Unfortunately, children pass away due to accidental drownings every year. If you are considering building a swimming pool at your Pensacola home, you should become aware of the risks associated with ownership. In some cases, owning a swimming pool could be the largest amount of financial and legal risk you ever take. In the event injury or wrongful death occurs in your swimming pool, the result can be extremely tragic and detrimental.
Common Misconceptions About Pools and Drowning
It is a common misconception that pools are safe unless someone is doing something they shouldn’t be. Take swimming intoxicated for example. While this is hazardous, most swimming pool drownings occur to children who are unsupervised. Drowning happens very quickly and quietly. People don’t typically flail their arms around screaming for help, most slip beneath the water and don’t have a chance to react.
How to Protect from Accidental Drowning
In order to help prevent accidental drownings from occurring, you should constantly keep a close eye on your pool when people are swimming. However, this is not always enough. In order to keep young children from being able to get into the pool or accidentally falling in, install a fence or a gate that has a lock. You can also put a secure pool cover on the top and an alarm that signals when someone is near the pool. Taking these necessary precautions will help to prevent tragedy from occurring.
Pool Owner Liability
The owner of the pool is always responsible for providing a safe environment for those who are inhabiting the pool. Therefore, being proactive in accident prevention could help reduce liability in the case of an accident. You should not rely on “swim at your own risk” signs to protect against lawsuits or flotation devices to protect an individual. Be sure to make strict guidelines for those who are swimming and make sure to enforce the rules you have developed in order to prevent accidents.
The best step you can take is to keep your pool secure. If you have not taken the appropriate measures to prevent access to the pool, you can end up with a liability if an accident were to take place. Stephen T. Holman, Senior Partner, and Justin T. Holman, Partner, are committed to providing the best legal service in Pensacola, Destin, Pace and Cantonment, FL in a variety of legal areas including Family Law and Personal Injury. Our office is located at 1940 W. Saint Mary Avenue, Pensacola, FL 32501. Contact us now for a free consultation at 850-435-6909 or go online at www.HolmanFirm.com.