Neighboorhood Dangers To Children

What is an "attractive nuisance"?

An "attractive nuisance" is a term used for some condition that can be dangerous under certain circumstances and that has characteristics which tend to bring children, or possibly even adults, onto a person's property in order to use that particular feature. An example might be a slope on somebody's property that people like to use to sled in the winter, but at the bottom a ditch or some kind of hazard that is somewhat hidden and, therefore, dangerous. So people would be attracted to come onto the property to use that slope, but there's actually a danger there. So, the reason that it's a nuisance is because there is some sort of danger involved. It may even just be a pond where people would want to come and swim, therefore an attractive nuisance. In some jurisdictions, the term "attractive nuisance" may have real legal significance, and in others it may just be a colloquial term that's used to describe that type of feature of a property.

Who needs to be aware of the attractive nuisance doctrine?

A property owner who maintains a condition on his property that is dangerous, or that could be dangerous, can be liable for that condition even possibly if somebody is injured when they're trespassing on their property. Let me give you an example I think everyone will understand. Swimming pools can be dangerous, especially dangerous to children and particularly to young children. And we have lots of episodes of children drowning in swimming pools. A swimming pool, in a sense, is always dangerous to children of a certain age. We have laws that require your pool to be fenced. If your pool is not properly fenced and some child wanders on your property, even though they're trespassing, you can expect that you're going to be liable for the death and injury of that child because you were maintaining a dangerous condition on your property, which in that particular instance would violate a local law. However, it doesn't always need to violate a local law to still potential create liability if it's a dangerous condition. You could have some piece of equipment that has a sharp edge on it that you're aware of. You know that somebody has been injured on this before. And because of that knowledge and the fact that you know it's dangerous the next person that gets injured may be able to claim damages against you.

What precautions should a homeowner take to protect herself from attractive nuisance issues?

It's useful to always remember the reasonably prudent person standard which applies in a verity of circumstances. You always want to do whatever is reasonable and prudent for your protection and for the protection of others.