premises liability

August 23, 2019

Slips and Falls Around Rancho Bernardo Pools

The San Diego area is full of swimming pools, from the private Rancho Bernardo Swim & Tennis Club to public pools managed by San Diego Parks & Recreation. When you visit a hotel pool, a public pool, or a swimming pool at the home of a friend or family member in or around San Diego County, it is important to be aware of slip and fall risks. People who own or manage properties including swimming pools owe a duty of care to customers (for private club and public pools) and to friends and family members (for private residential pools) who are on the property.

Sometimes swimming pool slips and falls happen when nobody plans to swim but the area near the pool is slick from water, while slips and falls also happen to swimmers and sunbathers. We want to say more about preventing slip and fall injuries and provide clarification about liability in swimming pool slips and falls.

Keeping Areas Around Pools Safe

April 14, 2017

City of San Diego Bicycle Accident Results in $4.8 Million Settlement

by Walton Law Firm

Who is responsible for severe and fatal bicycle accidents that occur in San Diego? The answer to that question depends on the specific facts of the case, but a recent report from NBC 7 News San Diego emphasizes just how important it is to file a bicycle accident lawsuit in Southern California if another party’s negligence results in your injuries. As that report notes, the City Council for the City of San Diego came to a unanimous agreement to pay a $4.85 million settlement to a cyclist who sustained severe and debilitating injuries as a result of an accident caused by uneven pavement.

While many bicycle accidents involve negligent motorists who are not paying attention to their surroundings or motorists who are driving aggressively and strike cyclists, the recent settlement makes clear that matters of premises liability can also affect the rate of bicycle accidents in urban areas.

Details of the Bicycle Accident in San Diego

August 19, 2016

Swimming Pools as “Death Traps”?

by Walton Law Firm

Whether you are swimming in a pool at your San Diego home or are visiting a neighbor’s house, do you need to be worried about your child’s safety as well as your own? According to a recent article in U.S. News & World Report, swimming pools can become death traps more frequently than most of us would like to believe, especially for young children. As that article explains, around 18 millions homes in the U.S. currently have swimming pools, but drowning is actually the leading cause of accidental death among children 1 to 4 years old. As the article emphasizes, a majority of those unintentional deaths occur in home swimming pools.

While kids under the age of four are at a higher risk of drowning than children in other age groups, it is important to remember that drowning can result in the death of anyone, at any age. For kids under the age of 15, drowning is the second-leading cause of accidental death. As such, it is important to take precautions to prevent your pool from becoming a death trap, as the article warns.

Supervision and Swimming Lessons for Your Kids

August 12, 2016

Liability When Resort or Hotel Guests Get Hurt

by Walton Law Firm

How often do serious and fatal injuries happen at large resorts? When a vacationer does get hurt, can he or she hold the hotel or the resort responsible? These types of claims fall under an area of personal injury law known as premises liability. In short, premises liability law holds that property owners—including resort and hotel owners—have a duty to keep a property free of hazards and to warn guests about serious dangers on the property. Why is this an important topic to discuss now?

Given that it is summertime, many families are planning vacations to resorts and hotels across the country. But more salient, perhaps, is the recent death of a toddler at the Walt Disney Resort, according to a report in The Washington Post. The child’s death may have happened in Florida, but it should alert parents in California and across the country to potential hidden dangers on family vacations and to the consequences of hotel negligence.

Child Killed by Alligator at Disney Property