When a child is injured on someone else’s property, he or she may have a right to compensation for damages such as pain and suffering. The child’s parents may be entitled to recover expenses such as medical bills.
Property owners, however, are not automatically responsible if a child is injured on their premises. In Georgia, the injury must be the result of a dangerous condition that the property owner knew about or should have known about.
When are property owners responsible for injuries to a child?
To recover compensation in an injury case, the injured party must show that the property owner was negligent. What does or does not constitute negligence can be different depending on whether an adult or child is injured.
Let’s suppose a construction company puts up warning signs and a fence around a lot where it stores construction materials. If an adult ignores the warning signs and breaks into the site, the property owner may not be considered negligent and the person is injured.
The situation might be different for a child. Suppose the fence is in disrepair. Suppose children in the neighborhood have gone through a broken area of fence and played in the lot for months before the injury occurred. The court may consider the lot an “attractive nuisance.” Despite warning signs and a fence, the property owner may be considered negligent for not repairing the fence to prevent children from entering.
Children can be injured at private homes, at businesses, in apartments, in day care centers, at swimming pools and other settings. Property owners need to consider not only what is safe for an adult but what is safe for a child.