swimming pool fence

[KIMMACK]

Oh, in that case, let me restate:

I'm willing to bet you won't find one. Just because the law doesn't require one doesn't mean the ins. co's won't. The ins. co's apparently have a better head on their shoulders than your state's legislature...

Ha Ha. So true. And thank god somebody does. Enough children drown in pools why would you want it to be your pool it happens in?

 

[caslerst]

Have you even researched the term "attractive nuisance"?

I understand the term but it irritates me that I have to spend money to put up a fence to keep someone out of my pool.

I read what TheGeekness quoted I can replace owner with parent and it makes sounds more reasonable to me.

For example: "The central idea behind this doctrine is that the owner should anticipate that a child would come onto the property because of the interesting nature of the machinery, and the owner should take precautions such as erecting a fence or other barrier to keep children away from the harm."

How it should read since it is the parent's responsibility to keep their child safe: "The central idea of holding parents accountable is that the parent should anticipate that a child would come onto the property because of the interesting nature of the machinery, and the parent should take precautions such as supervising their child in order to keep children away from the harm.".

If I wash my Harley and leave it in the driveway to dry before putting it back in the garage, that is a pretty attractive thing for a little boy to play on. But if some kid jumped on and ended up knocking it over and pinning himself under the bike, I doubt anyone on this forum would say it was my fault for leaving it out. They would say sue the parent for the damage to my bike because the child should not have been playing on it. He should have been taught to not play with things that don't belong to him. So why is a pool any different?

I know it's not the way things are. I had a bad day and needed to vent a little.

 

[ErinGoBragh]

I understand the term but it irritates me that I have to spend money to put up a fence to keep someone out of my pool.

I read what TheGeekness quoted I can replace owner with parent and it makes sounds more reasonable to me.

For example: "The central idea behind this doctrine is that the owner should anticipate that a child would come onto the property because of the interesting nature of the machinery, and the owner should take precautions such as erecting a fence or other barrier to keep children away from the harm."

How it should read since it is the parent's responsibility to keep their child safe: "The central idea of holding parents accountable is that the parent should anticipate that a child would come onto the property because of the interesting nature of the machinery, and the parent should take precautions such as supervising their child in order to keep children away from the harm.".

If I wash my Harley and leave it in the driveway to dry before putting it back in the garage, that is a pretty attractive thing for a little boy to play on. But if some kid jumped on and ended up knocking it over and pinning himself under the bike, I doubt anyone on this forum would say it was my fault for leaving it out. They would say sue the parent for the damage to my bike because the child should not have been playing on it. He should have been taught to not play with things that don't belong to him. So why is a pool any different?

I know it's not the way things are. I had a bad day and needed to vent a little.

While I agree with the essence of what you are saying- that a child not your own has no business being on your property without your permission, and that children should be supervised- it's not an ideal world.

Swimming pools are a bigger hazard than Harleys (I.E., Pool Hopping exists, but not Harley Hopping- at least that I know of!) and are more of an immediate danger to a child.

In this society though, children are not always supervised. They go places they shouldn't, parents don't always keep their eyes on them, and we as a society had to make laws to protect them and ourselves from the dangers and lawsuits that could occur as a result. Hence insurance companies mandating fencing. It will probably be even more than that soon. Check out the below link. Now in NYS where I live, now all pools newly constructed over two feet high *must* have pool alarms by state code. So there goes at least another $200 if you're building a pool. But that's life, I suppose.

http://www.dos.state.ny.us/code/pools.htm#alarms

 

[JustAPal00]

I understand the term but it irritates me that I have to spend money to put up a fence to keep someone out of my pool.

I read what TheGeekness quoted I can replace owner with parent and it makes sounds more reasonable to me.

For example: "The central idea behind this doctrine is that the owner should anticipate that a child would come onto the property because of the interesting nature of the machinery, and the owner should take precautions such as erecting a fence or other barrier to keep children away from the harm."

