Trampolines in your backyard?

[ShannonMB]

Would you really be held liable if someone trespasses into your yard without your permission when no one is home and got hurt on a trampoline? They are TRESPASSING!

I think it's sorta the same concept of being held liable if a neighbor's kid drowns in your pool if you don't have a fence. You have something that is known to attract kids and you don't have it safeguarded, you can be liable.

 

[starbird]

But I guess the fact that my homeowner's insurance explicitly asks about trampolines makes it feel like way too much liability for me.

That is my concern as well. Most people I know that have one didn't have one the day they moved in. So their Home Owner policy is based on not having one. I am willing to bet most people do not think "I better call my Home Owners Insurance and tell them I got a trampoline."

Does anyone know if your premium increases if you say "Yes, I have a trampoline"?? If it does, I am willing to bet any claim against your insurance from someone breaking their arm, etc. would (or at least could) be denied.

 

[peyton18]

We've had one before & my kids are begging for another one. I don't want to get one because a) it has flipped over during storms b) our neighbors' kids always want to come over & jump on it too. I don't mind the neighbors on it but they don't follow my trampoline rules & 5 or 6 try to jump at a time!

 

[tzolkin]

Would you really be held liable if someone trespasses into your yard without your permission when no one is home and got hurt on a trampoline? They are TRESPASSING!

I agree and I think it's completely ridiculous.

I cannot understand why the person trespassing (or the parents if it's a child) shouldn't be responsible for their own actions.


Of course we have things that are "attractive" to kids in our yard... for our own kids! Any older child/teen/adult should understand that you cannot go onto someone's property and use their things without their permission. And children who are too young to understand that should be supervised.

I think it's sorta the same concept of being held liable if a neighbor's kid drowns in your pool if you don't have a fence. You have something that is known to attract kids and you don't have it safeguarded, you can be liable.

The problem is how do you prevent someone from coming into your yard when you are not home? Even if you have a fence and a lock on your trampoline, a teenager could still get access.

I am always worried that kids will get into our yard when we're not home. I even overheard the neighbor arguing with my DD one day that DH gave him "permission" to play on our playset when we weren't home. I assured him that was not the case.

 

[Grandmax3]

I make no bones about the fact that I dislike trampolines and would never let DD on one. DH hates them worse than I do, since his childhood next door neighbor was made a quadriplegic due to a trampoline accident.

My kids who are since grown begged to have when they were just started being sold to the consumer market and their friends had one which they were NOT allowed on. Maryland schools had them for gym class. In our high school one of the football players fell between spotters and became a quadriplegic. All the safety rules were followed and he still got hurt. The schools got sued and he received over 6millon dollars for his injury and this was when a years salary was $25000. As a result they were removed from the schools.

 

[travlnman1]

It was the best toy investment we ever made. 3 kids and we've had it for 10 years and never any accidents. They jumped all the time and even slept on it outside in the summer. We have the netting and the rule of no flipping if there is more than 1 person on.
Just this morning I put an ad in our local paper for our tramp. Free for the taking. My "kids" are now 18, 21 and 23. If you are in the Phila. area, the tramp could be yours!

 

[andrews_dad]

I live in a nice neighborhood, with the cheapest place being $350K (that won't get you much in Cali but that is a nice amount in this neck of the woods). Anyhow, my darn neighbor has one of these tampolines and he never figured a way to mow beneath it. He has a weed factory under that thing! Some of these weeds are the sizes of small trees and bushes. It is disgusting! It is a real eyesore even without weeds, IMO. We aren't allowed to have boats, campers, or work trucks parked in our driveways but nobody put a provision in to ban these things? Oh well!

 

[2littleprincesses]

OP here. Our homeowners insurance will not cover this and will not renew our policy if we have one. So there is our answer. No trampoline. The kids are not even asking for one, I just thought it would be fun.

 

[kacaju]

Do you mind me asking what insurance company you have??

