Liabilty For A Public Pool Injury

Statistics reveal that there are more than 3,500 fatal drowning accidents every year, and many of them occur as a result of a pool injury. That may occur at a home pool, neighborhood pool, or a municipal pool for the use of anyone who is willing to pay the price of admission. For those who are injured or family members of those who die in public pool accidents, there are many questions about who is liable and how to prove it.

Public Swimming Pool Liability

The reality is that there may be several parties liable for a swimming pool accident, as well as several different types of lawsuits that can be used to obtain compensation. It depends on the type of accident and the action or inaction that caused it.

• The pool owner, under premises liability guidelines

• The pool manufacturer, under product liability guidelines

• The pool and equipment installer, under negligence guidelines

Premises Liability

If the victim was injured as a result of some dangerous condition on the premises that the owner or manager of property should have repaired or avoided, that owner or manager may be liable for the victim’s injuries. There can be three elements to premises liability:

• The owner/manager may have caused a dangerous condition that injured a visitor

• The owner/manager may have known about a dangerous condition and failed to repair it or warn visitors of it in a timely manner

• The owner/manager may have failed to maintain their property in a reasonable manner, allowing a dangerous condition to remain on their property

If any of those conditions exist, and the owner or manager did not warn visitors of those conditions, they may be liable for the visitor’s injuries and ordered to pay compensation.

Product Liability

If the victim’s injury was caused by a problem with the pool equipment in any way, the victim or their family may be able to sue the manufacturer for product liability. This may also apply when a manufacturer or seller fails to provide proper instructions or warnings about the equipment’s use.

Negligence

There are a number of people that can be held liable because of negligence. This means that they failed to perform at a reasonable level in their portion of the manufacture, installation, maintenance, or oversight of the equipment.

• Pool or equipment installers

• Pool owner/managers who hire unqualified lifeguards or who fail to adequately train them

• Lifeguards who are inattentive or fail to follow proper procedure when someone is in danger

Getting Legal Help with Public Pool Injuries

Clearly, there are a number of elements that must be considered when someone is suffering as a result of a public pool injury. Some of these injuries can be devastating, or even deadly. The compensation can run into thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars. Determining who is at fault and how to best show that fault in a lawsuit is a job for an expert, and a premises liability attorney can help a victim or their family sort it out.