Texas pool owners have a responsibility to keep their pools secure from uninvited guests and free of unreasonable hazards for those who are invited. A swimming pool and drowning accident lawyer in Houston can review your case and may be able to help you hold the property owner accountable. If you have a case, your Houston premises liability lawyer will file an insurance claim or premises liability lawsuit on your behalf.
At D. Miller & Associates, PLLC, we offer free evaluations to people injured in swimming pool accidents. We can review what happened and fight for your right to recover compensation for your losses and damages. Call our law office today at 713-850-8600 or contact us online for a free consultation.
Understanding Premises Liability Laws for Swimming Pool Injuries in Texas
As noted, Texas premises liability laws hold property owners responsible for maintaining safe conditions on their property, including swimming pools. Owners must take reasonable steps to prevent injuries by fixing known hazards, providing warnings, and securing the pool area, especially to protect children under the attractive nuisance doctrine.
It is important to understand who receives protection under Texas premises liability laws. The laws protect:
- Invited guests
- Customers
- Contractors; and
- Delivery personnel
If any of these describe you at the time of your injuries, you may have a valid claim. It is important to note that trespassers are not on this list. If you, as an adult, sneak into your neighbor’s pool and suffer an injury, their insurance company will likely deny your claim.
Special Protections for Children
Under Texas law, swimming pools are considered an attractive nuisance—a dangerous condition likely to attract children who may not recognize the risks. Property owners can be held liable for injuries to children, even if the child was trespassing, if:
- The pool presents an unreasonable risk of harm,
- The child is unlikely to understand the danger,
- The cost of securing the pool is minimal compared to the risk, and
- The owner fails to take reasonable steps to prevent access (e.g., installing a fence with a self-latching gate).
These protections reflect Texas law’s emphasis on balancing property rights with the duty to protect those, especially children, who are most vulnerable to harm.
Common Causes of Swimming Pool Accidents in Houston
The sooner a Houston personal injury lawyer can investigate the circumstances surrounding a swimming pool accident, the stronger your case will likely be. Prompt action allows for the preservation of evidence, identification of liable parties, and a clearer understanding of what went wrong.
Common causes of accidents include:
Inadequate Fencing and Barriers
In Texas, pool owners are required by law to construct fences at least four feet high and include self-latching gates that are beyond a child’s reach.
Faulty Pool Equipment
Defective or poorly maintained pool components—such as ladders, drains, pumps, or filtration systems—can pose serious risks to swimmers, including entrapments, submersion injuries, or drownings. Pool owners have a legal duty to regularly inspect and maintain all equipment to ensure it functions safely. Failure to repair or replace hazardous pool mechanisms may constitute negligence, exposing the owner to liability if injuries occur.
Slip and Fall Accidents
Proper treading and non-slip surfaces must be implemented to prevent slip and fall accidents, which can result in fractures, head trauma, and other serious injuries.
Unsafe Pool Covers
Pool owners are also responsible for securing their pools when not in use and ensuring that safety features like covers and drainage systems are properly maintained. Failing to take these precautions may constitute negligence, especially when the risk of harm is foreseeable.
Lack of Supervision
Inadequate supervision is a common cause of swimming pool accidents linked to negligence. This may involve absent, distracted, unqualified lifeguards, unsupervised children, or failure to enforce safety rules like “no diving” or “no running.”
Negligence in Public vs. Private Swimming Pools
Private pools, such as those at residences, are held to a lower standard but still must be reasonably safe for invited guests. Owners must secure the pool, address known hazards, and supervise guests appropriately. Under Texas’s attractive nuisance doctrine, even child trespassers may be protected if the pool was not adequately secured.
In private pool cases, the homeowner or tenant is usually the primary liable party, but others, including maintenance providers or product manufacturers, may share responsibility depending on the facts. Texas law requires property controllers to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable harm, especially to children.
Public Pools
Public pools—such as those operated by cities, schools, or private clubs—owe patrons a higher duty of care, especially when an admission fee is charged. These facilities are generally required to comply with strict safety regulations, including proper signage, lifeguard staffing, and regular maintenance. Failure to meet these standards can constitute negligence if an injury occurs.
In public pool accidents, liability may extend beyond the property owner to include lifeguards and their employers for inadequate supervision, pool management companies for negligent maintenance or safety lapses, equipment manufacturers for defective products, and contractors or builders for design flaws or code violations—all of whom can be held accountable if their actions or omissions contribute to the injury.
Types of Damages Recoverable in a Houston Swimming Pool Accident Case
The damages available in your case depend on the nature and severity of your injuries and the value of your economic losses. Some of the most common types of damages we can recover for our clients include:
- The cost of medical care and treatment.
- Ongoing care costs.
- Home health or in-home nursing care.
- Rehabilitation or therapy.
- Current lost wages.
- Future lost income and benefits if you cannot return to work.
- Related out-of-pocket costs; and
- Pain and suffering damages.
Swimming pool accidents can cause relatively minor injuries, life-altering damages, or fatal drownings. Because of the wide range of injuries and other damages possible in this type of claim, we need to conduct a full investigation into your accident.
If your family member passed away because of the accident, we can help you understand your right to compensation. We may be able to file a wrongful death lawsuit and a survival action to collect the damages you and your loved one suffered.
Proving Liability
Under Texas premises liability laws, accident victims must prove these four elements:
- The property owner had an obligation to follow all safety protocols to keep guests and visitors safe;
- They failed to follow safety rules and put guests and visitors in harm’s way;
- This led directly to your accident and injuries; and
- You suffered physical and financial damages because of the incident.
If the property owner’s negligence caused your injuries, they can be held legally responsible, typically pursued through a claim against their homeowner’s or business liability insurance. Because proving liability often involves complex legal and factual issues, such as demonstrating unsafe conditions or failure to provide adequate warnings, it’s important to consult an experienced premises liability lawyer in Houston as soon as possible after your swimming pool accident.
How We Help Victims of Swimming Pool Accidents
If you enlist our help to work on your case, we will investigate your injuries and who was responsible. As a part of this investigation, we:
- Identify, collect, and analyze evidence.
- Interview witnesses.
- Obtain copies of any video of the incident.
- Visit and document the scene.
- Request your medical records and discuss your prognosis with experts; and
- Put together a strong case to show the property owner acted negligently.
Proving the property owner acted negligently by failing to prevent your injuries is essential to winning your case.
Schedule a Free Consultation After a Swimming Pool Accident in Houston
At D. Miller & Associates, PLLC, our team can help you fight for the compensation you deserve after a Houston swimming pool accident. We will review the facts of your case and explain your options for compensation. If we believe you have a strong case, we can help you file your insurance claim or premises liability lawsuit and hold the property owner accountable.
We encourage you to contact us. We may be able to uncover damages you would overlook on your own. Since we work on a contingency fee basis, you will generally not pay attorney’s fees unless we win compensation for your injuries.
