In a couple of short weeks, it will be Memorial Day, kicking off the unofficial start to summer. With summer, many people will be heading to pools, lakes, rivers, beaches and other bodies of cool water, increasing the risk of drowning accidents. Please read on, then contact one of our experienced New Jersey personal injury lawyers to learn what you should know about drowning accidents in the Garden State.
What are the most common causes of drowning accidents in New Jersey?
Whether fatal or non-fatal, drowning can have significant impacts on victims and their loved ones. Those who survive may suffer from brain damage and other debilitating outcomes. That said, accidents most often stem from the following:
- Not being able to swim: Many adults and children report that they can’t swim or that they are weak swimmers.
- Missing or ineffective fences around water: Without barriers, such as fencing, young children can gain access to the pool area without their caregivers’ awareness.
- Lack of close supervision: Drowning can happen quickly and quietly anywhere there is water, especially to unsupervised children. It can happen in lakes, oceans, pools, bathtubs and even buckets of water, even where lifeguards are present.
- Location: For younger people, i.e. infants under a year old, anywhere can be potentially dangerous. Nonetheless, more than half of drownings among people fifteen years and older occur in natural waters like lakes, rivers or oceans.
- Not wearing life jackets: Life jackets can prevent drowning during water activities, especially boating and swimming.
- Alcohol consumption: Especially prevalent among adolescents and adults, alcohol use is involved in:
- Up to seventy percent of deaths associated with water recreation
- Nearly a quarter of emergency department visits for drowning
- About twenty percent of boating deaths
- Use of drugs and prescription medications: Even medications lawfully prescribed for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and other conditions can have effects similar to the consumption of alcohol.
How common are drowning accidents in New Jersey?
In the United States, more children ages one to four die from drowning than any other cause of death except birth defects. For children ages one to fourteen, drowning is the second leading cause of unintentional injury death after motor vehicle crashes.
If you or a loved one has sustained injuries or wrongful death from drowning, please do not hesitate to give us a call today, so we can help hold the responsible parties accountable for their negligence.
Contact our experienced New Jersey firm
If you or someone you know has sustained an injury, whether on the job, on the road, due to a medical professional’s negligence, or otherwise, our firm is here. Rubenstein, Berliner & Shinrod, LLC has helped countless victims of negligence over the years, and we are ready to do the same for you. Contact our firm today so we can get started.