 

[2littleprincesses]

Do you mind me asking what insurance company you have??

Horace Mann--it is an educators insurance company

 

[KeepBreathing]

We love our trampoline. We have a fenced in yard and the net around the trampoline. The only first hand knowledge that I have of anyone getting hurt on a trampoline is falling when they are trying to get in and out, we solved that problem by setting up 3 straw bales as steps near the entrance. Both my 8 year old and 3 year old love it - it is the first thing they want to do when they go outside.

 

[deerhart]

Would you really be held liable if someone trespasses into your yard without your permission when no one is home and got hurt on a trampoline? They are TRESPASSING!

if it is a child and you have an attractive nuisance in your yard YES. FYI both pools and trampolines are attractive nuisances. The definition of an attractive nuisance is an item that you KNOW is going to be attractive/fun for kids and thus entice them to make a BAD decision to come onto your yard.

Putting up a fence helps but does not bar an attractive nuisance suit.

Children are not held to the same standard as adults when it comes to trespassing due to an attractive nuisance. Almost ALWAYS the homeowner will be held liable for the injuries to a trespassing child because you ASSUMED the risk of children trespassing when you chose to place this object in your yard.

 

[deerhart]

That is my concern as well. Most people I know that have one didn't have one the day they moved in. So their Home Owner policy is based on not having one. I am willing to bet most people do not think "I better call my Home Owners Insurance and tell them I got a trampoline."

Does anyone know if your premium increases if you say "Yes, I have a trampoline"?? If it does, I am willing to bet any claim against your insurance from someone breaking their arm, etc. would (or at least could) be denied.

OH yes. Not only can they deny the claim (as an uncovered claim) and thus suddenly your personally liable, but they will then cancel your insurance effective immediately and try to backdate the cancellation it to the date they believed you obtained the trampoline (and thus if you had any claims between then and the present require you to pay back that money).

They can do this because it would be a violation of your policy and therefore your subject to immediate cancellation as of the day you violated the policy.

It's sort of like if you get a dog and do not let your homeowners policy know and the dog bites someone they can deny coverage for the bite AND then cancel your policy.

 

[ktlm]

I'm an attorney, and I probably wouldn't have thought twice about letting DD get on a trampoline if I hadn't defended a trampoline case several years back. Now, I don't want to ever see her get on one and we will never in a million years have one at our house. I had no idea how horribly dangerous trampolines were until I did research connected to that case. In that case, my clients were the parents of two boys. Their yard was fenced. A neighbor boy came over to play, and broke his leg merely jumping up and down on the trampoline (no tricks). The break was in the growth plate, so his legs may very well not be the same length when he is an adult. The homeowners were sued for failing to warn of the dangers or to supervise, specifically for not standing out in the back yard and preventing more than one child from being on it at a time. In my research, I found case after case of absolutely horrific injuries. I saw several cases where kids became paraplegic or quadripeglic simply from trying to do one flip and landing on their head or neck. I also discovered that you are NEVER to have more than one person at at time on a trampoline, or else there is a very high injury risk. (If you look at the manuals that come with the trampoline, most, if not all, contain a warning that only 1 person should jump (as well as a warning never to attempt a flip)). The problem is with the tension in the mat. They are designed for give and take with one person. If two people jump alternating, when one goes up it can create the situation where the mat is taut when the other person comes down on it (the same thing can happen when one person is at the bottom of their landing right before it springs back). This makes it basically like coming down on concrete for the other person. In our case 2 boys were simply jumping up and down alternating, the neighbor apparently hit the mat when it was up taut which was what snapped his leg. We found case after case of leg and ankle sprains, strains, torn ligaments, and breaks caused by this issue. Even if you try to jump exactly together, if you are a little bit off, the same thing can happen. People think that most trampoline injuries happen because someone falls or bounces off. That isn't the case. One thing I've learned through being an attorney, people never think that sort of thing is going to happen to them...until it does.

