NEW YORK LAWYERS REPRESENTING CHILDREN INJURED IN PLAYGROUND ACCIDENTS Your Child Should Be Free To Play

AN INJURY TO A CHILD AFFECTS THE WHOLE FAMLY 

An injury to a child is every parent’s worst nightmare. All too often we send our children to school or day care only to receive the dreaded call that our child was hurt or injured.  Another nightmare scenario for most parents is letting your child play in a public playground, only to hear them suddenly cry out in pain. Playground injuries are a leading cause of accidental injury to children, but if your child got hurt on a New York City playground, you should not just assume that it was your child's fault. Unfortunately, playgrounds are often dangerous for children because of design errors, improper warnings, improper installation of playground equipment or inadequate maintenance of playground equipment. Our New York City playground injury lawyers have handled numerous personal injury cases involving injuries to children on public playgrounds and at school yards and our attorneys know that if the playground is safe, more often than not, the child will not get hurt.   

Our playground accident lawyers have extensive experience in representing parents whose children were injured on a playground because the playground was dangerous. Our injury attorneys know what to look for and how to prove the case. An early investigation is your best chance of proving a case, so if your child was hurt, take pictures of everything and call our playground accident lawyers. Our NYC playground injury attorneys employ investigators who can get out to a  playground, often the same day that we are called and take photographs and measurements, to preserve evidence. The school, playground or day care where your child was injured will not voluntarily admit that the accident was their fault, but often these injuries are caused by the negligence of the school or property owner. A few examples of the most common negligence our New York accident lawyers see are unsafe fall surfaces, children utilizing playground equipment that is not age appropriate, broken or uneven asphalt and negligence in supervision.

WE KNOW THE LAW 

Under New York law, landowners that have playgrounds are required to install and maintain their park and playground facilities in a reasonably safe condition. This includes schools, New York City parks and day care/pre-school facilities.  To make sure that playgrounds in New York State meet certain minimum safety standards, New York's legislature enacted New York General Business Law § 399-dd states, in pertinent part, that the Department of State shall promulgate rules and regulations for the design, installation, inspection, and maintenance of playgrounds and playground equipment, which shall substantially comply with the guidelines and criteria contained in the Handbook for Public Playground Safety produced by the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission. Thereafter, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety's Handbook for Public Playground safety was adopted as the standard with the passage of 21 NYCRR § 4605.2. So the first step in any playground accident investigation is to see if there was a violation of the standards in they Handbook for Playground Safety. 

Most industry regulations require inspections of playground equipment by a qualified inspector, with mechanical knowledge to ensure that the equipment is properly maintained for the safety of the children who play on the equipment. Our Manhattan playground accident lawyers know that a proper preventive maintenance protocol is an essential safety practice to prevent playground injuries. 

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, each year, more than 200,000 children ages 14 and younger go to U.S. hospital emergency departments with injuries associated with playground equipment. More than 20,000 of these children are treated for a traumatic brain injury,

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

ARE THERE TIME LIMITS 

Yes, for any playground operated by New York City, a notice of claim  must be filed with the City of  New York, within 90 days of the accident. Our lawyers can prepare these for you and have it properly filed within a day. If you do not timely file the notice of claim, for a playground injury, you will not be able to sue the City unless you get special permission from the Court.  

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER I FILE A NOTICE OF CLAIM

After you file a notice of claim, the City has the right to a hearing, where they ask you questions about the accident and your child's injuries. Our attorneys will prepare you for this so you know what to expect. 

DO I NEED A LAWYER RIGHT AWAY 

In addition to making sure that the notice of claim is timely filed, to prove a case, you need evidence that the City was negligent. Photographs of the condition that caused the injury and contemporaneous measurements by an expert or investigator are usually the best evidence of how an accident happened. If you let time go by, the City may fix the problem and you may lose the evidence of how the accident happened. 

The Law Office of Michael H. Joseph, PLLC

Law Office of Michael H. Joseph, PLLC

The Law Office of Michael H. Joseph, PLLC, has been helping injured victims recover compensation for their injuries for over a decade. Our attorneys are members of several prestigious organizations, including: 

  • New York State Trial Lawyers Association
  • American Association for Justice
  • New York County Bar Association
  • Westchester County Bar Association

To request your free initial consultation with our team, call our New York City office at (212) 858-0503 or our White Plains office at (914) 574-8330. You can also request a case review online.

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