Children’s drowning accidents are all too common, particularly during the summer months. Drowning is one of the leading causes of injury-related deaths in children, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and is, in fact, the leading cause of accidental death for children under fourteen. Most people think of drowning as a fatal accident, yet non-fatal drowning accidents occur far more often. Non-fatal drowning accidents are incidents that result in asphyxiation (a lack of oxygen) from submersion in water and often cause lifelong injuries or impairment.
Children’s drowning accidents may be caused by many things, including the negligence of individuals entrusted with a child’s care, the negligence of land owners or owners of establishments in which pools are located, or defects in pools in which children swim.
If your child has died or sustained a non-fatal drowning injury as a result of someone’s negligence or a defective product, you may be entitled to compensation for the damages you and your child have suffered as a result. Child injury and child drowning lawyer Jeff Killino has extensive experience with all types of child accident lawsuits, including those arising out of drowning accidents caused by someone’s negligence or a defective product. Contact attorney Killino at 877-875-2927 for a free assessment of your case and additional information about your legal rights and options.
Legal Liability for Drowning Injuries
Drowning injuries and deaths may result from the negligence of child supervisors, inadequate prevention of children’s access to land containing pools or other bodies of water, or inadequate policies for swimmers’ safety by owners and operators of businesses or apartment pools that allow entrance by children to pools or other swimming facilities.
Liability of Land Owners
The owners of land on which pools or other bodies of water are located may be held liable, under certain circumstances, for the fatal or non-fatal drowning injuries of children who gain access to such pools or other bodies of water. Under most states’ laws, the owner of land on which a dangerous condition is present may be held liable for the injuries or death caused to a child by the dangerous condition if the owner was aware of the condition at the time the accident leading to the child’s injury or death occurred, and if the owner had invited the child onto the land. If, for example, a landowner invited a child onto land on which a pond, lake, or other body of water was present, the landowner may be found liable for the child’s injury or death caused by the child’s drowning in the body of water.
Though many states relieve property owners from liability for drowning injuries or deaths sustained by trespassers on an owner’s land, some states do not relieve the owners from liability when the trespassers are children. Landowners may also not be relieved from liability in some states for injuries or deaths caused to trespassing children if the landowner was aware of the trespassing child’s presence at the time the accident leading to the child’s injury or death occurred or if the owner had reason to believe children would trespass on the land and took no precautions to prevent injury to child trespassers from dangerous conditions on the land. When a pool is located on a homeowner’s property, most states’ laws will hold the homeowner liable for a trespassing child’s drowning injury or death if the owner failed to erect fencing around the pool to prevent the child’s entrance to the pool.
Liability of Negligent Supervisors
Children’s drowning injuries or deaths often occur while children are improperly or negligently supervised by adults who have been entrusted with their care. Camp counselors, daycare center employees, babysitters, or any adult who provides a child with the opportunity to swim but fails to keep a proper watch on the child may be found liable for a child’s drowning injury or death that is determined to have resulted from the responsible individual’s negligent supervision.
Liability of Manufacturers of Defective Pool Components or Safety Equipment
Drowning injuries may also be caused by defects in pools, defects in gates or fencing intended to prevent children’s access to pools, or defects in swimming safety equipment. If a defect in a product, such as a life preserver or pool fence or gate is determined to have been a cause of a child’s drowning injury or death, the manufacturer of the product as well as others in the chain of the product’s distribution may be held liable under most states’ product liability laws for the child’s injury or death.
Contact Us
If your child has died or been injured in a drowning accident as a result of someone’s negligence or a defective product, child injury and child drowning attorney Jeff Killino will help you fight for the compensation you and your family deserve. Contact The Killino Firm at 877-875-2927 for experienced and expert assistance.
