As the end of school and the beginning of summer converge, you can count on at least two things: more sun in the sky and more children outside. For homeowners who have potentially dangerous kid magnets on their property, that combination highlights the need for due diligence.
The legal doctrine of attractive nuisances involves cases in which children enter someone's property without invitation or permission to check out something that, in their eyes, appears irresistible.
An attractive nuisance can threaten the safety and well-being of different people in various ways, so you're not just protecting yourself from a lawsuit. You're also helping protect children against mishaps that could result from their own inquisitive nature.
Threats Come in Different Shapes and Sizes
Pools and trampolines may top the list of obvious hazards, but a number of items have the potential to lure a child in and cause injuries. If you have a swing set, a basketball hoop or a skateboard ramp in an easily accessible spot on your property, you might also have an attractive nuisance on your hands.
Also, don't assume that the nuisance has to be a recreational item. Planning to build a deck later this summer? To an adventurous kid, stacks of lumber sitting out in the open could look like an invitation to climb, crawl and jump. An item such as a riding lawnmower or a koi pond might even fit the bill, as long as it's something potentially dangerous in a place that a child could easily reach.
A big part of your safety strategy, then, should involve trying to put these things out of reach.
Tips for Reducing the Risk Factors
Experts advise homeowners with attractive nuisances to put up barriers, in the literal and figurative sense. That approach could take the form of building a fence around your entire property, which could reduce accessibility to large fixed structures such as pools, swing sets and skateboard ramps.
For an invisible barrier, you should invest in additional liability insurance. If you think you have an attractive nuisance, particularly a pool, contact your insurance agent and find out how much you may need to increase your coverage by – it’s often recommended to bump up your liability protection to the range of $300,000 and $500,000.
Additional strategies for some specific hazards include:
Pools
The Consumer Product Safety Commission reports that from 2011 to 2013, an average of 390 children ages 14 and younger drowned in pools and spas each year. Broken tiles and other trip hazards can also result in injuries, so be sure to make the area surrounding your pool as safe as possible by fixing any and all maintenance issues as soon as they arise. You can take measures to keep out and protect the curious by:
- Putting a fence around your in-ground or above-ground pool. Your home insurance provider probably requires fencing, and the laws of your state may require the fence to be a specific height. Even if you have a fence around your yard, a separate enclosure will help make the target harder to reach.
- Using a safety cover when the pool's not in use.
- Putting locks on filter covers.
- Building small enclosures around pumps and other mechanical devices if they're not already inside a poolhouse.
Trampolines
About 100,000 people are injured on trampolines in a given year, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, and children under age six account for more than one-third of those injuries.
You can help keep children away from your trampoline by putting a fence around your yard and getting an enclosure netting to go around the trampoline, along with a net lock.
Treehouses and other hazards
The Center for Injury Research and Policy has estimated the number of treehouse-related injuries among children at 2,800 annually.
To deter curious children, build a fence with a locking gate around the treehouse and get locks for the doors and windows. As with trampolines, you may want to fence off your entire property to reduce accessibility.
Attractive nuisances such as riding lawnmowers and other types of lawn equipment present an easier solution: keep them in a garage or shed with a locking door.
What Are Homeowners' Responsibilities?
When it comes to the attractive nuisances and the law, the "one-size-fits-all" approach may not apply. Standards and interpretations can vary according to state laws and local ordinances. To get a general idea, homeowners can focus on a couple of key points:
- The attractive nuisance doctrine is something of a departure from legal principles that set many of the standards for homeowner responsibility in this area. It may negate the "trespasser" label for an injured child who entered a property uninvited, based on the idea that children don't have the same ability to recognize and assess risk as adults.
- When is a child old enough to know better? Some court rulings have declined to set a specific age limit for attractive nuisance cases. However, many cases in which the attractive nuisance doctrine has been applied have involved children no more than 12 years old.
Because of legal complexities, erring on the side of caution may be the best way to go. Consider asking an attorney about attractive nuisance litigation in your state, and find out whether you have adequate safeguards in place from a liability standpoint.
Don't Wait to React. Take Steps to Prevent a Tragedy.
With the sheer number of children out and about in the longer and warmer days, summertime always has the potential to become attractive nuisance season.
Don't forget about one of the most effective tools in your arsenal — communication. Make sure that your neighbors, neighborhood association and community watch group are aware of any attractive nuisances on your property. They can help spread the word to neighborhood children to stay away from these hazards when no responsible adults are present.
While you're at it, communicate with your insurance agent. He or she might know some other tips about how to secure your property and help keep the kids in your area safe.
Also, be sure to speak with your children about the dangers of attractive nuisances and make sure they know not to play without adult supervision. After all, your neighbors might have a tempting swimming pool or an enticing trampoline of their own.
Barry Bridges writes for Quotes.Safeco.com and HomeownersInsurance.com, an online resource for homeowners and drivers across the country. Offering automobile and homeowners insurance quotes, consumers rely on HomeownersInsurance.com for competitive rates from top-rated insurance carriers. The HomeownersInsurance.com blog provides fresh tips and advice on a range of financial topics to help homeowners and homebuyers make educated decisions about their insurance purchases.
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