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Common Hotel and Motel Injuries in Rancho Bernardo

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 15:12:20 GMT

When you are staying at a hotel or motel in Rancho Bernardo, you should not have to worry about getting hurt in an accident because of the hotel’s negligence or because the hotel or motel is using a defective product in guest rooms or common areas. Yet hotel and motel injuries occur with some frequency, and guests can suffer serious and even life-threatening harm. If you got hurt while staying at a hotel or motel in Southern California, you should get in touch with a Rancho Bernardo hotel injury attorney to find out more about filing a claim for financial compensation. In the meantime, the following are some of the most common types of injuries that guests sustain at hotels and motels.

Slips, Trips, and Falls

At a hotel or motel, slips, trips, and falls can occur in various places and under a variety of circumstances. Often, a hotel or motel may be liable if a slip, trip, or fall occurred because of a liquid spill on the premises, a damaged area of flooring that went unrepaired, the presence of tripping hazards in common walkways, or a lack of lighting in areas where slips and falls could occur.

Drowning Accidents

Hotels and motels with pools and jacuzzis can be liable for drowning accidents that occur on the premises if they do not take appropriate precautions or post warning signs about certain risks of injury. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an average of 11 unintentional drowning deaths occur every day in the U.S., and many of those drownings affect children who sustain injuries while swimming and are not properly supervised.

Electric Shocks and Burns

When hotel or motel rooms have faulty equipment like hair dryers, defective coffeemakers, or damaged outlets, guests can suffer electric shock and burn injuries. When these types of injuries occur, the hotel or motel may be liable.

Criminal Assault Injuries

Assaults and other criminal acts can occur at hotels and motels. When the hotel or motel fails to ensure that the property is reasonably safe for guests — such as by ensuring that all door and window locks work and that lighting exists in dark areas — the hotel or motel may be responsible for injuries caused by a third party in an assault.

Exercise Equipment Injuries

Guests at hotels can suffer serious injuries as a result of accidents on exercise equipment or due to defective maintenance or product defects on exercise equipment at hotel gyms. If a hotel or motel does not have its exercise equipment properly maintained or does not seek replacements for defective exercise equipment or parts, people staying at the hotel and using the gym can sustain traumatic brain injuries, bruises, broken bones, burn injuries, and more. According to the National Safety Council (NSC), millions of people sustain injuries every year while using exercise equipment. In 2021 alone, more than 3 million people required treatment at emergency departments due to accidents while using recreational equipment. Depending upon the circumstances of the gym or equipment injury, the hotel or motel could be liable.

Contact a Rancho Bernardo Hotel and Motel Negligence Attorney

If you were injured at a hotel or motel and believe the business was liable, you could be eligible to file a claim. Get in touch with one of our experienced Rancho Bernardo hotel and motel negligence attorneys who can evaluate your case and discuss your options for seeking compensation. Contact the Walton Law Firm today to learn more about how we can assist you.

How to Avoid Poway Hotel and Motel Injuries During the Holiday Season

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 10 Dec 2021 13:49:42 GMT

During the holiday season in Poway, many families travel to Southern California for vacations while others travel to other parts of the country to visit family members or friends. When you are staying in a hotel or motel for the holidays, it is important to understand potential hazards and injury risks in these spaces and to take precautions. Our experienced Poway hotel injury attorneys have tips for you to avoid accidents and injuries at hotels and motels over the holidays.

Watch Kids Around the Pool Area

If you are staying at a hotel or motel with a pool, it may be tempting to say “yes” when your kids ask if they can go down to the pool on their own. Drowning accidents are much too common at hotels and motels across the country, and most hotels do not have lifeguards on duty who can provide any kind of supervision. Even if you have teenagers, it is important to take precautions and to supervise your children while they are swimming.

Beyond the risks of drowning, it is also important to avoid running on a wet pool patio or deck. These areas can be slick, and a serious slip and fall injury may occur.

Take Precautions on Staircases

Whether you are going up or down an interior or exterior staircase at a hotel or motel, you should always hold the handrail and avoid running. Slips and falls occur with some frequency on staircases, and injuries can occur more frequently when stairs are not properly lit, or carpet or flooring on the stairs is torn or damaged.

Avoid Elevator Injuries

Many hotels have elevators, and it is essential to keep in mind that elevators can pose injury risks for passengers. You should always watch your step when you step into the elevator, recognizing that there may be a gap between the floor of the hotel and the elevator car. Elevators can also pose injury risks when passengers get limps caught in closing doors. Accordingly, do not attempt to quickly get into an elevator as its doors are closing. Finally, elevators have weight limits, and it is critical to avoid overloading an elevator. If a particular elevator looks very crowded, you should wait for the next elevator car.

