05:48 ORLANDO: And ultimately, she ended up losing the leg from the knee down. So it was very traumatic for her. Of course, in her family, she was a mom, some young children. And also of note is that as the accident occurred, there were no skid marks, so neither driver had an opportunity to even go to their brake.

VERONICA: Wow. It happened just like that.

ORLANDO: It was simultaneous, just immediate.

06:15 VERONICA: And you’re right, because I’m not a parent… but I have babysat. I’ve been responsible for chauffeuring somebody from one place to another. So I can only imagine kids are hyper in the backseat. Like, if you don’t sit your butt down back there…

ORLANDO: Exactly.

VERONICA: You don’t think… but let’s talk about how fast that car might be going. You don’t realize when you just take your eyes off the road for a second…

ORLANDO: Exactly. I mean, just her turning around… she was going 55 miles an hour.

06:47 ORLANDO: Just her turning around to address her children. For three and a half seconds, she had traveled the length of a football field- 100 yards. And of course, the lady in the other direction is doing the same. So in the course of three and a half seconds, 200 yards has been covered and just her motion over the double yellow line was enough to cause this horrific accident. And unfortunately, she ends up losing her leg.
07:12 ORLANDO: Now, interestingly, the two children in the back of her vehicle and the young girl, the two-year-old in the back of our client’s vehicle all were in their car seats; and they suffered no injuries. Really, any significant injury at all.

VERONICA: I love that. Car seats. A big part of our show today, I mentioned Jenny Harty, who is kind of one of my personal heroes. I remember when I first met her in person being like, “Oh, my God, I think I know you.” And we’re going to get to talk about Madison’s Booster Seat Law and how we got there in Georgia.

07:45 VERONICA: But to your first point, let me circle back to what you said. Not every distraction in the car is from a cell phone. It could be a kid. But, Michael, it could also be something as simple as me reaching for something. Right? I mean, I’ve got my cup holder right next to me.

MICHAEL: Things change in an instant. Everybody’s life can change that quickly. And generally speaking, if you’re in a vehicle… Just think about it this way.

08:15 MICHAEL: When you’re driving at night, you’re out-driving your headlights. That’s how fast you’re going. So you really have to pay attention if you’re not in a well-lit area, things like that. But the distractions can be as simple as a soda, as simple as being thirsty, just wanting to reach for something to drink. And a lot of us have a tendency -and I know we’re on radio but if you lean your body, you have a tendency to sort of… You have a tendency to sort of reach and turn your body.
08:44 MICHAEL: So when you do that, you’re taking your eyes off the road most of the time. It’s hard to reach down for something and keep your head level. So what happens to people is they lose, like in Orlando’s case, the instant that they take their eyes off the road, something bad can happen. And in this case, it’s very tragic. In one of the cases, I had the wonderful opportunity to help this family. I mean, it changed my life in being involved in this.
09:11 MICHAEL: But a young woman who was in her late teens was in a vehicle with her boyfriend, and he reached for a soda. And as he reached for that soda, he took his eyes off the road and hit a tree. So when he hits the tree, he’s injured. He’s got severe injuries. But his girlfriend, who was also pregnant at the time, suffered horrific injuries, unconscious, was in a coma, pregnant the entire time and all of this.
09:41 MICHAEL: And thankfully, she ended up well, considering the circumstances. I was there when she spoke her first words again and things like that. It was really heartwarming to be a part of it, but I shouldn’t have had to be. That’s the thing. You affect so many people. Although for me, it was positive in helping and seeing and being a part of it. Certainly wasn’t positive for her, for the person hurt, or for the person who caused it, her boyfriend.
10:10 MICHAEL: So all of that being said, just being aware, I think I mentioned it before, but just situational awareness, just what are you doing, and is it going to take away from what I should be doing, which is driving and paying attention?

VERONICA: Is this a time of the year when the calls go up?

MICHAEL: The calls, unfortunately, they seem to increase because the weather also gets a little more rainy and colder, and you can have ice.

10:41 MICHAEL: There’s lots of different distractions or things that certainly my Buffalo-fit friends here. They can probably drive a nice and snow or seen it.

VERONICA: At least we hope so.

MICHAEL: We hope so. Well, based on the history of Buffalo. But here, there’s a lot… like my kids, they see snow as much as everyone else. Here, it’s not that often… or driving, even less. So people are unprepared for certain circumstances so that… yes, they can increase.

