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Swimming pools are a popular attraction for people of all ages, especially during the hot summer months. However, what many people fail to realize is that swimming pools can also be quite dangerous. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that unintentional drowning is among the leading causes of death for children and a common cause of death or serious injuries to people of all ages, with over 8,000 nonfatal and 4,000 fatal drowning accidents happening in the United States annually.
But what happens when you or someone you love is seriously injured in a swimming pool accident on someone else’s property? Do you have any rights to recover compensation or hold the swimming pool owner liable for what happened? The personal injury attorneys at The Alfred Firm explain how swimming pool accident cases work in Texas and what you can do to recover compensation. If you would like to discuss details about your case and get answers, contact The Alfred Firm at 713-489-1875.
What Are the Most Common Injuries Resulting From Swimming Pool Accidents?
It is relatively easy to do an internet search and quickly find hundreds of news stories about people who accidentally drowned in pools both in residential and commercial settings, such as hotels and waterparks. Sadly, the majority of headlines are about young children who fatally drowned. Inexperienced swimmers (including most young children) are at a higher risk of becoming drowning victims, but teenagers and adults can also be victims of drowning due to intoxication by alcohol or even entrapment (getting stuck at the bottom of the pool because of the suction power of the pool drain). While the risk of drowning is real, thousands of other swimmers sustain nonfatal injuries that are still serious and often lead to permanent disabilities and lifelong consequences.
When a person dives into shallow water or accidentally hits the sides or the bottom of a swimming pool, head injuries, and spinal cord injuries can occur. Head injuries can vary in severity from mild concussions to TBIs (Traumatic Brain Injuries) that require long-term care and can result in life-altering disabilities. The impact of a person’s head or neck against the hard surfaces in and around a swimming pool can also result in spinal cord injuries. Diving in shallow water or falls from diving boards, pool slides, and other pool equipment can cause serious damage to the spinal cord nerves and lead to paralysis, and in some cases, can be fatal. Other less serious injuries that can happen at a pool include broken bones, cuts, bruises, and sprains due to slip-and-fall accidents around the pool deck.
Does Texas Have Any Swimming Pool Safety Laws?
The state of Texas has specific laws to help maintain a safe environment for children and adults in and around swimming pools in private and public settings. While specific laws may vary from place to place, and each county or city may have additional requirements, pool owners are generally held responsible for adhering to basic safety rules and regulations and keeping a safe environment for guests and visitors.
For example, all pools in Texas need to be completely surrounded by 48-inch tall fences (or higher), and the fencing material must not have any large gaps that could allow a child to slip through. The pool entrances must be equipped with self-closing gates that latch securely from the inside and have an alarm that is activated when the gate is opened. The alarm system must have an “off” button that is out of reach to small children.
In-ground and above-ground pools must be equipped with an appropriate ladder or have steps that allow swimmers to safely enter and exit the pool. It is the pool owner’s responsibility to regularly inspect the pool and the areas surrounding it in order to identify and remedy any hazards, such as broken or cracked flooring, slippery spots, malfunctioning equipment, or murky waters. At public pool areas (such as those at hotels and apartment complexes), lifeguards must be on duty at all times, or signs warning swimmers to enter at their own risk must be displayed if no lifeguards are present.
What is an Attractive Nuisance?
Certain features in a person’s property can be inherently dangerous and attractive to outsiders at the same time. Such is the case with swimming pools – a swimming pool appears to be an irresistible attraction for young children, but it could prove deadly if an unsupervised small child gains access to the pool. This idea is referred to as an attractive nuisance.
Owners of properties where an attractive nuisance is located are responsible for maintaining a safe area and protecting children and other individuals from being injured by gaining unsupervised access to their pool. The pool poses a foreseeable hazard, and thus, property owners need to abide by all safety requirements set forth by Texas laws, such as properly enclosing the pool with a fence and latching gates. Failure to do so could mean the property owner may be held liable for any injuries to others.
Who Is Financially Responsible for a Swimming Pool Accident?
In a swimming pool accident case, it is crucial to determine who may have been mostly at fault in order to assign financial liability for the victim’s losses. Cases in which the party who owns or maintains the swimming pool may have been negligent can lead to a type of personal injury claim called a premises liability claim. For example, if an individual suffers a head injury after tripping and falling while exiting the pool and it is later determined that a floor tile was loose and caused the accident, it may be understood that the owner of the pool should have taken reasonable steps to detect the problem and repair the loose tile before it could cause someone to be injured. The pool was not regularly maintained, creating a hazardous condition that led to the victim’s head injuries and resulting damages. In this case, the pool owner may be financially responsible for the accident.
In other cases, the victim may be partially at fault for their own injuries. For example, suppose an adult was engaging in reckless behavior around the pool, such as horseplay or excessive alcohol consumption, when they sustained a head injury after jumping into the pool. There were no lifeguards on duty and no warning signs stating that guests should swim at their own risk. In this case, the victim may be mostly at fault for their injuries, but the pool owner may also be at fault for failing to comply with pool safety regulations and not posting the required warning signs.
Each swimming pool accident is unique, and these are hypothetical scenarios to show how liability can be established in pool accident claims. It is always best to speak to an experienced swimming pool accident lawyer to discuss your case and determine liability for your injuries.
Can I File a Lawsuit After Losing a Family Member in a Swimming Pool Accident?
Losing a loved one in a tragic swimming pool accident is a traumatic event, especially when the accident could likely have been prevented if the pool owner had not acted with negligence. If that is the case, you may want to consider consulting a personal injury attorney to learn if you have a possible wrongful death case.
A wrongful death case is a type of personal injury claim in which the family of a person who died as a result of their injuries can seek compensation on behalf of their loved one. It gives the family an opportunity to hold the at-fault party financially responsible for their negligent actions and seek recovery of damages such as pain, suffering, lost wages, loss of companionship, and funeral expenses. In order to have a successful wrongful death claim, hiring a skilled personal injury attorney is crucial because it is up to the victim’s family to prove that the party responsible for maintaining the swimming pool was negligent and that their negligence led to the death of their loved one.
Wrongful death claims have no damages cap in Texas, meaning there is no legal limit to how much compensation a wrongful death plaintiff may recover as long as the wrongful death claim is not a result of medical malpractice. However, there is a deadline for filing a wrongful death claim – in Texas, the statute of limitations for wrongful death claims is two years from the date of the death, except for cases in which the plaintiff was a minor child. In other words, it is best not to wait and consult an attorney as soon as possible if you believe you may have a valid wrongful death case.
The attorneys at The Alfred Firm have represented countless swimming pool accident victims and their families in Beaumont and surrounding areas. We are here to help you protect your rights to fair compensation. Contact us at 713-489-1875 for a free case analysis.