Children are naturally curious, so they often want to explore the world around them. A child may see a swimming pool, trampoline, or other things that look interesting and fun, but are actually dangerous. However, they don’t automatically view those items as dangerous.
In some cases, a child might wander onto someone’s property because of one of those hazards. If they suffer an injury, the parents may opt to pursue a compensation claim to help offset the expenses related to medical care and other financial damages. Those situations are known as attractive nuisance cases.
How does an attractive nuisance affect a personal injury claim?
Claims involving children often involve several facts. These may include the child’s age, the condition that led to the injury, the accessibility of the hazard and whether the property owner understood how it would attract children.
Young children don’t always understand dangers in the same way as adults, so they may not recognize that they can be injured if they explore. To children, a pool looks like a fun place to play or construction equipment looks like something to climb on. They don’t see anything beyond how they can have fun.
While homeowners don’t have a duty to remove every hazard from a property, they still have some duty to prevent harm. This can mean taking steps like placing a fence with a locked gate around a pool or securing other potential hazards.
Parents who opt to pursue compensation for their child’s injury in an attractive nuisance case only have a limited time to get their claim filed. These cases can be complex, so it’s usually a good idea to work with someone who can assist with gathering evidence and moving the case through the legal process.
