A court has handed a mother in central Taiwan a one-year jail sentence for failure to place her eight-month old baby in a child safety seat, which led to brain damage after they were involved in a car crash.
The Nantou County District Court on Friday last week found a 21-year-old mother, surnamed Liao (廖), guilty of negligence resulting in serious injuries.
Liao in September 2021 took her baby for a ride in a car driven by a man surnamed Lu (盧), and held the baby on her lap instead of in a safety seat. While driving along National Highway No. 3, Lu got into a traffic accident when he did not brake in time and hit the vehicle in front of them, the ruling said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Liao, who was sitting on the front passenger seat, sustained minor injuries, but the baby was seriously injured, it said, adding that medics and doctors administered emergency treatment.
Doctors at the hospital were unable to observe the baby overnight, as Liao had left and headed to a friend’s residence in Nantou City for recuperation, the ruling said.
Five days later, she went to a hospital emergency room after the baby displayed more severe symptoms.
The baby was diagnosed with brain hemorrhage and hypoxic encephalopathy due to trauma from the car accident, which had resulted in cerebral edema, broken femur and tibia bones, and other medical conditions, the ruling said.
After undergoing regular hospital treatment for about one year, the diagnosis confirmed that the baby had sustained cerebral atrophy on the right side of her brain and irreversible damage to her central nervous system, leaving her entire left side paralyzed, it said.
Social workers testified that the baby displayed no signs of physical abuse, while an investigation found that Liao had contravened road regulations by not strapping the baby into a child safety seat.
When the collision occurred, the baby hit her head on the car’s dashboard, inflicting trauma to her head that resulted in cerebral atrophy and permanent paralysis, they said.
The judge ruled that Liao should be held accountable, and found her guilty of negligence causing serious injuries and handed her a one-year prison sentence.
It was the first ruling and the case can be appealed.
Commenting on the case, lawyer Lee Hong-wei (李鴻維), a former judge and public prosecutor, said the sentence would serve as a warning that parents would be held accountable for the safety and welfare of their children, and would face charges and penalties for mishaps that resulted in the injury or death of their children.
Lee said drivers must know that the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例) states “drivers are legally the ‘guarantor’ responsible for the safety and prevention of criminal offense when there is a child onboard.”
Under the Civil Code, the driver must also pay compensation for damages or medical conditions when a victim files a lawsuit, he said.
Lee added that under the Regulations on Implementation of Child Safety Seats in Automobiles (小型車附載幼童安全乘坐實施及宣導辦法) a toddler under the age of four and weighing less than 18kg must be strapped into a child safety seat.
Additional reporting by Lin Chia-tung
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