Accidental Drowning Or Injury To A Child On Someone Else’s Property

All too often, children are injured or drowned when using swimming pools on other peoples’ residential property. In many cases, a neighboring toddler wanders over to the property (say, through a hole in a fence) and falls into the pool; in other cases, children are injured as the result of inadequate supervision during pool parties. In these cases, before you can recover damages, you must establish that the pool in question was improperly secured against trespassing children, or that the parents hosting the pool party were negligent in supervising their guests. The personal injury and wrongful death attorneys at The Law Offices of Gerald J. Noonan can help you to distinguish between genuine, tragic pool accidents and avoidable incidents for which legal action and seeking civil justice is appropriate.

Swimming Pool Accidents On Your Own Property

Sadly, the majority of children severely injured or drowned in residential swimming pool accidents are members of the family that owns the pool. It’s very easy for a curious toddler to sneak out the back door and jump or fall into an open pool, which is why it’s crucial for parents to put the proper safety precautions into place, such as a secure tarp or a locked fence, and to pay careful attention to the whereabouts of their children during the summer months.

Drowning accidents are the second leading cause of fatal accidents among children one to four years old. Eighty percent of all fatal accidental drowning victims are male.

If you added your own pool to your property after purchasing it, you were required to get building permits and construct the pool within specific safety guidelines. However, if you purchased a property with an existing pool that was not up to code, you may not have been aware of the legal requirements to properly enclose the pool, regulations regarding the rate of filtration, etc.  Unfortunately, ignorance is usually not sufficient grounds to sue the seller of the property.

Dangerous Or Defective Product Lawsuits

If your child has been injured or drowned in a swimming pool accident on your own property in most cases the responsibility for the accident will not be found to rest with another party.  However, in certain cases, it may be possible to recover damages from the manufacturer of the swimming pool or the surrounding security equipment if, for example, faulty gate, or a malfunctioning pump, was the reason you, your child, or someone else was seriously injured if you have done everything reasonably in your power to keep your children safe.

Swimming Pool Accident Attorney • Free Consultation • Brockton Wrongful Death Trial Lawyers

The sudden and tragic loss of a child is the most difficult thing a parent can experience. We understand what you are going through and that you may be reluctant to relive the experience by talking about your tragedy. But there are statutes of limitations on filing claims against homeowners, manufacturers, and negligent parties. The sooner you make the call, the sooner we can begin helping you.

Our lawyers are trial lawyers with the experience you need to aggressively seek civil justice for you including damages, and medical and funeral expenses in cases involving owner negligence and premises liability. For more than three decades we have been helping families and individuals throughout Southeast Massachusetts begin to put their lives back in order. We understand that no amount of money can replace the loss of a child, but the law allows you to seek compensation as a means to help you recover from your loss and in some cases to assess punitive damages against someone else as a form of civil punishment.

For a free consultation with a compassionate attorney, contact our Southeast Massachusetts personal injury law firm today. We can help you understand what your rights are.

Statistics Show Males and Children Ages 1-4 Have The Highest Risk Of Accidental Drowning

According to reports by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), 80% of drowning victims are male, and children ages 1 to 4 have the highest drowning rates of any age group. Thirty percent of all children 1 to 4 years old who died from an unintentional injury, died from drowning (2007) , making fatal drowning the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages 1 to 14 years (the leading cause is car accidents.) Read more…

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Our premises liability attorneys represent clients all across Massachusetts including but not limited to Plymouth County, Brockton, Plymouth, Bridgewater, Marshfield, Hingham, Duxbury, Wareham, Abington, Rockland, Whitman, Hanson, Holbrook, Middleborough; Norfolk County including Quincy, Stoughton, Dedham, Weymouth, Braintree, Avon, Holbrook, Randolph, Canton, Sharon, Brookline, Franklin; Bristol County including New Bedford, Fall River, Taunton, Attleboro, Westport, Dartmouth, Mansfield, Easton, Raynham, Lakeville, Norton; Cape Cod, Hyannis, Falmouth, Barnstable and the Greater Boston area including Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Everett, Lawrence, Lynn, Revere, Dorchester, Roxbury.