There are many different factors that need to be examined when a child suffers a personal injury as a result of a dangerous condition on someone else’s property, and it helps to have an experienced Rochester personal injury lawyer review all of the circumstances surrounding the injury to determine who, if anyone, may be liable.

One factor that must be considered when deciding whether to proceed with a claim is whether it was foreseeable that the child would be on the property and thereby exposed to the dangerous condition.
When a child has been invited onto a neighbor’s property, the owner may be held liable if he or she did not maintain the property in a reasonably safe manner.

Under such circumstances, the owner would be fully aware that a child was present and should act accordingly to make sure the area is reasonably safe for that child.

Even when a child wanders onto a neighbor’s property without being invited and is injured, however, the law does not necessarily bar a successful personal injury claim against the property owner.

A neighbor who lives next door to children may be reasonably expected to be aware of the possibility that a child could wander into his or her yard under certain circumstances.

This is especially true when the dangerous condition that caused the injury is something that may appear interesting to the child and entice the child into approaching it.

For example, a neighbor who is aware that there are children living right next door and excavates a large hole in his yard could reasonably be expected to be aware that the children may enter the yard to examine the hole, because children are naturally curious about anything that is unusual or out of the ordinary.

If a child is injured as a result, the neighbor could be found liable because it was foreseeable that the children might approach the hole.

If your child has been injured, we would be happy to help you understand your rights.

Call us at 585-484-7432 for a legal consultation.