It’s back to school time, and children across Southern California will be spending recess and afterschool time climbing, swinging, and running on playgrounds. While these childhood staples provide children with hours of fun and activities, they can also be quite dangerous when not properly supervised or maintained.
The Centers for Disease Control reports that emergency departments across the country see more than 200,000 children under the age of 14 for injuries occurring on the playground. The most common injuries included:
While the vast majority of these injured children survive, an average of 12 children died each year between 1990 and 2000 due to playground-related injuries. So, where does a parent turn when a child is injured in a playground accident?
When a child is injured on a school or daycare playground, a knowledgeable Los Angeles child injury lawyer understands that the school or daycare may be liable for the injuries. When determining whether a viable childhood injury claim exists, a lawyer may look for such factors as:
Under some circumstances, the equipment within the playground may have caused the resulting injuries. Some examples of a playground product liability claim may include:
An investigation into the cause of injury may even lead to a determination that the company or entity that installed the playground equipment did so in a negligent manner.