As summer begins, your children are likely outside more, exploring the neighborhood and points beyond. That can be a positive and healthy thing. It can also result in serious injuries.
Even if you’ve taught your kids not to go on to someone else’s property without permission and not to touch things they’re curious about if an adult isn’t present, they can forget all that if they’re with their friends or other kids. Sometimes, they’ll see something that’s just too interesting or potentially fun to pass up. Under the law, these things are called “attractive nuisances.”
An adult who is injured while simply trespassing on someone’s property typically can’t hold them liable – unless the property owner intended to cause injury by setting a “booby trap” for trespassers or shooting someone just for stepping on their property. However, that’s not true for children – particularly when an attractive nuisance is involved.
What does Ohio law say?
Under Ohio law, a property owner can be held liable if a child is harmed by an “artificial condition” on a property — and in some cases any dangerous condition. Typically, property owners have more liability if a child is harmed by an artificial condition (like a swimming pool) than a natural one, like a pond or stream on their land.
People often think of swimming pools and play equipment as attractive nuisances that need to be kept inaccessible from young potential trespassers. However, anything from an abandoned washing machine to open paint cans left on the porch can capture the interest and imagination of a child.
How is liability determined?
Every situation is unique. The liability of a property owner can depend on things like whether they took reasonable precautions to protect children or keep them away from the attractive nuisance, whether they could have reasonably assumed it could cause harm and whether they complied with specific regulations around it (like swimming pools).
If your child has been seriously harmed by something you believe qualifies as an attractive nuisance, it’s important to get legal guidance to help you hold the property owner and/or other parties liable.