How it should read since it is the parent's responsibility to keep their child safe: "The central idea of holding parents accountable is that the parent should anticipate that a child would come onto the property because of the interesting nature of the machinery, and the parent should take precautions such as supervising their child in order to keep children away from the harm.".

If I wash my Harley and leave it in the driveway to dry before putting it back in the garage, that is a pretty attractive thing for a little boy to play on. But if some kid jumped on and ended up knocking it over and pinning himself under the bike, I doubt anyone on this forum would say it was my fault for leaving it out. They would say sue the parent for the damage to my bike because the child should not have been playing on it. He should have been taught to not play with things that don't belong to him. So why is a pool any different?

I know it's not the way things are. I had a bad day and needed to vent a little.

I also understand what you're saying, but the fact is some things are too dangerous to leave un guarded. Say I had a pet mountain lion and I train him never to leave my property. If you cut across my yard and my lion kills you I could make the same argument. After all you have no business on my property. Why should I have to build a fence to keep my lion in when people should not walk in my yard?

 

[caslerst]

I also understand what you're saying, but the fact is some things are too dangerous to leave un guarded. Say I had a pet mountain lion and I train him never to leave my property. If you cut across my yard and my lion kills you I could make the same argument. After all you have no business on my property. Why should I have to build a fence to keep my lion in when people should not walk in my yard?

Okay, for the sake of argument let’s say you can 100% guarantee the lion will never leave your property and your property is CLEARLY marked as private, I don’t see a problem. It’s the same with a pool; it will never leave your property and harm someone. In order to get hurt by my pool you have to commit a crime. Why am I responsible for stopping you from committing a crime?

What about a river or stream that runs through private property? That’s attractive just like a pool. Do I have to fence the river that runs through my backyard to keep people out?

We teach kids to look both ways before crossing the street, don’t take candy from strangers, never pet a strange dog, guns are dangerous, don’t do drugs, and stay in school. Why can’t we teach them to stay out of pools that don’t belong to them?

 

[Zigner]

Okay, for the sake of argument let’s say you can 100% guarantee the lion will never leave your property and your property is CLEARLY marked as private, I don’t see a problem. It’s the same with a pool; it will never leave your property and harm someone. In order to get hurt by my pool you have to commit a crime. Why am I responsible for stopping you from committing a crime?

What about a river or stream that runs through private property? That’s attractive just like a pool. Do I have to fence the river that runs through my backyard to keep people out?

We teach kids to look both ways before crossing the street, don’t take candy from strangers, never pet a strange dog, guns are dangerous, don’t do drugs, and stay in school. Why can’t we teach them to stay out of pools that don’t belong to them?

Ok, you don't like the ACCURATE legal advice you're given.
So, yes, feel free to let your lion (pool) kill a child...what do you care, right?

 

[JustAPal00]

Okay, for the sake of argument let’s say you can 100% guarantee the lion will never leave your property and your property is CLEARLY marked as private, I don’t see a problem. It’s the same with a pool; it will never leave your property and harm someone. In order to get hurt by my pool you have to commit a crime. Why am I responsible for stopping you from committing a crime?

What about a river or stream that runs through private property? That’s attractive just like a pool. Do I have to fence the river that runs through my backyard to keep people out?

We teach kids to look both ways before crossing the street, don’t take candy from strangers, never pet a strange dog, guns are dangerous, don’t do drugs, and stay in school. Why can’t we teach them to stay out of pools that don’t belong to them?

The big concern is a 3 year old who wanders off.

If you have a river, stream, or pond on your property, and there is a dock or pier going out into the water you better make sure that it's fenced! You'll run into the same problem. The same goes for trampolines. If you don't like living in a society, buy an island!