11:10 MICHAEL: But generally, unfortunately, calls are steady all the time because people make mistakes. I mean, we’re talking about mistakes.

VERONICAL: They are. That’s why they call them accidents.

MICHAEL: That’s right.

VERONICA: Nobody does them on purpose.

MICHAEL: That’s right.

VERONICA: Nobody does them on purpose. It’s fascinating, too, that we have the emotions. Right. We do get angry. How could you? Why did you? But the truth of the matter is, nobody sets out with the intention of this happening.

MICHAEL: That’s correct.

ORLANDO: And it’s life changing in an instant.

11:41 VERONICA: In an instant. And all three of you are parents. You’ve been in the process of teaching kids to drive and getting them on the roads, which is… Actually when teens are in the cars with their parents, with an adult, that’s when their risk is the lowest. That’s when accidents are reported the least. And it’s when they get behind the wheel with some other folks, like their peers, is when it goes up. Right, Jenny?

JENNY: That’s right.

12:08 JENNY: And I think it’s so important to remember that when you’re involved in a crash, whether for anybody. Everybody’s lives are impacted and changed, and it can stick with you a long, long time. However the dynamics happen, it is just so impactful.
12:31 JENNY: Whether it’s a catastrophic injury like Orlando and Michael talked about, or even if it’s minor injuries, it sticks with you a long time and all those kinds of things. Our firm is here to help, and that’s what we want to do. But we would much rather do what we can to prevent accidents from ever happening in the first place.
12:59 VERONICA: It’s one of the things that’s most impressive about Montlick, too, because clearly, as personal injury attorneys and advocates, you see a lot of the aftermath of injuries. But I don’t know if people know exactly how much you guys have jumped into the fight to help on the front end to try to educate people, adults and kids well ahead of time, to keep them safe so that those accidents don’t happen. That’s a big part of our show today.
13:26 VERONICA: We’re talking about teen drivers, booster seats, kids’ safety, how to keep the little ones safe in the car, whether they are passengers or drivers. We’re here with Jenny Harty, Michael Rubin, Orlando Marra. I’m Veronica Waters. Go, Titans. We’ll be right back on Lawyers in the House.

You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. Join us 08:00 a.m. every Sunday If you want to listen live on 95.5 WSB.

14:01 VERONICA: Back in the house with me, your host, Veronica Waters. We are here on Lawyers in the house with Montlick on WSB with our friends Orlando Marra, Michael Rubin and Jenny Harty. The woman who says her title is mom, but I call her sort of a superhero. And we are talking about Georgia being a hands-free state as we talk about teen driving safety and keeping little ones safe in the car.
14:26 VERONICA: Jenny, I remember when Georgia became a hands-free state.

JENNY: Yes, in 2018, we passed the law.

VERONICA: I did a story with a mom who had lost her son to a distracted driver. She was so incredibly pleased that this law had gone into effect. I find that these many years later, it’s 2022 and we are still fighting this battle, even though the law’s on the books. Maybe we can help folks out with just a little primer.

14:56 VERONICA: How about that? Let’s start there. Jenny from the block. What does Georgia’s hands-free law entail? What can you and can you not do?

JENNY: So Georgia’s hands-free law says that you cannot hold or support a phone while you’re driving, and you cannot text while you’re driving a car. So you cannot use the phone at all other than to press to answer or to end a call.

15:24 JENNY: It’s a very simple piece of legislation, and you cannot text at a red light. That is an absolute no. And a lot of people will kind of try to skirt around it, but it’s very clear you cannot text, you cannot stream. You cannot use Internet while you’re driving with your phone.

VERONICA: So I can’t pull up Lawyers in the House on YouTube while I’m in my phone, but I could listen to Lawyers in the House on a podcast?

15:57 JENNY: Not if it’s a video.

VERONICA: Not if it’s a video, but I could listen to it. Correct?

JENNY: Right.

VERONICA: And it’s available wherever podcasts go to live. Spotify, Apple, Google Play store.

JENNY: And when you pull over and park, you can send us an email if you have any questions.

VERONICA: I want to get back to this red-light thing because I’m not going to lie, I see it all of the time.

JENNY: We all do.

VERONICA: It’s four years after this law, and I’m still honking at people at red lights.

JENNY: Yes.

16:27 VERONICA: Boom, boom, boom. Move it, buddy.

