What is the Attractive Nuisance Doctrine?

The Attractive Nuisance Doctrine protects a child who wanders or trespasses onto another’s property and is injured by a dangerous condition. Attractive nuisance is a negligence action, based on a land owner’s premise liability and to protect children from unreasonable risk of harm.

Generally, a land owner may be responsible for a child trespasser’s injuries if:

1. The property owner knows or has reason to know that the place where a dangerous condition exists is one where a child may trespass;
2. The dangerous condition is known to or should be known to cause unreasonable risk of harm to a child;
3. The child, because of their young age, does not realize the risk involved with the dangerous condition;
4. The burden of eliminating the danger is less than the risk posed to a child; and
5. The property owner fails to act with reasonable care to remove the danger or protect the child from the risk of danger.

Additionally, the dangerous condition must be one that is man-made, like a pool or hot tub and constitutes an attractive “trap” for a child. Landowners near a playground, residential area, school, or other populated area where children frequent may have a greater duty to eliminate dangers. It’s important to know that a natural body of water, like a lake, stream, or pond may not be an attractive nuisance, so make sure to protect children.

Here are some tragic, real-life examples of attractive nuisances. As an accident attorney in north central Florida, I hope we can learn from these situations and work together to eliminate attractive nuisance risks to children.

• A child fell into a pool and died when the homeowner left the fence around the pool open, and the child wandered into the yard, enticed by the sound of water running into the pool from a hose. (Samson v. O’Hara, 239 So. 2d 151 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2d Dist. 1970)).
• A child fell from a tree in a public park onto a bench below. The city knew that children sometimes climbed the tree, and that if a fall occurred, a child could be injured by the bench. (Cusick ex rel. Cusick v. City of Neptune Beach, 765 So. 2d 175 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 1st Dist. 2000)).
• A child died at a construction site when playing with a giant mound of sand, palmetto leaves, and grass. The construction company could have easily moved the large mound or arranged it into smaller piles, which would have been less likely to attract children. (Ridgewood Groves, Inc. v. Dowell, 189 So. 2d 188 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2d Dist. 1966)).
• A child died when swimming in a man-made pit filled with water, where children were known to swim. The pit was equipped with a wooden dock and raft. (Ansin v. Thurston, 98 So. 2d 87 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 3d Dist. 1957)). 41 Fla. Jur 2d Premises Liability §§ 66-77.

We at Meldon Law strongly believe that public education is the first step in the prevention of an accident or in the recovery from one.

We are experienced personal injury attorneys, trial attorneys, negotiators, litigators, paralegals, and staff who have been proudly working to get accident victims the justice they deserve for over 40 years in Gainesville, Ocala, Lake City, Inverness, and the rest of North Central Florida and North Florida. Accidents involving a car crash, truck wreck, motorcycle, bicycle, or pedestrian accidents, dog bites, slip and falls, medical malpractice, and criminal defense are all included in our practice.

Based on Jeffrey Meldon’s, founder of Meldon Law, over 40 years of helping accident victims get justice and a fair shake from the insurance companies, he has written the consumer guidebook, Seven Mistakes That Can Wreck Your Florida Accident Case. You can request your free, no-obligation copy right now, or contact our office for your complimentary copy sent to you today.

For more information on how we can help you, or with any other questions you may have, feel free to contact our office at 800-373-8000.