 

[JustAPal00]

Besides your complaint is homeowners insurance. You don't have to have it. Then if the local laws allow, you can leave your pool unfenced! If your mortgage company is requiring you to cary insurance, just pay off your mortgage and then you don't need insurance. But if you can't afford to write a check for the ballance of your mortgage, then you need to go by the rules that the company that loaned you the money set. If that means getting homeowners insurance, then you have to meet minnimum underwriting requirements!

The sad thing is if a child drowned in your pool tomorrow and the parents called a lawyer, the first person you'd call is your insurance company!

 

[nextwife]

It absolutely amazes me that anyone would put in a pool and not believe they have a RESPONSIBILITY to properly fence and secure the area. One has no business having a pool in the first place if they are unwilling to be responsible about it.

I had the unfortunate experience of attempting rescue of a stranger in the bottom of a public swimming pool, and it's not a happy experience. You don't EVER want to have that experience with someone's child (even your dog can drown in a backyard pool because it's hard for them to get out).

 

[JustAPal00]

I had a kind of scarry personal experience with a pool. I inspect properties for insurance companies. It was winter here in PA, and there were several inches of fresh snow on the ground. The home owners weren't home, so I left a pamphlet on the door and began walking around the outside of the home measuring and photographing. When I was in the back yard, I decided to walk further away from the home to get a better picture. As I turned around to take the picture, I noticed a kidney shaped depression in the snow with my footprints in it. Now I'm 250 lbs, and walked right across the snow and ice on that pool. Thank god it didn't break!

 

[seniorjudge]

Have you even researched the term "attractive nuisance"?

Yes, and I came up with The Dixie Chicks.

 

[BusyMom1967]

The big concern is a 3 year old who wanders off.

If you have a river, stream, or pond on your property, and there is a dock or pier going out into the water you better make sure that it's fenced! You'll run into the same problem. The same goes for trampolines. If you don't like living in a society, buy an island!

I will add my two cents - only experiences.

1. When my sister was in her 30's there was her son and another boy in the backyard playing (same age and about the same age), as some kids end up doing they got into a huge fist fight. There was a huge pile of dirt they were going to use for the driveway, the unrelated boy started trowing dirt clogs at my nephew, but since my nephew was told not to mess with the dirt he did not throw for awhile. He did eventually pick up one big dirt clog (he played soft ball) and threw it at the other boy - HARD and it hit the boy in the temple. It almost blinded him (his eyesight is perfect now). BUT, here is the end of the story, this boy's family tried sueing my sister for every little thing she owed and worked so hard for. Thank GOD she had home insurance. They put $50,000 in a trust for the boy to get at 25, and paid for his care and his eye to be fixed, and told the family to go away (Ironically, he wore glasses before and as a grown man he does not). They wanted $200,000 and this was back in the early 80's! Had my sister not had really great home insurance,s he would have had to purchase a local attorney in our little town, and take time off work all the time to fight this. BUT, the INS company used their high dollar bulldog to come fight for her (and to save them money).

THEY blamed HER for having the PILE of dirt in her BACKYARD!!


2. Knowing this can happen, I used to own a trampoline, my daughter used it mostly to lay out on, and my son used it to camp out on. I had new neighbors move in with a cute little girl full of energy and no real punishment, and I live on a corner, so my whole freaking yard can be seen. YES...I got rid of the trampoline and built a deck instead.

3. I have a old tobacco barn in my backyard - when my ex and I moved here we put up a 4 ft fence around it. Not just for kids, but because we had alot of outdoor stuff in it.

The fence we used was bought all from lowes. We bought the fencing poles, and metel fencing wire materials for about $400. We put in a lockable door. Then we spent another $50 on a "Deer" electric fence. Trust me, it only shocks a little. I let my kids play with it. It stings like a bee. We strung this all around the fence (but not the door). The door we locked. That way, we figuered, kids would use the door, adults may try to cut the fence or climb over it. So we used a deterrent that was good enough to deter - NOT kill. And most kids just need a deterrent.

 

[mysteryunicorn]

nthorton

Do you have kids????