Public Pools Can Be Found Negligent

January 24, 2022 in Uncategorized | MARTIN WREN, P.C. | LEAVE A COMMENT

There are plenty of joys of summer, from cool treats to vacations, but none is more enjoyable than a good old-fashioned pool. Especially when you go to one at a nice hotel, a pool will be decorated in all manner of themes, presenting itself as a relaxing luxurious way to beat the heat. Normally, a pool is 100% harmless fun and provided that your children know how to swim, there is usually nothing to worry about. That’s why it becomes all the more serious when someone does happen to get injured at a public or private pool. Roughhousing aside, there are many ways one can get injured due to someone else’s negligence; in the wake of it, one deserves to lay claim to damages and receive justice.

Bad Construction/Planning 

Have you ever gone down a flight of steps and, anticipating one more step, you step on nothing causing you to “trip” due to the misplaced shift in your weight? This often happens at pools that haven’t been constructed to code. In some cases, badly planned pools have the steps heading out of them poorly spaced. As a law firm, like a swimming pool accident law firm from an office like Martin Wren, P.C. knows, this can lead to a terrible situation when combined with the fact that the steps are obscured with water. In these situations, we often rely on our intuition to determine the next “step.” When we fail to take that next step, we can trip onto the solid pavement or into the pool causing an injury. The same effect can happen when the step itself is made of a material that becomes slippery in water providing no grip for our feet.

Eroding Surfaces 

Most pools and their perimeters are covered with a material that has traction for our feet so we don’t slip and fall around it as water continuously gets splashed out of it. Depending on the material, that surface can erode over the years and if it isn’t maintained, it will become smooth due to all that time having been walked over. Combined with water, it will become a slippery surface that anyone can slip and fall onto.

No Lifeguard 

Usually expected at most public pools and beaches, lifeguards are there to save a person’s life if they see someone drowning or in some kind of distress in the water. All businesses are expected to express a duty of care when letting people traverse their property and this includes having lifeguards for the purpose of “safeguarding” people’s lives. There are, however, some instances in which you cannot sue them. Say, for instance, if there are no lifeguards but the property owner made warnings of this in advance with present and obvious signage.

If you have been in a swimming pool accident or know a loved one who has died due to a swimming pool accident, it is time to get justice for these injuries. For more information on liability and how a lawyer can help you with your case, reach out to a local law office today.

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