JENNY: Right. Well, I mean, sadly, people are just abusing the law even though they know it. And then it’s people. Like you said, people are still on their phones, and unfortunately, they know that it’s the law, and then they are complaining still. That “why is traffic not moving,” but it’s the next person in front of them that likely is potentially on their phone. But then they don’t want to put up their phone themselves.

16:58 JENNY: So everybody is always complaining about the next person, but likely they are also on their phone.

VERONICA: It’s so special that Montlick was part and parcel of helping get this law passed. We’ll delve into that a little bit coming up in our next segment of Lawyers in the House. And also a little more about the superhero who is Jenny Harty. This is lawyers in the house with Jenny and Michael Rubin and Orlando Marra. I’m Veronica Waters. Be right back.

17:29 You’re listening to our podcast lawyers in the house with Mont Lick. Join us 08:00 a.m. every Sunday on 95.5 WSB.

VERONICA: We are back in the house. Come on in. The door is wide open. Lawyers in the house with Montlick here on WSB. I’m your host Veronica Waters, back with Orlando Marra, Michael Rubin, and Jenny Harty, talking about teen driving, safety, distracted driving, keeping those passengers safe behind the wheel.

17:59 VERONICA: Jenny, when we left off, we talked about Georgia being a hands-free state.

JENNY: Correct.

VERONICA: Can I get you to maybe toot the horn a little bit about what part Montlick played in making that happen?

JENNY: So Montlick was very involved in helping to push the initiative down at the state capital because Montlick is very committed to making sure that the roads are safe in this state.

18:27 JENNY: And the firm was actively involved down at the state capitol, helping to lobby and speak with legislators. We also were active at testifying in front of some of the legislative committees down at the state capitol. We worked alongside of other advocates and families who had lost loved ones to distracted drivers.
18:55 JENNY: So we also utilize our assets, media assets such as our billboards, to get the message out that Georgia… once it became a hands-free State… educating the public on the legislation.

VERONICA: What drove Montlick to that, though, Jenny? I mean, I mentioned earlier, personal injury attorneys don’t… let’s be honest, you’re not making any money if there’s no injury, right?

19:25 VERONICA: So what is it about Montlick that it’s important to prevent those accidents in the first place?

JENNY: Right. So we are always here to help, and we want to help, and that’s important. And our talented team of attorneys are committed and passionate about helping our clients, but we would much rather help to prevent accidents from ever happening in the first place.

19:52 JENNY: And we are committed to doing everything we can to keep the road safe in Georgia, whether that is helping to pass legislation like the Handsfree Georgia law, or… We have a public service program called I Ride Safe that is a resource for teen driver safety, child passenger safety, anything having to do with driver safety.
20:17 JENNY: That’s on the website. That has a plethora of information to help families and caregivers on how to keep their loved ones safe.

VERONICA: That’s at iridesafe.com. I told folks earlier in the show, Jenny, that you had an amazing and compelling story that took your life on a trajectory that has now left you to impact thousands of people here.

20:47 VERONICA: Let’s rewind the clock a little bit and tell us what brought you here.

JENNY: So we’d have to take the clock back to about 20 years ago when our family was traveling on a small little two-lane rural road in South Georgia; and there was an SUV coming towards us and a logging truck that was going to cross over this two-lane rural road.

21:16 JENNY: And the logging truck ran through his stop sign and hit the tail end of the SUV. And the SUV hit us in our minivan. And we had our two young girls with us who were five and six years old at the time. And we ended up spinning around two times and ended up in this deep ravine along the side of the road that was so deep that you couldn’t see our vehicle from the side of the road.
21:46 JENNY: And the sliding door on the driver’s side was sheared off and was thrown about 30 yards in the opposite direction. And our youngest daughter, Madison, took the brunt of the impact.

VERONICA: And she was five.

JENNY: She was five years old. That’s right. And the logging truck never stopped.

VERONICA: A hit-and-run by a logging truck.

JENNY: That’s right. And they never have found it to this day. The logging truck that causeD the crash. Fortunately, the SUV stopped.

22:18 JENNY: So he, of course, rendered aid and everything. Both of our girls were riding in booster seats. And that $15 booster seat from the tow truck driver who pulled our vehicle out, to paramedics, to surgeons, all were convinced that that $15 booster seat saved Madison’s life and our other daughter Abby’s life because there was no doubt that likely they would have been ejected or torpedoed out underneath of the seatbelt because they wouldn’t have fit in the seat belt correctly.
22:55 JENNY: And with the crash forces, they likely would have not survived.

