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What a nightmare! My middle child is a wanderer and my youngest loves to follow him(or help him escape) so we've had to put extra locks on all the doors and we're thinking of doing the same for some windows even. Kids can be very sneaky. When they're being quieter than usual you gotta go check on them...that's when they get in the most trouble.
I had a junior Houdini. He could get into or out of almost anything. I had to change door locks, cabinet locks, toilet lid locks. When he was about three, he figured out that he could drag a chair over to the kitchen cabinets, crawl up on the counter and play with the glassware in the upper cabinets.
Agreed 100%, it seems people want to shift the blame onto the neighbor. When you've got small kids, it's your responsibility to watch them at all times.
Yes, it is a parent's responsibility to watch out for their children's safety. But who gets harms when even a momentary lapse occurs? The CHILD. That is why every pool owner should have a secure fence, whether the law requires it or not. It's a matter of doing the responsible thing.
If someone really doesn't care that much about the neighborhood children, I'd think they would at least care about their own financial security. If a child dies after falling into your pool because you didn't take steps to secure it, you could lose everything in a lawsuit.
Yes, it is a parent's responsibility to watch out for their children's safety. But who gets harms when even a momentary lapse occurs? The CHILD. That is why every pool owner should have a secure fence, whether the law requires it or not. It's a matter of doing the responsible thing.
If someone really doesn't care that much about the neighborhood children, I'd think they would at least care about their own financial security. If a child dies after falling into your pool because you didn't take steps to secure it, you could lose everything in a lawsuit.
Wouldn't the child have to have permission to go into the pool? I don't see how a homeowner could be responsible for the neighbor's children wondering onto their property WITHOUT permission, technically that would be trespassing on the kids part. Probably wouldn't matter in this sue happy world but if a neighbors kid was doing something in my yard without my permission to be there then that is on the parents/guardian.
I know plenty of people with pools but none of them have fencing around them, maybe that has to do with the area or type of pool..i don't know but most of my friend's pools are in just in their backyard w/o fencing.
Besides insurance, in every city I've ever heard of, there are laws/regulations requiring fences around pools, and even specs stating what fencing requirements there are.
If you don't have a fence around a pool, you can be held liable for any accident from kids who wander into it. Under the law, it's called an "attractive nuisance," meaning that anyone with a pool knows or should know that it's foreseeable that kids will be drawn to it and will try to go into it.
If you have a regulation fence, though, you should be in the clear, if the gate was closed and such. The owner must take reasonable precautions to prevent kids from gaining entrance.
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Originally Posted by ultraviolet3
How old is your pool? Fencing might not have been a code requirement when it was built and you are grandfathered in.
In NJ, it is law to have your pool fenced. We built ours about 8 years ago and have a self closing gate and 5 foot fence surrounding it. There is a home around the corner that also has an in-ground pool, but since it was put in long ago before laws changed they do not require it to be fenced.
Requirements and laws vary from place to place. The blanket statement made "If you have a pool, you must have a fence" was incorrect, it is not true in all places. This is what I was pointing out.
Where I live, the property owner is not held responsible for the actions of others who injure themselves on his property, so long as he did not intentionally and maliciously cause their injury.
You have no pool fence, no yard fence, and children living at your house?
Unfortunately, there are no children living *at* my house, though there are some in the area. However, I have something of a certain...reputation...though in truth it only applies to a small number of troublemakers...and I am also known for harboring somewhere north of a half a million winged guardians armed with very small but very sharp barbed, venomous spears.
In actuality, very few yards or pools are fenced here. Kids younger than teen years ride motorcycles, snowmobiles and ATVs, and have guns. Some people might be shocked.
Where I live, the property owner is not held responsible for the actions of others who injure themselves on his property, so long as he did not intentionally and maliciously cause their injury.
You'd be surprised how that differs in some other states. In California, if you have a poorly-maintained fence, a bit rickety, say, and someone tries to burglarize your property, but the police arrive, and the burglar escapes by trying to jump over your back fence, which falls down, trashing his leg, the homeowner can be sued. CA insurance companies are very strict about pools and fencing requirements.
I live in the town where this happened. And it's my belief that this home is located in an older part of town, meaning at the time there probably were no requirements as to how you built your pool.
Years later, 1999, when my (ex) husband and I bought our new home w/an inground pool we were required to have a door that lead out to the pool from inside that always locked. As well as the outside gate. Nothing abt a gate around the pool, maybe because we didn't have children...I really don't remember.
But certain laws did apply then, that didn't apply before.
I know a great grandmother who was in her 40s. And I also know many people take what child care they can get, happily. I am sure now they are rethinking it all.
Clearly the person you want to leave your kids with, generation after generation of poor decisions.
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