Check Window and Door Locks

Third-party assaults can occur at hotels and motels, especially when a hotel room has a broken window or door lock. Before you settle in for the night, you should check the windows and doors to ensure that everything is secure.

If any unreasonable hazards result in an injury, you may be able to file a negligence claim against the hotel or motel under California premises liability law.

Contact Our Poway Hotel Negligence Attorneys

If you or someone you love sustained a serious injury at a hotel or motel in Southern California, you may be eligible to file a claim for compensation. One of our experienced Poway hotel negligence lawyers can evaluate your case for you today and can discuss your options for filing a claim. Contact the Walton Law Firm for more information.

Hotel Hot Tub Injuries in Vista, CA

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 28 May 2021 16:02:00 GMT

Hotel and motel hot tubs in Vista can pose a wide variety of risks to guests, from injuries caused by slips and falls around the hot tub to burn injury risks to drowning accident hazards for younger children or intoxicated guests. Yet it can be difficult to know whether an injury you sustained in or around a Vista hotel hot tub was the result of the hotel’s negligence, and thus whether you may be eligible to file a personal injury lawsuit. A recent hot tub accident lawsuit in California reported in Courtroom View Network emphasizes that these cases can be complicated, and it is essential to have an experienced Vista personal injury lawyer on your side.

Recent Hotel Hot Tub Accident Lawsuit in California

A parent recently filed a lawsuit against a Howard Johnson hotel in California, according to the Courtroom View Network, after her daughter suffered a serious traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a hotel hot tub accident. The case involved the child’s near-drowning, and the mother alleged that the hotel was negligent because its hot tub was “too easily accessible for children,” and because “the hotel didn’t take adequate safety precautions to protect children playing in the facility.” The hotel argued that the plaintiff’s failure to supervise her daughter was actually the cause of the TBI the child sustained in the hot tub. The jury agreed with the hotel, and the case ultimately ended in a settlement, but it makes clear that the hotel likely would have been responsible if the circumstances were slightly different.

How Do Hot Tub Accidents Happen at Hotels?

Hot tub accidents can happen at hotels in a wide variety of ways, including but not limited to:

Slips and falls;
Burn injuries;
Heat overexposure;
Near-drowning accidents; and
Drowning deaths.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), children are at particular risk of injury in hot tub accidents at hotels and motels, as well as in private residences. Although many hot tub accidents involving kids result in injuries to young children, older kids can also be affected. For example, the CPSC has recorded fatal hotel tub accidents in which teenagers have drowned in hot tubs at hotels and motels, particularly in cases involving underage drinking.

Hotel Negligence and Comparative Fault

Hotels or motels can be held accountable for hot tub accidents in cases where the hotel’s negligence caused the plaintiff’s injuries. The recent case highlights how a plaintiff’s own fault can affect a recovery in cases like this, yet it is critical to understand that a plaintiff who is partially at fault for a hot tub accident can still recover as long as the hotel or motel was also partially at fault for the injury or death. Under California’s pure comparative fault rule, a plaintiff can recover damages as long as the hotel or motel bears at least some responsibility, but the plaintiff’s damages award will be reduced by his or her own fault.

Contact Our Vista Hotel Negligence Lawyers

If you have questions about filing a lawsuit against a hotel or motel in Southern California, you should seek advice from our Vista hotel negligence attorneys to learn more about your options. Contact the Walton Law Firm today for more information.

Pool Drain Accident Injuries at Rancho Bernardo Hotels

North County Injury Lawyers — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 02:07:18 GMT

One of the great features of any hotel when you are on vacation with your family is an outdoor pool. Even for visitors to Rancho Bernardo who are planning to spend much of their time at the beach, if you are staying at a hotel with a pool, there is a good chance that you and your children will enjoy some time by the poolside. However, pools can be extremely dangerous, and children especially can sustain serious hotel injuries at a pool. While drowning due to swimming inexperience or slipping and falling typically is the primary concern when it comes to hotel pool injuries, there are other ways that guests can get hurt while enjoying the water. Specifically, pool drain accidents and pool filter accidents happen more often than you might think.

Hotel Pools and Circulation Entrapments in Drains

Pools and hot tubs at hotels have drain systems and filter systems that are designed to clean the water and to create circulation. While these systems help to ensure that hotel guests are swimming in clean water, they can also lead to serious personal injuries if proper safety precautions are not taken or if these devices do not undergo regular maintenance. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) refers to many of these injuries that lead to drowning deaths as “circulation entrapments.” In such situations, an injured guest may be able to file a hotel negligence claim.

