Swimming pools, lakes, and oceanfront properties all offer a fantastic way to cool off from the Florida heat and enjoy a day of fun with friends and family.
Unfortunately, when swimming accidents occur, it can put a serious damper on the swimming fun for a long time to come.
Are you dealing with the aftermath of a swimming accident caused by another party’s negligence? You may deserve compensation for those losses.
Contact a Clearwater swimming accident lawyer at Perenich Law Injury Attorneys for your free consultation. Our team of dedicated personal injury attorneys is here for you.
Perenich Law Can Help After Your Clearwater Swimming Accident
If you, or a child in your family, suffer injuries in a swimming accident, you may need help navigating the road to compensation. Swimming accident injuries can be life-threatening and, in many cases, may result in death.
Perenich Law Injury Attorneys can help pursue compensation for those injuries. Our skilled Clearwater swimming accident attorneys have a history of success with many claims, including a $77,500 settlement for the family of a young individual who drowned in a lake. The lake did not have appropriate signs, warnings, or lifeguards in place, leaving the property owner liable for the incident. While we guarantee no results, contact us today to see what we can do for you.
At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we aim to help our clients understand and pursue the full compensation they deserve.
We help investigate the swimming accident and all the factors that contributed to it.
What caused the swimming accident? Often, you may find that the property owner failed to properly maintain the pool. For example, Clearwater property owners should keep pools secured when not in use to prevent children from mistakenly wandering into the area.
At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we will investigate the pool owner to determine what steps the owner failed to take and how they may have contributed to the swimming accident. Our Swimming pool accident lawyers can also investigate swimming accidents that may have occurred in the ocean due to poor supervision, poor property management, or boating incidents.
We help Clearwater swimming accident victims understand the compensation they may deserve.
Not only can a swimming accident prove incredibly scary, it can prove expensive. You may have immense medical bills related to your swimming accident, especially if the incident led to a long stay in the hospital or other complications. Our Clearwater swimming pool accident lawyers can help break down the full compensation you may deserve for those injuries and put together a claim that establishes your right to compensation.
We help our clients negotiate for the full compensation they deserve following a Clearwater swimming accident.
Often, dealing with the insurance company can be nearly as traumatic as the accident itself. You may know that you deserve compensation for injuries sustained in a swimming accident, but proving it may look like another story entirely.
Furthermore, the insurance company may fight to avoid paying out the full compensation you deserve, from trying to get you to accept a low settlement offer to trying to prove that you did not need the treatments you received for your swimming accident injuries.
Perenich Law Injury Lawyers can help fight for the compensation you really deserve following a swimming pool accident. Our proactive Clearwater swimming injury attorneys can take over negotiating with the insurance company and let you focus on recovering from your injuries.
Common Clearwater Swimming Accident Injuries
Swimming accidents can occur in a variety of ways. Most often, swimming accident claims in Clearwater involve a swimming pool accident, often because of poor maintenance on that pool.
Drowning
When most people think about swimming accidents, drowning usually tops the list.
Fatal drowning can occur because of:
- A child falling into a swimming pool, especially unattended or after sneaking onto the property
- Entrapment due to cords, toys, or unsafe items in the pool
- A lack of lifeguards
- A lack of posted warnings about a water source or its depth
Drowning can also include near-drowning, in which the person inhales water and suffers from a loss of oxygen, but does not die from those injuries. Near-drowning incidents can lead to brain injury due to a lack of oxygen. In some pools, inhaling heavy concentrations of chlorine can also cause serious injury to the lungs, including burn-like injuries, which may require a long stay in the hospital and can even lead to permanent consequences.
Head Injuries
Head injuries occur most often when someone dives into shallow water. Often, those dives occur because the person did not receive an adequate warning about the depth, or because the pool or water source did not have the labeled amount of water in it. Head injuries from diving into shallow water can cause memory deficits, including problems with both short-term and long-term memory. Head injuries can also occur if a swimmer comes up sharply underneath a diving board or other feature that sits too close to the water, or slips and falls on the pool deck.
Spinal Cord Injuries
Like head injuries, spinal cord injuries often result from diving into too-shallow water. Spinal cord injuries may, in many cases, lead to permanent paralysis. The extent of the paralysis may depend on where the injury occurs on the spinal cord and the severity of the damage.
Electrocution
Many Clearwater pool owners use underwater lights to help light up the pool at night. Owners may also use a variety of other electrical items to help clean the water or offer more fun to their visitors. Electricity around water, however, can pose a hazard when not properly grounded or shielded. Sometimes, electricity can result in electrocution injuries for visitors.
What Responsibilities Do Clearwater Pool Owners Bear?
Owning a pool in Clearwater brings with it a heavy responsibility. Both businesses with pools, including hotels, and private pool owners must take steps to ensure that visitors to their properties do not suffer undue risk as a result of those swimming pools.