 

[Bunnyfeather]

ktlm, I agree with you. I have spoken with several people whose children were severely injured just jumping on a trampoline, not falling off or horsing around, just one kid jumped and another landed and some horrific breaks resulted, including one kid who broke his back. Our next-door-neighbors have one and they have active boys and I am so nervous of that thing, that one of those sweet kids is going to get hurt.

My kids do get to jump on a trampoline. Their gymnastics class has trampolines-sunk to floor height with expansive foam padding covered by mats and padding that overlaps the springs by several inches and a coach supervising and instructing the kids on how to jump and only one kid per trampoline, ever. And the gym ones, I guess because they aren't outdoor-proofed, are a springier material. They think it is more fun than a neighborhood trampoline where they have to take turns and might get bounced and fall, and they learn how to do neat tricks safely.

 

[Stacieb]

We do have a trampoline, ready to get rid of it.. My kids do love it..

But we had DD 4th b-day at pump it up moonwalk indoor place.. Well 1/2 hr into her party she broke her arm, 2 surgeries later and 9 weeks in a cast.. Plus I had to pay for the whole party $350 and medical bills $3000 after insurance.. Pump it up wouldn't do a thing for me!!

 

[kimmyann]

We bought our kids a trampoline because they wanted one really bad. I was always nervous about having it, esp when all of these kids started showing up. Three things led to me selling it. 1. After jumping on it myself and realizing how little control you really have. 2. Hearing about another neighbor who was being sued because a child broke his arm on thiers. 3. After hearing that and looking up the real dangers online, that was it! I was so relieved after it was gone.

Ironic though, we did buy a 3,000 gallon pool that summer and July 4th weekend the kids were going to be able to finally get in it after the set up was complete. My youngest daughter was so excited she started bouncing on our couch, fell off onto the hardwood floor and broke her arm. so much for trying to keep them safe.

Kim

 

[MomtoGKC]

Backyard trampolines stress me out! A friend of mine was jumping on one and tore up his knee - he needed tons of surgery. He was in his 30's at the time - just too much weight coming down at the end of a bad jump I guess!

We are renting a new house this week. One of the reasons we loved the house was the backyard- a pool, some yard to play in, a tiki hut, a swing set. The only bad part was there was a trampoline! Luckily it looked a little broken so the landlord said he'd get rid of it.

 

[ckoncurat]

We've had a round tramp with net for six years and had zero issues. We only allow two jumpers at a time (we have six children). My husband and his siblings grew up with a tramp, and none of them have ever had injuries either. We have a very expensive swingset too, but my children and visiting kids always prefer the trampoline.

 

[luvsJack]

I make no bones about the fact that I dislike trampolines and would never let DD on one. DH hates them worse than I do, since his childhood next door neighbor was made a quadriplegic due to a trampoline accident.

My kids who are since grown begged to have when they were just started being sold to the consumer market and their friends had one which they were NOT allowed on. Maryland schools had them for gym class. In our high school one of the football players fell between spotters and became a quadriplegic. All the safety rules were followed and he still got hurt. The schools got sued and he received over 6millon dollars for his injury and this was when a years salary was $25000. As a result they were removed from the schools.

That is truly sad and tragic for that young man. But I have to wonder, what where the odds that he could have received the same exact injury from playing football? I have seen many more young men air lifted to the hospital due to neck injuries in football then I have due to injuries with a trampoline. And wouldn't the school still be just as liable?

Trampolines, swimming pools, swing sets, jungle gyms, climbing structures, all of these things can be dangerous when kids are using them without the proper supervision. And tragic injuries, sadly, can happen on any one of them or while playing a back yard game of ball. Personally, I refuse to make decisions in my life based on whether some yahoo can sue me over it. As long as the trampoline is used in a safe manner, is either inside a fence or the screen locked (or otherwise reasonably kept away from stray children); it can be a fun activity that is great exercise for kids.