Premises liability law is different than land liability.
Q. Is posting no trespassing signs required to protect landowners from liability?
A. No. Whether the property is posted or not, the General Obligations Law protects landowners from liability for non-paying recreationalists on their property. Because of this protection, recreational liability lawsuits against rural landowners are uncommon. Recreational activities covered include: hunting; fishing; organized gleaning (picking); canoeing; boating; trapping; hiking; cross-country skiing; tobogganing; sledding; speleological (caving) activities; horseback riding; bicycle riding; hang gliding; motorized vehicle operation for recreation; snowmobiling; non-commercial wood cutting or gathering; and dog training. This protection does not apply in cases of willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against dangers.
Trespassing: Encyclopedia of Everyday Law
in Mississippi a landowner owes no duty to a trespasser except to not willfully or wantonly injure him. In other words, don=t shoot or assault a trespasser. If he
is trespassing, he has no right to be there and you don't owe him a duty to look out for his well-being.
The Occupiers’ Liability Act of 1957 was the first law created that held the landowner responsible for the injuries. The act determined that for the landowner to be held responsible for the injury there had to be a defective or dangerous condition of the property that was the cause of the injury. In other words, the landowner must be neglectful and leave their property in a dangerous condition in order to be held accountable for occupiers’ liability. This act also made the distinction between a visitor and a trespasser and only gave the right to compensation to the visitors. They defined a visitor as someone who had been granted, expressed or implied, permission to be on the property.
After much debate this law was decided that it did not go far enough to protect the injured person so the Occupiers’ Liability Act of 1984 was enacted. This act was designed to now include trespassers to be able to receive compensation if injured. This act also added more detail to how neglectful the occupier must be in order to be held responsible. It states that in order to be held accountable under occupiers’ liability, the occupier must know, or should have known, that the danger existed before the person was injured, and that they must also know that the person is near the danger and does not warn them of the risk. This act determined that a person expects a certain level of protection when they are on someone else’s property.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: CS/HB 553 Trespass
This bill provides that posting may be
accomplished by conspicuous purple paint marks that are:
• Vertical lines at least 1 inch in width and at least 8 inches in length.
• Placed so that the bottom of the mark is between 3 and 5 feet from the ground.
• Readily visible and no more than 1,000 feet apart.
Between October 1, 2007, and October 1, 2009, a landowner using purple paint markings for posting of
land must also place signs wherever entry to the land would normally be expected. The signs must
explain that the purple markings mean "no trespassing."
http://archive.flsenate.gov/data/ses...h0553c.PBC.pdf
In the Unites States, a landowner can sometimes be held liable for certain occurrences on the owner land.
One should not presume that the property owner is liable for anything and everything that might occur on the property.
Limited duty. An owner, lessee, manager, holder of an easement or occupant of premises does not have a duty of care to keep the premises safe for entry or use by others for recreational or harvesting activities or to give warning of any hazardous condition, use, structure or activity on these premises to persons entering for those purposes. This subsection applies regardless of whether the owner, lessee, manager, holder of an easement or occupant has given permission to another to pursue recreational or harvesting activities on the premises. Permissive use. An owner, lessee, manager, holder of an easement or occupant who gives permission to another to pursue recreational or harvesting activities on the premises does not thereby:
A. Extend any assurance that the premises are safe for those purposes;
B. Make the person to whom permission is granted an invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed; or
C. Assume responsibility or incur liability for any injury to person or property caused by any act of persons to whom the permission is granted.
4. Limitations on section. This section does not limit the liability that would otherwise exist:
A. For a willful or malicious failure to guard or to warn against a dangerous condition, use, structure or activity;
B. For an injury suffered in any case where permission to pursue any recreational or harvesting activities was granted for a consideration other than the consideration, if any, paid to the following:
Landowner Liability Law