Property owners in the Santa Fe area have a duty to ensure that their premises are reasonably safe for others who are on them lawfully, including children. Whether your kids are at the home of a friend or family member, or joining you at a restaurant or retail establishment, the owner or manager of the premises must ensure that the property is reasonably free of hazards or that others on the property have been warned. Accordingly, if your child suffers an injury because of a danger on the property, the property owner may be liable for your child’s injuries. In addition, property owners can sometimes be liable for child injuries even when a child trespasses on the property. According to the attractive nuisance doctrine, property owners in New Mexico need to consider potential hazards that could harm young children who trespass on the property.
Our New Mexico premises liability lawyers can provide you with more information.
Property Owners Can be Liable for Child Injuries Resulting From Negligent Maintenance
Whether an adult or a child suffers injuries while on another party’s property lawfully, the property owner can be responsible for those injuries if they result from negligent maintenance of the premises. For example, if a property owner failed to clean up a liquid spill that led to a slip and fall, or failed to repair or warn about a damaged staircase and a fall occurs, the property owner can be liable for injuries.
Generally speaking, if your child was injured on another party’s property while on the property lawfully, you will need to be able to prove that the property owner failed to maintain the premises in a reasonably safe condition, just as you would if an adult were injured. Yet in certain situations, a property owner can also be liable for injuries when a child trespasses on their property and gets hurt.
Attractive Nuisance Doctrine and Child Injuries
While property owners in general do not owe a duty of care to trespassers in New Mexico, there is an exception based on the attractive nuisance doctrine. Under New Mexico law, the attractive nuisance doctrine says that a property owner (or other possessor of land) can be liable for any physical harm to a child who trespasses if the property owner knows there is a condition on the land that is likely to make the child trespass (i.e., the attractive nuisance), that the condition involves an unreasonable risk of injury to the child, that the child is not able to recognize the risk, and that the property owner does not take steps to protect a trespassing child from injury.
Common examples of attractive nuisances include, for example:
- Swimming pools;
- Playgrounds;
- Trampolines;
- Skate ramps; and
- Appliances.
If your child trespassed onto another party’s property due to an attractive nuisance and got hurt, you could be able to hold that property owner accountable.
Contact a Santa Fe Personal Injury Lawyer
If you have questions about child injuries and premises liability, or about the attractive nuisance doctrine specifically, you should get in touch with one of our Santa Fe personal injury lawyers for more information. Contact Slate Stern Law today.