A judge has said that a New York girl is old enough to be sued over a bicycle accident that happened when she was four.

The Manhattan judge refused earlier this month to dismiss negligence claims against Juliet Breitman (6). The child, her mother and others are being sued by the estate of a woman who said she was severely hurt when hit by bicycles Juliet and a boy were racing down a pavement in April last year. The woman, Claire Menagh, died later that year.

The judge said there was no evidence a child of Juliet's age – then three months from her fifth birthday – could not appreciate "the danger of riding a bicycle into an elderly woman".