Children love to engage in games and other activities on playgrounds during school recesses, after school hours, and at nearly any time during the summer months. Children’s playground outings often result in injuries, however, many of which require trips to emergency rooms or longer hospital stays. According to some statistics, more than 200,000 children under 14 years of age (with children between the ages of 5 and 9 being at the greatest risk) are injured every year in playground incidents that require emergency treatment. While most of these injuries involve contusions, lacerations, or fractures, strangulation injuries also occur when children’s clothing becomes caught on playground equipment. Falls and strangulation injuries cause the largest number of fatal playground injuries, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and climbing equipment poses the greatest dangers.
child injury lawyer and playground injury lawyer Jeffrey Killino has extensive expertise and experience with all types of child injury cases, including those arising out of playground accidents due to someone’s negligence or defective playground equipment. If your child has been killed or injured in a playground incident and you suspect your child’s injury or death was a result of defective playground equipment or someone’s negligence, you may be entitled to compensation from those responsible for your child’s injury or death. Contact Attorney Killino at 877-875-2927 for a free evaluation of your case and additional information about your legal options.
Who is at fault if a child is injured or killed in a playground accident? The answer may depend on the circumstances of the particular case as well as the state in which a legal action seeking damages for a child’s playground injury or death is filed.
Legal Liability for Playground Injuries and Deaths
Legal liability for playground injuries or deaths may depend on the negligence and/or product liability laws of the state in which a legal action seeking damages for such injuries or deaths is brought.
Legal Liability for Playground Deaths or Injuries Caused by Negligence
Most states’ negligence laws hold the owners of playgrounds legally liable for injuries or deaths sustained by children on an owner’s playground if the injury or death is determined to have been caused by the negligence of the owner. Individuals and entities that have been retained by owners to manage their playgrounds may also be found liable for children’s playground injuries or deaths that were found to have been caused by negligent maintenance of playground surfaces, grounds, or playground equipment.
Thus, a playground owner as well as those who have been hired by the owner to maintain a playground may be held liable for injuries caused by obstructions that pose a danger to children but were not removed, broken glass and other dangerous objects left on a playground, uneven and poorly maintained surfaces and walkways, or unsafe conditions in playground pavilions and rest rooms. Broken or poorly maintained playground equipment, such as swings, slides, and merry-go-rounds, may also cause injury or death to children and result in liability on the part of both owners and maintenance companies and employees. Playground injuries and deaths can also occur as a result of the negligent supervision of playground activities by playground employees or a playground owner’s negligent failure to prevent access to a playground after all playground employees have left the grounds.
In some states, the owners of public playgrounds, such as cities and other municipalities, may be immune from liability for injuries or deaths sustained by children on playgrounds as a result of the owner’s negligence. Though the laws vary from state to state, there may be exceptions to the immunity afforded to public playground owners in some circumstances, such as for injuries or deaths caused by intentional acts.
Legal Liability for Playground Deaths or Injuries Caused by Defective Playground Equipment
Children may also be killed or injured as a result of playing on defective playground equipment that poses a danger to children’s safety. The liability of the manufacturer of such equipment and others involved in the production and distribution of the equipment may depend on the product liability law of the state in which a legal action is filed.
Product liability law varies somewhat from one state to another, but most states’ product liability laws hold the manufacturers and others in the chain of a defective product’s distribution strictly liable for injuries or deaths caused by a defect in the product. This means that the plaintiff can establish the defendants’ liability without having to prove that any of the defendants were negligent in producing the product or releasing it to the public. These laws apply to playground equipment as well as other products designed for use by children. Thus, the manufacturer, designer, supplier, assembler, and retailer of an item of defective playground equipment may be found strictly liable for deaths or injuries caused by the equipment’s defect. In order to prevail in such a case, the plaintiff will need to prove that it is more likely than not that the equipment contained a defect at the time of the child’s accident, that the defect was a cause of the child’s injury or death, and that the plaintiff suffered legally compensable damages as a result of the child’s injury or death.
Contact Us
Child injury and playground injury attorney Jeffrey Killino is dedicated to holding all those responsible for children’s injuries or deaths caused by negligence or defective playground equipment accountable through legal action. If your child has been injured or killed in a playground accident and you suspect your child’s injury or death was due to someone’s negligence and/or a defect in playground equipment, child accident lawyer Jeffrey Killino can help you obtain the justice you deserve. The The Killino Firm at 877-875-2927 for experienced and expert assistance with your case.
