Unsafe Playground Equipment

Children in East Tennessee enjoy playgrounds, and often parents consider them safe places to take them, assuming that government officials and daycares would take every reasonable precaution to make sure that children are safe. However, not all playgrounds are constructed safely or properly maintained. Children are sometimes hurt on unsafe playground equipment. If your child was injured on a playground due to dangerous equipment, you should consult experienced Knoxville child injury attorney Mark Hartsoe. He may be able to help you recover compensation through a premises liability claim.

Property owners in Tennessee are expected to keep their premises in a reasonably safe condition for lawful visitors. This includes a responsibility to periodically inspect the property to see if any particular items need repair or replacement. The duties may vary somewhat for governmental entities that own parks with playgrounds and private owners of playgrounds, such as daycares or homes.

In general, to successfully establish liability, you will need to be able to prove that the defendant owned or was otherwise in control of the property where the injury happened, your child was invited onto the property, and the defendant's negligence caused your child’s injuries. You will also need to show that the owner or occupier knew or should have known about the unsafe playground equipment. For example, governmental entities may be charged with constructive notice of information if the information could have been discovered through reasonable diligence, and the governmental entity had a duty to use reasonable diligence to investigate the matter.

In most cases, property owners do not owe the same level of care to trespassers. However, under the attractive nuisance doctrine, property owners may owe a special responsibility to child trespassers in connection with unsafe playground equipment. Under Tennessee Code § 29-34-208 (a), (c), and (d), a property owner may be liable for physical injuries or death to a child trespasser if they maintained a non-natural dangerous condition that they knew or should have known presented a risk of death or serious bodily injury to trespassing children. Also, they must have known or have been expected to know that children were likely to trespass, the dangerous condition must not have been apparent, children must not have been likely to understand the risk, the property owner must have failed to use reasonable care to address the danger, and the utility to the property owner of keeping the dangerous condition and the burden of fixing it must have been significantly outweighed by the risk of harming children who would foreseeably trespass.

You should be aware that special rules apply if you are suing city, state, or federal governments. Governmental entities generally have sovereign immunity from suit, except when they have waived this immunity. In Tennessee, if you are suing a city for injuries arising out of negligence related to unsafe playground equipment, the Governmental Tort Liability Act (GTLA) will apply.

If your child suffered injuries in an accident caused by unsafe playground equipment, you should consult experienced Knoxville child injury lawyer Mark Hartsoe. He can advise you on whether it may be appropriate to bring a premises liability or product liability claim, and he can represent you throughout the process. Call the Hartsoe Law Firm at 865-804-1011 or contact us via our online form to set up a free appointment with a premises liability attorney. Mark Hartsoe represents injured children throughout East Tennessee, including in Knox, Blount, Monroe, Loudon, Jefferson, Grainger, Cocke, Campbell, Hamblen, Greene, Anderson, Cumberland, and Fentress Counties.