Child injury law is a little bit different from regular adult personal injury situations, due to the natural curiosity and relative inexperience of young ones. In many cases, children simply don’t know better, and may do things that could lead to serious injury or even death. Children may not understand the consequences of their actions, or find themselves in situations that for an adult would not normally be hazardous. When the stage is set for a child to be hurt in a way that an adult should have foreseen, that situation or circumstance may be legally called an “attractive nuisance.”
Defining an Attractive Nuisance
Attractive nuisances are a part of the concept of premises liability. Premises liability is a part of the law that allows a visitor or guest on a property to seek compensation from the owner of that property in case of an injury caused by the owner’s negligence. Property owners are generally expected to protect visitors from harm with routine maintenance, appropriate safety and security precautions, and either removing or marking hazards for guests to avoid.
In most cases, premises liability law does not protect trespassers—the visitor must be invited to the property either explicitly, or in cases of business locations, implicitly, by being open to the general public. However, the law makes an exception in certain circumstances of trespass involving children.
Examples of Attractive Nuisance
Here are some of the key criteria that help define an attractive nuisance case:
- The property owner was aware or should have been aware that children could trespass on the property. An example might be a highly visible property that is located near a school, along a school route that children regularly use, or near a playground or other location that children visit.
- There was some unsecured danger, condition, or hazardous item on the property that caused serious injury or death to a child, such as an unfenced swimming pool, trampoline, or other unprotected amusement that could cause harm.
- The child or children involved in the accident were not old enough to understand the potential risk to life or limb that exists on the property.
- The property owner must have failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent an injury or death, such as with a locking gate or by securing dangerous equipment.
- There must be a real benefit to fixing the hazard or securing the property with regard to the health and well-being of potential child trespassers. For example, it is not usually reasonable to prevent a potential child injury by destroying every swimming pool. Installing a locking gate to prevent child access, however, is likely a reasonable precaution that should be taken.
When all of the above factors come together in a situation where a child has been hurt or killed, an attractive nuisance law comes into play.
Children are our most valuable asset for the future. We as adults have a duty of care to ensure that children are safe from our negligence because they simply don’t have the capacity or experience to understand the very real hazards that exist all around us every day. Failure to uphold that duty can lead to severe injuries and tragic losses of life that could have been avoided if only an adult had taken the time to care and the responsibility of maintaining his or her property.
A South Carolina Child Injury Lawyer Can Help You Seek Justice
If your child has been injured on someone else’s property and you think you may have a case for an attractive nuisance, the child injury lawyer team at the Law Office of Kenneth E. Berger is here for your family. We can help you seek compensation from the person responsible for your child’s injuries so that you can recover hospital costs, doctor's visits, rehabilitation, long-term care, and more. Our office is conveniently located in Columbia, and we proudly service all of South Carolina, including the Sumter, Florence, and Myrtle Beach areas. To arrange a consultation with a legal professional today, call us by phone, send an email via the contact link, or click the live chat box on this page right now.
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