Landowners are responsible for making sure their property is safe. When children are involved, many areas of your land could hurt them. These are called attractive nuisances. If someone gets injured on your property grounds, their family could file a negligence lawsuit against you, which could have severe consequences. Here’s what you need to know about your attractive nuisances. 

What Are Attractive Nuisances? 

Attractive nuisances pertain to anything found on your property that can catch a child’s attention and pose a safety risk. They’re based on the idea that children are likely to trespass on someone else’s land if an aspect of it makes them curious.

Common examples of attractive nuisances are swimming pools, trampolines, and construction materials. These features might attract a child’s attention from the outside and have them wander onto your property to investigate.

Why Should You Be Concerned With a Child Trespasser?  

Connecticut holds landowners liable for their visitors if they were injured on the property. If the injury was mostly the visitor’s fault, the owner is safe from a lawsuit. They aren’t held responsible if trespassers hurt themselves, especially if there are clear warning signs and barriers. However, the situation is different when children are involved.

In the attraction nuisance doctrine, property owners are held responsible for keeping all children — welcome or not — safe from anything human-made on their land. If you fail to make your property child-proof and a kid gets hurt, you can be subject to a negligence lawsuit. 

How to Make Attractive Nuisances Safer

Placing warning signs on your land isn’t enough. The kid may not know how to read or understand the words. If you want to avoid a negligence case, your best option would be to secure or get rid of the hazard.

For instance, cover your swimming pool so kids won’t immediately fall into the water. You can also clean up the debris in your yard and keep machines like lawnmowers locked in storage. By removing any potential attractive nuisances on your property, you’ll reduce the chances of kids trespassing and harming themselves. 

Are you dealing with a negligence lawsuit in eastern Connecticut? Get in touch with the Law Office Of T J Morelli-Wolfe PC. TJ Morelli-Wolfe is a personal injury lawyer with over 20 years of experience helping families in Norwich, CT, with a variety of cases. If you need legal advice and assistance with filing suits, leave a message online or call (860) 859-9899.