As any North Carolinian knows, swimming pools are almost necessary during our hot, humid summers. Unfortunately, if they are not properly designed, maintained, and guarded, they can be dangerous places for children, creating the conditions for a swimming pool accident. The CDC reports that drowning is the leading cause of death for children aged 1-4. Even more troubling, there are almost two drownings per day in this age group.
Water-Related Injuries
Among the types of pool, swimming, and water-related incidents that can cause serious injury or death to small children are:
- Drownings caused by distracted or under-trained lifeguards;
- Drownings caused by inadequately designated and marked shallow and deep ends;
- Drownings caused by broken gates or fence latches, allowing small, unsupervised children access to pools;
- Serious injury and death caused by defective or poorly maintained pool drains;
- Slips and falls caused by unnecessarily slippery walking surfaces;
- Diving board incidents and
- Burns and other injuries caused by improper use and release of pool chemicals.
If your child has been injured as a result of a pool or swimming-related incident, or worse, you have lost a young child, the swimming pool accident lawyers of Maginnis Howard can assist you in performing a thorough and complete investigation. Naturally, after incidents involving children occur, the parents’ first question is usually, “Why did this happen.” Our investigators will help you find the root cause. If it was another person or company’s negligence, we will aggressively and efficiently seek to hold that person or company legally liable.
Liability Laws
Swimming pool and water cases involve an intersection of “premises liability” law and basic principles of negligence. Premises liability cases involve injuries or death caused by a dangerous condition present on the property. This is often one aspect of a pool injury case. However, many times, a person didn’t perform their duties as they should have, such as a lifeguard or a parent supervising a pool party. In these circumstances, fundamental negligence law controls. Did this person act “reasonably prudent,” or did they breach their duty to your child? These are some of the critical questions that our personal injury attorneys can help you determine, and they are essential to the outcome of any swimming pool accident or water-related injury claim.
Contact Our Child Injury Attorneys
If your child has been injured in a swimming pool accident, our attorneys may be able to assist with any negligence or wrongful death claim. Our lawyers regularly take on and litigate complex negligence cases involving children, and we do so with compassion, diligence, and professionalism. We handle all personal injury cases involving children on a contingency fee basis. That means you don’t owe any attorneys’ fees until we recover money for your child. You do not owe any attorney’s fee if no monetary damages are recovered.
Additionally, we offer a reduced fee for all cases involving minor children, including wrongful death cases. We serve clients across the Carolinas from our Raleigh, Charlotte, and Fayetteville offices. Please visit our contact page to schedule a free consultation to discuss your child’s case.
