Swimming Pool Drowning

Across the country, approximately 10 people die each day from accidental drownings, and at least two of these are usually children under the age of 15. Drownings are the fifth-leading cause of unintentional injury or death in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of these drowning victims need to be hospitalized or obtain further care. Drowning may result in cognitive deficits, permanent vegetative state, memory problems, and other forms of brain damage. If your child or you were harmed in a swimming pool in East Tennessee, you should consult a premises liability lawyer to determine whether you may have a claim. Maryville swimming pool accident attorney Mark Hartsoe is ready to help you seek compensation.

Many accidental drownings occur in swimming pools, rather than a natural body of water. What starts as a pleasant afternoon activity may end in tragedy. Whether you may recover compensation for a drowning depends partly on where the injury took place and the status of the victim on the property. Pool owners or operators owe a duty to use reasonable care to prevent accidental injuries to visitors to their pools.

In Tennessee, parties that operate a pool into which the public is invited for profit owe the highest duty of care to their guests. They may be held liable under theories of negligence or negligence per se for failing to maintain a pool so that it is safe and complies with applicable regulations. Moreover, homeowners may also be held liable and should inspect their pools regularly to make sure that they are safe for social guests whom they invite onto their property.

Sometimes a drowning is a result of a dangerous condition at a pool of which a homeowner should have known and about which they should have provided warnings. For example, a drain with too much suction in a home pool could trap someone with long hair under the water, causing a drowning.

In most premises liability cases, homeowners owe the least degree of care to trespassers. The only duty owed to a trespasser is the duty not to intentionally injure the trespasser or set traps for them. However, the doctrine of attractive nuisance may apply to cases involving small children who are attracted onto the property by a swimming pool or watering hole.

This doctrine might apply if the place where the dangerous condition exists is one where the pool owner knows or has reason to know that children are likely to trespass, the pool owner knows or has reason to know that there is an unreasonable risk of injury or death to a trespassing child, the child due to their youth does not discover the dangerous condition or appreciate the risk of coming near or going into the pool, the burden to the landowner to maintain or correct the condition (such as by installing appropriate safe fencing) is slight compared to the risk involved for a small child, and the pool owner fails to use reasonable care to eliminate the risk or protect the child.

Knowledgeable Maryville swimming pool accident lawyer Mark Hartsoe can vigorously fight for your rights if you or your child has been harmed on someone else’s property. Call the Hartsoe Law Firm at 865-804-1011 or contact us via our online form to arrange a free appointment to explore your options. Personal injury and wrongful death lawyer Mark Hartsoe represents people throughout East Tennessee, including in Knox, Blount, Monroe, Loudon, Jefferson, Grainger, Cocke, Campbell, Hamblen, Greene, Anderson, Cumberland, and Fentress Counties.