Drowning is one of the most common causes of unintentional death. Drowning most often occurs in home swimming pools, and the death is even more tragic when it could have been prevented if not for the negligence of the owner of the pool. If your loved one drowned in a neighbor's pool, you may be able to seek compensation.

Risk Factors

The factors that are the most likely to lead to a drowning accident include the access that the deceased had to a swimming pool, the ability of the deceased to swim, and whether or not the deceased is a child.

Property owners have the responsibility of making sure that their swimming pools are secured with barriers. The property should be supervised when a child or another vulnerable party is using it. Also, the pool owner needs to make sure that anyone who is drowning is rescued and receives medical attention immediately.

Liability For a Drowning Death

Many states have specific laws regulating swimming pools. Homeowners often need to put up fences that are a specific height when there is a known risk that children might play near the pool and might fall inside. Therefore, you will need to speak with a drowning accident attorney about whether the pool owner will be held liable.

In many cases, the pool owner will argue that the child was too old and should have known better and that the pool owner should not be held responsible for the accident. However, many states do not have a specific age at which a child is considered old enough, and you may be able to argue that the child was at risk of drowning.

Some states also restrict liability if the individual who drowned was a child and the parents were present. Therefore, if you were not present and the other party argues that you were, you may need to gather evidence to prove that you could not have prevented the drowning.

Compensation for a Drowning Accident

After a drowning accident, certain parties may be entitled to compensation for the death of the individual. For example, you may be entitled to compensation for burial expenses, medical expenses, and pain and suffering.

The best way to prevent these types of accidents from happening in the future is to hold the negligent party accountable for the accident by filing a lawsuit with help from a drowning accident attorney.