VERONICA: Madison had to undergo a lot of surgeries on her road to recovery, but she is bright and bouncy now and maybe a little scar or so. But that booster seat, again, was literally the difference between life and death.

JENNY: She is definitely the living proof that that booster seat has saved her life.

23:24 VERONICA: And what did that accident do for you, Jenny?

JENNY: So, it was interesting because I remember when people said to me, that booster seat saved your daughter’s life, thinking, “well, I thought kids had to ride in the booster seats.” And they were like, “oh, no, not in Georgia. We don’t have that law.” And I just was mortified to think that had I been following the current law at that time, that my daughter likely would have not survived the crash.

23:54 JENNY: And I thought, well, so, you know… and there’s other states that have legislation, and we’re not doing what’s best for our youngest citizens in this state. And I was like, well, that has to change. So within a couple of months of kind of, as I say, putting my little humpty dumpty back together again, I found myself saying, okay, well, I’m going to take this on.
24:22 JENNY: So I went to my state representative and shared the story and said, I want to change the law. So I spent two years down at the state capitol pushing for a piece of legislation that passed eventually that was dubbed Madison’s Booster Seat Law after the living proof that my daughter showed the legislature that that booster seat saved her life.
24:55 VERONICA: I can only imagine what that moment felt like as that pen stroked across that paper.

JENNY: Yes, well, it’s certainly… I did it because it was the right thing to do. And I am a firm believer in when you know better, you have to do better. And that we know that car seats and booster seats save lives and that we have to protect those who can’t protect themselves.

25:25 JENNY: And just like our attorneys, they have to fight for those people and our clients who can’t fight for themselves.

VERONICA: Jenny, you didn’t stop, though, with the law. You went out and got a certification to actually help teach other families how to keep their kids safe in cars.

JENNY: Well, that’s right. And about a year or two after we passed the legislation for Madison’s booster seat law, I became a certified child passenger safety technician. I’ve had that certification and never have had it lapsed since then.

26:00 JENNY: So it’s almost 20 years as well that I’ve been a technician. Because I really believe that doing everything that we can to help educate families and caregivers -whether it’s grandparents or aunts or uncles- to how the best way is to protect their kids and to put them in their car seats and booster seats. Nobody wants to have their child injured.
26:31 JENNY: Or worst case. To have them killed in a way that they could have potentially been protected.

VERONICA: I can’t imagine what moms and dads and uncles and aunts, and grandparents are saying when you guys are educating them on “this is how you put the car seat in.” Is everybody doing it right?

JENNY: No, there’s about six out of ten of the car seats – there’s some little problem.

26:55 JENNY: It may not seem like a lot, but rarely do we see a car seat that’s installed correctly, or the child is positioned correctly in that car seat.

VERONICA: And so then there’s a parent who feels really chilled in that moment, I’m sure.

JENNY: But then that’s true. But as I tell parents all the time, be grateful that you haven’t had a problem up until this point. And now, today, you’re leaving better than you came in. So be thankful and grateful for that.

VERONICA: Thank you for sharing that.

27:25 VERONICA: Jenny, were you hurt very badly in the accident?

JENNY: I wasn’t injured specifically, but I will say that the track that I had to crawl out to get out of the vehicle, I crawled through poison ivy. So I was covered with poison ivy about three days after the crash.

JENNY: Yikes.

VERONICA: From head to toe. So you’re worrying about Madison and you’re itching up a storm.

JENNY: Correct.

VERONICA: Michael and Orlando, that was a lot to unpack with Jenny.

MICHAEL: It’s amazing.

27:55 ORLANDO: Yes.

MICHAEL: I mean, amazing what she does to try and help in the wherewithal to get it done.

VERONICA: Fast forwarding to the cases that you all see with little victims. What sticks with you?

MICHAEL: My own kids. I mean, I think about every time someone calls and talks about their children, I think of my own. And I think it gets back to what Jenny said. You don’t want to say helpless, but they can’t necessarily make decisions on their own.

28:23 MICHAEL: We’re making them for them so they can’t get in and say, “mom, my car seat is not put in right.” They won’t know. You’re the only one. You’re the last line of defense for your children. It’s a subject that gets very passionate for, I think, a lot of attorneys, or at least I would hope so. Because when you’re talking about helping victims- they’re the ultimate victims. They never really could do anything wrong. They’re just hurt.

VERONICA: Yeah.

