Given its climate, it should come as no surprise to hear that Phoenix has more residential pools than just about any other city in the entire United States. Unfortunately, that also means accidents and injuries involving swimming pools are much more common here than usual—and if you are not intimately familiar with exactly how state law addresses accidents of this nature, you may have a deceptively difficult time obtaining civil restitution for the harm you sustained due to a pool owner’s misconduct.
Fortunately, you have help available to you from dedicated premises liability attorneys with over 30 years of experience helping people just like you take effective legal action over swimming pool accidents in Tempe. No matter how you got hurt or who specifically is to blame for your injuries in legal terms, our qualified local team could give you the custom-tailored support you need to effectively pursue the compensation you deserve.
When Are Landowners Liable for Swimming Pool Injuries?
The liability a swimming pool owner in Arizona holds for accidents that occur in and around their pool changes dramatically depending on whether the pool is part of their private residential property or operated as a public pool for paid use. Generally speaking, people who operate commercial and/or public pools owe a greater “duty of care” to the “invitees” using that pool, requiring them not only to provide warnings about known hazards but also to take reasonable steps to discover and address new hazards before they can harm a lawful visitor.
Private pool owners, on the other hand, are still required to warn guests about known hazards but are typically not liable for hazards they genuinely were not aware of, since those guests are usually classified as “licensees” visiting lawfully for their own purposes rather than specifically for the landowner’s financial benefit. Usually, neither type of landowner owes any “duty of care” to illegal trespassers for injuries suffered through swimming pool accidents in Tempe—but as an experienced attorney could affirm, “usually” in this context is certainly not “always.”
“Attractive Nuisance” Rule for Swimming Pools
One of the most significant exceptions to the trend mentioned above of landowners not being liable for injuries to trespassers is the “attractive nuisance” doctrine. This legal precedent applies specifically to people like swimming pool owners who have something on their property that is likely to attract curious minor children—who may not fully understand the dangers that thing may pose to them—into trespassing on their land.
If a minor child gets hurt in a Tempe swimming pool accident while trespassing on someone else’s private property, the swimming pool owner may still be liable for their injuries because they failed to take reasonable steps to prevent young children from trespassing into that “attractive nuisance”—for example, putting up fencing that a child cannot climb. This means it may be possible to take legal action on an injured child’s behalf after this sort of incident even if they were not legally supposed to be in the place where they got hurt.
Get in Touch With a Tempe Attorney After a Swimming Pool Accident
While they can be fun ways to cool down during famously hot Tempe days, swimming pools can also be very dangerous if they are not used and maintained carefully. While each person is responsible for the former, pool owners have a strict legal duty to keep up with the latter, and anyone who fails to fulfill that duty may be legally liable for injuries caused by any ensuing accident.
At Phillips Law Group, our trusted team could go over your situation with you and offer guidance about a possible claim built around a swimming pool accident in Tempe during a private initial meeting. Schedule yours by calling today.
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