When a driver hits a child near a school, the rules the driver had to follow are strict: lower speed limits, a hard stop for school buses, and a duty at crosswalks that does not depend on the child doing everything right. A child’s injury claim cannot be settled the way an adult’s can. A court has to approve it, the money is usually held under court supervision until the child turns 18, and some deadlines run much faster than parents expect.
What the Vehicle Code requires of drivers near a school
- 25 mph in a school zone. Vehicle Code section 22352(b)(2) sets a 25 mph limit when approaching or passing a school building or grounds next to the street and posted with a standard SCHOOL warning sign, while children are going to or leaving the school during school hours or the noon recess. The same limit applies near school grounds with no fence, gate, or other barrier while children are using the grounds, again only where a SCHOOL sign is posted. The SCHOOL sign can be up to 500 feet from the school.
- Sometimes 15 mph. Under Vehicle Code section 22358.4, a city or county can set a 15 mph school zone limit on a street in a residence district with no more than two lanes and a posted limit of 30 mph or less. The posted sign controls.
- Stop for a school bus with flashing red lights. Vehicle Code section 22454 requires a driver meeting or overtaking a stopped school bus that is showing flashing red lights and its stop arm, from either direction, to stop and stay stopped until the lights and stop arm turn off. The exception is a driver on the other roadway of a divided highway, or of a highway with two or more lanes in each direction.
- Yield at crosswalks. Vehicle Code section 21950 requires drivers to yield to a pedestrian in any marked crosswalk or any unmarked crosswalk at an intersection, and to slow down or take other action needed to keep the pedestrian safe.
- Never pass a car stopped at a crosswalk. Vehicle Code section 21951 bars passing a vehicle that has stopped at a crosswalk to let a pedestrian cross. This is the classic drop-off crash: one lane stops for a child, and the driver in the next lane goes around.
- Obey the crossing guard. Disregarding the signal or direction of an authorized adult school crossing guard wearing the official insignia is an infraction under Vehicle Code section 2815.
These rules matter beyond traffic tickets. Under Evidence Code section 669, a driver who violates a safety statute is presumed negligent when the violation caused the injury, the injury is the kind the law was meant to prevent, and the child belongs to the group the law protects.
What if the child ran into the street?
Parents often assume that ends the case. It usually does not. California follows pure comparative negligence, so even when a child shares some fault, the claim is reduced, not barred. And children are not held to an adult standard. The same Evidence Code section 669 says that when a child violates a statute, the presumption of negligence can be overcome by showing the child used the care ordinarily used by children of similar maturity, intelligence, and capacity.
Section 21950 also states that the pedestrian’s duty of care does not relieve a driver of the duty to exercise due care for pedestrians in a crosswalk, and Vehicle Code section 21954(b) keeps that duty in place for a pedestrian anywhere on the roadway, including a child who crosses midblock. A driver going 25 near a school and watching for children has a far better chance of stopping when a child darts out than a driver going 40 while looking at a phone. Our pedestrian accident page has more.
A child cannot bring the claim alone
Under Code of Civil Procedure section 372, a minor in a lawsuit appears through a guardian or conservator of the estate or through a guardian ad litem appointed by the court. In most injury cases a parent is appointed guardian ad litem, and that person can settle the case only with the court’s approval.
Settlements before any lawsuit need approval too. Probate Code section 3500 lets a parent compromise a child’s disputed claim, but the compromise is valid only after a superior court approves it on a petition. A release form from an adjuster does not change that.
Where the settlement money goes
Probate Code section 3600 and the sections that follow control money paid for a minor under a court-approved settlement or judgment. Under Probate Code section 3611, the court can order the money deposited in an insured account or a single-premium deferred annuity that can be withdrawn only with court authorization, paid into a trust the court approves, or transferred to a custodian under the California Uniform Transfers to Minors Act. A parent can be paid directly without bond only when the amount is $5,000 or less; up to $20,000, the court can set other conditions it finds are in the child’s interest. Under Probate Code section 3612, unless the court orders otherwise, the court keeps jurisdiction over the money until the child turns 18.
The point is to make sure the money is still there when the child turns 18, and it is one reason a child’s case can run longer than the usual personal injury timeline.
Deadlines: the child’s clock, the parents’ clock, and the government’s
The general deadline for a personal injury lawsuit is two years under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1. For the child’s own claim, section 352 stops that clock while the child is a minor. Three things cut against relying on that:
- Government claims. If a school district bus, a city vehicle, or a dangerous crosswalk or street design is involved, a written claim must be presented to the public entity within six months under Government Code section 911.2, and section 352 does not extend that. If the entity rejects the claim in writing, the lawsuit generally must be filed within six months of that notice under Government Code section 945.6, and the child’s age does not extend that either. A public entity can be liable for a dangerous condition of its property under Government Code section 835.
- Late claim relief is narrow. If the six months pass, Government Code section 911.4 allows an application to present a late claim within a reasonable time, no later than one year after the injury. Section 911.6 requires the entity to grant it when the injured person was a minor for the entire six-month period. That is a safety valve, not a plan.
- The parents’ own claims. Some losses, such as medical bills the parents paid, can belong to the parents rather than the child. The parents are adults, so their claims get no extension.
Evidence does not wait either. Many school, business, and bus camera systems record over their footage within days or weeks, and witness memories fade. Treat two years from the crash, and six months for any government claim or claim rejection, as the real deadlines for the whole family.
What to do this week
- Get the police report number and the names of the driver, witnesses, and any crossing guard.
- Photograph the scene: the SCHOOL and speed limit signs, crosswalk markings, and where the bus or cars were stopped.
- Ask the school, the bus operator, and nearby businesses in writing to keep any video.
- Have a doctor check your child even if the injuries look minor, and ask which signs of a head injury to watch for in the days that follow.
- Do not let the driver’s insurance adjuster interview your child, and do not sign any release before getting advice. If your own insurer asks for a statement, get advice first, because your own policy may require you to cooperate.
- If a school bus, city vehicle, or road design is involved, mark the six-month claim deadline today.
About the author. Joshua B. Adelpour is the founder of Not My Fault Law Group, APC, a California personal injury firm based in Woodland Hills. He is licensed by the State Bar of California, Bar No. 318226, and spent nearly a decade defending insurance companies in civil litigation before opening the firm. Call (213) 800-0706 for a free consultation.
This article is general information about California law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney client relationship. Every case depends on its own facts. Last updated October 6, 2026.