South Knoxville Child Drowning: Apartment Complex May be Civilly Liable to Family
A Knoxville wrongful death accident befell an apartment community when a 4-year-old boy drowned after falling into a pool owned and maintained by a nearby apartment complex.
According to KnoxNews.com, the 4-year old and his 7-year old cousin and another 9-year old boy trekked about a mile to get from their neighborhood to the pool. When they got there, they noticed that the gate was unlocked and so they entered. It is unclear whether the pool was yet ready for summer use.
Sometime later, the 4-year old became submerged. The other boys called for help, but it was too late by the time nearby residents were able to assist.
Due to the age of the children and the fact that the gate was unlocked, the landlord may liable under Tennessee premises liability laws. First, local regulations applicable to public pools typically require that pool gates be locked when not in use. If the landlord violated a similar regulation applicable to pools in the area, then the landlord or owners may be liable for (per se) negligence.
The landlord may also be liable under the Tennessee attractive nuisance doctrine, which basically states that a landowner may be held liable for injuries to children who trespass on the land of others if the injury is caused by a hazardous object or condition on the land that is likely to attract children—typically under 12—who are unable to appreciate the risk posed by the object or condition.
The five conditions that must be satisfied to make out a case of attractive nuisance are:
- the place where the condition exists is one upon which the possessor knows or has reason to know that children are likely to trespass, and
- the condition is one which the possessor knows or has reason to know and which he realizes or should realize will involve an unreasonable risk of death or serious bodily injury to such children, and
- the children, because of their youth, do not discover the condition or realize the risk involved in intermeddling with it or in coming within the area made dangerous by it, and
- the utility to the possessor of maintaining the condition and the burden of eliminating the danger are slight as compared with the risk to children involved, and
- the possessor fails to exercise reasonable care to eliminate the danger or otherwise to protect the children.
In addition to swimming pools, the attractive nuisance is used to hold landowners liable for abandoned cars, piles of lumber and trampolines.If your child or a child you know has been injured because of an attractive nuisance, call the skilled and experienced Knoxville personal injury attorneys at Baker Associates. Dial 866-853-2888 for a free consultation.