28:51 VERONICA: I remember seeing this commercial of a dad putting his little tiny toddler in a car, and he was like, “Do you have your phone? Is your phone charged up? Did you check the gas? Is your seatbelt on?” And she’s like and he sees this little girl, like, as a toddler, and she’s like, “Yes, dad, okay.” And then he sort of blinks, and we see she’s actually a teenager heading out. And this is how I’m sure you always see your kids as kids, right? But we start off talking about teens being distracted behind the wheels.
29:23 VERONICA: The relevance of that this week Orlando, you’ve had to teach your kids how to drive once you get them out of those car seats.

ORLANDO: Yeah. I think the two most important when you’re in the car seat, you’re worried about how they’re in the car seat. And then later on, they become teenagers and you’re turning them loose on the road. And that’s probably the scariest thing we go by, I think, as parents are the two things when you actually turn them out there into the world.

VERONICA: Quick question. When your teen is driving, whether it’s their car, your car, a friend’s car, any advice?

29:57 VERONICA: Some overarching thing that parents need to know?

MICHAEL: Driving isn’t easy.

ORLANDO: Right.

MICHAEL: I think people will get in a car and they think that, okay, we can drive and everything’s going to be simple. But it’s not. It’s complex. And you have to be aware of everything.

ORLANDO: You try to keep them simple… rules. Eyes on the road. Never take your eyes off the road. Right.

JENNY: You have to be present and intentional in your driving.

VERONICA: Present and intentional. We are that here on Lawyers in the house with Montlick. We’re with Orlando Marra, Jenny Harty, Michael Rubin.

30:27 VERONICA: I’m Veronica Waters, and we will be right back.

You’re listening to our podcast, Lawyers in the House with Montlick. If you want to listen to our radio show live, you can hear it every Sunday, 08:00 a.m. On 95.5 WSB.

VERONICA: We are back on Lawyers in the house with Montlick on WSB. I’m your host, Veronica Waters. An amazing show with Jenny Harty and Michael “Never-give-up”

30:58 Rubin and Orlando Marra. The Buffalo Bills mafia is here in the house with the Commodores. What is it? The Commanders? And of course, I am a Titan fans. I brought this because I wanted you guys to see how wonderful this is- the Music City Miracle.

ORLANDO: The Forward Pass.

VERONICA: You can see the angles there. I brought this for you.

31:23 VERONICA: You apparently need the geometry lesson. Okay, it is time for the Montlick closing argument, and I’m going to give you the floor. Orlando, Michael and Jenny.

MICHAEL: Sure.

ORLANDO: One thing we were going to talk about is the difference between a minor in an accident versus an adult.

31:46 ORLANDO: If a minor is injured in an accident and the amount that the case is resolved for is over $25,000, you have to probate the case. So generally, you would probate the case in the county where the child lived. Basically, what you want to do… I think general… just getting too specific with it. Just give us a call. When you call us,
32:15 ORLANDO: You talk to our lawyer all the time when you call here. And basically, we can go through it with you, explain it to you and help your child set something up for them so when they do turn 18, everything will be there for them.

VERONICA: Michael, are the emotions different when you’re dealing with these child cases? Versus adults?

MICHAEL: For me, absolutely. I can’t necessarily speak for everybody, but I would hope so.

32:47 MICHAEL: Children are just… they can’t take care of themselves. We have to do that, and we have to make sure they’re safe. And if you slack off one time, that could be that one time. I mean, being aware of everything around your kids is very important and it’s really important. And we have wonderful resources. You can go on our web page to the lawyersinthehouse.com or social media.
33:11 MICHAEL: We have lots of resources to help parents navigate through these muddy, muddy waters. It’s really hard to be a parent, so it definitely can be emotional.

VERONICA: It is fascinating to me that you could travel the length of a football field in your car in the time it takes to read a text.

ORLANDO: Exactly.

MICHAEL: Car at that point, it’s a weapon.

VERONICA: It’s a missile on the roads and all we can do is try to guide it.

33:42 JENNY: I also wanted to just say that I think it’s really important to remember that children will pay with their lives if we don’t protect them with proper car seat use.

VERONICA: Thank you so much,

34:15 Jenny Harty, Michael Rubin, Orlando Marra. An amazing show. I’m so glad to have you all back in here with me. This has been Lawyers in the House on WSB. I am so happy to be with you guys and this good information. I’m Veronica Waters. We will see you next week.