Children of all ages love to play outdoors, especially on playground equipment. Some favorite things children like to do are play on monkey bars, swing, slide and climb—all things children should be able to do safely at playgrounds. Unfortunately, playground equipment can be defective, dangerous and poorly maintained, leading to child injuries in Florida and nationwide.
Sadly, a fun day playing on playground equipment can end tragically for many innocent children. In fact, annually there are about 200,000 children nationwide who receive medical treatment in hospital emergency rooms for their playground injuries, according to Kidshealth.org.
When children get injured on monkey bars, slides, swings or other playground equipment, they can suffer one of the following playground-related injuries:
- Lacerations
- Contusions and abrasions
- Sprains
- Broken bones
- Shattered elbow
- Traumatic brain injuries
Liable Parties for Playground Injuries
Some playground injuries are caused by a simple fall. Others, however, result from failure to maintain the equipment, faulty design, poor manufacturing, no supervision or lack of safety provisions. For example, if your son or daughter suffered a broken bone as a result of falling off the monkey bars, an investigation can reveal there was not proper cushioning or ground cover underneath the monkey bars.
When playground injuries in Florida occur, there could be multiple parties liable for your child’s injury, including:
- School – if the playground accident occurred at school, the daycare, school district or private school could be held accountable. The school could be at fault for failing to maintain the equipment, failing to provide mulch or the proper ground cover, or failing to supervise children.
- City – if the playground accident took place at a city park, your local city could be responsible for failing to put the necessary safety equipment in place or failing to maintain the playground equipment.
- Manufacturer – sometimes a playground injury in Sarasota has been caused by a faulty piece of equipment. This means that the manufacturer of the playground equipment could be held liable for injuries children sustained.
Child playground injuries sometimes require a closer look to determine who is liable for your child’s medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages. Our Sarasota child injury lawyers were successful in helping to obtain compensation for a six-year-old child injured while playing on the monkey bars at school. If your child was hurt at school, it may not have been his or her fault. Call Mallard Perez immediately to begin an investigation at 888-409-3805 for a free consultation.