Child drowns in pool

Barry Doyle

Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 800

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A California child is dead and his brother hangs for life after the two boys were discovered in a pool owned by a neighbor. The dirty condition of the water in the pool delayed finding the boys.

The cause of death for the younger boy wasd drowning.

One of the criticisms of trial lawyers is that accidents such as this one have the potential for bankrupting pool owners, leading to people not installing pools and then not sharing them with their neghbors for fear of being sued in the event of an accident.

Unfortuantely for the victims of drowning accidents such as this, Illinois clings to a doctrine of law refered to as the "open and obvious danger rule" which means that certain hazards are so obvious to everyone that any child large enough to roam at large can appreciate the danger. One such open and obvious danger is the danger of drowning when you go into the water -- at least that is what the Illinois Supreme Court says.

Pool owners and their insurers don't have much to worry about, but their young neighbors do.