Pool owners must erect a barrier around the pool.
A barrier serves as an effective deterrent that can help keep out children, who might consider the pool enticing, but not realize the danger they might face.
Florida law requires a barrier at least four feet high around the pool, with no gaps that children might slip through. That barrier must also sit far enough back from the pool that a child or elderly individual who slips through the barrier will not immediately fall into the pool.
Pools open at night must have adequate lighting for swimmers.
Both the pool and pool deck must have adequate lighting for swimmers to see clearly. Public pools that allow night swimming may need a specific permit obtained through a field test, when a professional ensures the pool lighting offers adequate visibility and won’t electrocute swimmers.
Pools require regular maintenance to make them as safe as possible.
Clearwater pool owners know that pool ownership brings with it many potential expenses. Both the area around the pool and the pool itself may require regular maintenance to reduce the risk of several common types of accidents. If a pool owner fails to properly maintain that pool, particularly if he does not warn visitors about any potential hazards, the pool owner may bear liability for any incident that occurs as a result of that lack of maintenance and warning.
In addition, public pool owners may need to provide signs that offer information about the dangers of swimming or diving in the area.
Determining Liability for a Clearwater Swimming Accident
Following a Clearwater swimming accident, you, or your family, may need to pursue compensation against the party that caused that accident. Most often, the pool owner will bear liability for a swimming accident. However, you will typically not pursue compensation from the pool owner directly. Usually, swimming accident victims will pursue compensation through the pool owner’s premises liability insurance.
You may also have the right to compensation when you suffer a swimming accident in the ocean due to someone else’s negligence. For example, if a boating incident results in swimming accident injuries, you may have the right to pursue compensation against the driver of that boat.
Talk to a knowledgeable Clearwater swimming accident attorney as soon as possible about how the incident occurred, including what factors may have contributed to your injuries, and how you can best move forward with a personal injury claim following the incident. For more information about Personal injury law and boating safety review some of our other topics or speak with an attorney about your claim today.
Recovering Compensation Following a Clearwater Swimming Accident
The compensation you obtain after a swimming accident can serve to help you pay your medical bills, manage your other expenses, and rebuild your life following a serious swimming accident. Many victims, however, wonder just how much compensation they can obtain.
At Perenich Law Injury Attorneys, we cannot guarantee the compensation any swimming accident victim can recover through a premises liability claim. However, our Clearwater swimming pool accident lawyers can help you break down the circumstances that led to your accident and the challenges you have faced due to those injuries to give you a better idea of the compensation you may deserve.
Medical Bills
Dealing with your medical bills can prove incredibly difficult after any type of serious accident. Even a minor swimming pool accident can lead to considerable time in the hospital and a long recovery.
Suppose, for example, that you slip and fall on a slippery pool walkway and end up breaking your arm. If you require surgery to set it, you could face $17,000 or more in medical costs. Then, you may need physical therapy. If you suffer permanent injuries like a traumatic brain injury, you may need to go through occupational therapy to learn how to cope with the limitations you face.
All those costs can add up substantially throughout your recovery. As part of your swimming pool accident claim, you can pursue compensation for those financial losses.
Lost Income
Suffering a swimming accident not only means that you may face immense medical bills, it may mean that you have to miss time at work. Your injuries may simply prevent you from working at all, especially if you require a long hospitalization or have limited use of your limbs. Your employer may require that you take time to recover before you come back to work, especially if your injuries impact your ability to complete your job or could potentially place liability on your employer’s shoulders if you suffer further injuries.
All that lost time at work can add up in terms of missed paychecks. You may find yourself struggling to keep up with your regular bills as a result of that lost income. As part of your swimming accident claim, you can include compensation for your lost wages. If your swimming accident injuries make it impossible for you to go back to your previous position or to work in your former field, you may also have the right to claim compensation for lost earning potential.
Your Suffering
As part of many personal injury claims, including swimming accident claims, victims may seek compensation for the non-financial damages they sustained in the accident.
Many times, the damage you face in your personal life can grow greater than the damages to your finances. You may suffer immense emotional distress because of your swimming accident injuries: a loss of your enjoyment of the water, increased anxiety, or increased risk of depression due to the limitations posed by your injuries. Depending on the extent of your injuries, you may face ongoing limitations or challenges.
As part of your swimming accident claim, you may include compensation for those non-financial losses you have faced. Talk to your committed Clearwater swimming accident attorney about how to calculate and include compensation for your suffering as part of a personal injury claim.
Do You Need a Clearwater Swimming Accident Attorney?
Yes. Following a swimming accident, having an experienced Clearwater swimming accident lawyer in your corner can be critical. An qualified attorney can aid you in the pursuit of justice and compensation you may have faced due to another party’s negligence. Call now.
(727) 669-2828
