Like all parents in Daytona Beach, you want your kids to lead healthy lives. Part of healthy living is getting outside, and while you no doubt encourage them to do so, you also probably maintain a slight concern about the dangers they may encounter. While your likely understand not to talk to strangers, things like swimming pools, construction sites, junkyards and abandoned building may seem innocuous to them. Many have come to us here at The Law Offices of Keith C. Warnock, P.A. after their kids have been injured in such places wondering what legal recourse is available to them.

If your child has also been injured by any of the aforementioned attractions, you should know that the attractive nuisance doctrine provides a way to hold the property owner on which the attraction was found liable for their injuries. The attractive nuisance doctrine recognizes that children often lack the comprehension necessary to see the risks that certain attractions pose. Therefore, the owners of the land on which such attractions are found take reasonable measures to restrict access to them if it is foreseeable that children will come in contact with them.

What would “reasonable measures” constitute in this context? Examples might include:

• Posting a “Beware of Dog” sign
• Erecting a fence around a pool or worksite
• Locking doors and windows to unstable structure kids might try to enter

For those that argue that Florida's statutes do not address liability for injuries to children, you can counter by showing that Section 768.075 of the state's Negligence Code says that its provisions do not absolve property owners of the standard set by the attractive nuisance doctrine.