As an article in the New York Daily News clarifies, “the suction created by the drains [in pools and hot tubs] can trap children under the surface or catch limbs, in some cases causing serious injury or death.” Indeed, according to a spokesperson for the Pool Safety Council, “the force of a drain on a residential pool has a weight of at least 500 pounds.” Every year, 390 children under the age of 15, on average, suffer fatal injuries in “pool or spa-related submersion injuries,” with many of these accidents involving pool drains and filters. More than 50% of these injuries occur at public pools or hotel pools.

Between the years 2008 and 2012, pool drain injuries were responsible for a total of 39 emergency department visits, and most of the victims were children. They suffered from a variety of injuries, including drowning symptoms, fractured bones, and intestinal prolapse. At least two children during that period died from their injuries. A 7-year-old girl recently suffered a near-fatal drowning after her hair got caught in a swimming pool filter, according to an article in News.com.

Pool Drain Accidents can be Prevented When Hotels Take Proper Safety Measures

Pools drains need to be inspected regularly, or else they can come loose. As the article emphasizes, many newer pools have domed drain covers that are designed to prevent these types of injuries, but even this type of drain cover can lead to a circulation entrapment if it is not checked often by hotel maintenance. In some cases, the screws come loose, and in others they become rusty and the drain cover comes off.

If a child does get stuck in a pool drain, it is important to avoid trying to life the child directly off the train. To be sure, “the force of the suction makes that impossible.” What should parents or staff do? An adult should attempt to wedge their fingers between the drain and the child’s body, and then roll the child off the drain sideways.

Contact a Hotel Negligence Attorney in Rancho Bernardo

Hotels and motels have a duty to maintain pools properly, including drains and filters. If your child suffered an injury at a hotel or motel in Southern California, you should speak with a Rancho Bernardo hotel negligence lawyer about your options. Contact the Walton Law Firm to learn more about how we assist injury victims.

(image courtesy of Ryan Wilson)

California Hotel Liability and Swimming Pool Accidents

North County Injury Lawyers — Fri, 19 May 2017 11:10:58 GMT

If you are staying at a hotel in Rancho Bernardo with your family, and there is a swimming pool accident, who is liable? Hotel accidents and accidental drowning incidents happen more often than they should. Hotels in Southern California and throughout the country often have signs around pool areas that warn about risks. In some situations, parents sign waivers for their kids to use a hotel pool. Can a hotel still be liable in the event that a drowning incident occurs and a child sustains serious personal injuries?

The facts of each case are different, but it is important to know that warnings and waivers do not always release hotels or other property owners from liability in a swimming pool accident.

Premises Liability and Swimming Pools at California Hotels

If you stay at a hotel, you should be able to expect that the premises will be free from hazards that could result in a serious accident. Likewise, you should be able to anticipate that a pool deck area does not have hazards that could lead to a slip and fall accident or a drowning incident. Hotels owe a duty to keep the premises safe for guests. Under California law, to prove that a hotel breached that duty to its guests, the plaintiff must be able to show the following:

Hotel was negligent in the use or maintenance of the property;
Plaintiff suffered harm; and
Hotel’s negligence was a substantial factor in causing the plaintiff’s harm.

What does it mean for the hotel to be negligent in the use or maintenance of the property? California law clarifies that a hotel can be negligent if it “fails to use reasonable care to keep the property in a reasonably safe condition.” This means that the hotel must “use reasonable care to discover any unsafe conditions and to repair, replace, or give adequate warning of anything that could be reasonably expected to harm others.”

Hotel Swimming Pool Accidents That Could Result in Liability

There are some types of hotel accident cases in which the hotel more clearly bears responsibility for the plaintiff’s injuries. For instance, if there is an unsafe condition around the hotel pool, such as a gaping hole or a broken pool ladder, then it is more likely that the plaintiff will be able to prove that the hotel was negligent in a premises liability lawsuit. However, other situations are trickier.

In instances in which parents rely on a swim instructor or activities instructor at the hotel to provide reasonable care for their kids, then the hotel may be liable, even if the parents sign a waiver. For example, in the California Supreme Court case of Santa Barbara v. Janeway (2007), the parents signed a waiver regarding their child’s swimming at a summer camp. The court held that, while parents can sign a waiver that removes liability in instances of ordinary negligence, such waivers are unenforceable when there are instances of gross negligence.

Yet other situations are even trickier. What if the pool deck does not have any obvious hazards, but it simply has not been updated in a number of years, and the walkway is slicker than it used to be? Does the question of liability change as soon as the hotel posts warning signs? In most situations, a warning sign will help to show that the hotel exercised reasonable care, but it is always important to seek advice from a personal injury lawyer.

Contact a Rancho Bernardo Hotel Accident Lawyer

If you or your child suffered injuries at a hotel in California, an experienced Rancho Bernardo hotel accident lawyer can assist you. Contact the Walton Law Firm today for more information.

(image courtesy of Ryan Wilson)