South Florida Pool Accident Attorneys

How Do I Know If I Have a Pool Accident Case?

Determining whether you have a strong pool accident case in Florida hinges on the specific circumstances of the incident and Florida's premises liability laws. These laws hold property owners responsible for maintaining safe conditions on their premises, including swimming pools and their surrounding areas. 

It's not just about drowning incidents: A myriad of dangerous conditions can lead to severe injuries, such as slips and falls on slick pool decks, injuries from faulty diving boards or ladders, chemical burns from improperly balanced pool chemicals, or even drain entrapment.The owner's duty of care varies depending on the legal status of the injured person when they were on the property.

Florida's premises liability laws categorize visitors into different groups that are each owed a distinct level of care by the property owner:

• Invitees. This category includes individuals invited onto the property for a business purpose, such as guests at a public or hotel pool or customers at a community pool. Property owners owe invitees the highest duty of care. This means they must regularly inspect the pool area for dangerous conditions, promptly fix any known hazards, and warn invitees about dangers that have not yet been repaired. This includes maintaining proper pool chemical levels, keeping pool decks non-slippery, ensuring diving boards and ladders are secure, and providing adequate supervision at public pools.
• Licensees. These are generally invited social guests at a private pool. Property owners owe licensees a duty to warn them of any known dangerous conditions that are not obvious and to address hazards the owner is aware of or reasonably should have been aware of. While the duty is slightly less stringent than for invitees, homeowners still have a responsibility to keep their pools reasonably safe for invited guests and to comply with safety regulations.
• Trespassers (and the attractive nuisance doctrine). Generally, property owners owe the lowest duty of care to adult trespassers. However, a significant exception exists for children under Florida's attractive nuisance doctrine. Swimming pools are frequently considered "attractive nuisances" because they can entice curious children who, due to their youth, may not understand the inherent dangers. Under this doctrine, property owners – including private homeowners – have a heightened duty to take reasonable steps to prevent children from accessing or being harmed by the pool, even if those children are trespassing. This includes requirements for proper fencing, self-closing and self-latching gates, pool alarms on doors with direct access to the pool, or safety covers, as mandated by the state’s Residential Swimming Pool Safety Act. Failure to implement these safety features can lead to a finding of negligence if a child is injured or drowns.

To have a pool accident case, you generally need to prove that the property owner owed a duty of care, breached that duty by failing to maintain safe conditions or provide adequate warnings, and that this breach directly caused your injuries and damages. We recognize that this can be confusing and are here to provide clarity. 

Our team at The South Florida Injury Law Firm is familiar with the nuances and intricacies of Florida’s premises liability laws and rules surrounding swimming pools. We can evaluate your unique circumstances and advise whether you have a strong case.