Child Injury Lawyer Blog
By Stephanie Brown and David Wolf, Attorney
Published by Child Injury Lawyer Network
While Georgia’s Recreational Purpose Act is designed to encourage landowners to open up their property to the public for recreational purposes, the law has the effect of shielding landowners from liability for injuries caused by dangerous conditions on their land to children and other victims. This law permits landowners, including state and local governments, to maintain facilities with little regard for the safety of children using facilities such as parks and playgrounds. In a recent Georgia Court of Appeals case, a child was injured on a swing in a park owned by a Georgia city. The swing was installed on a hard surface rather than over a soft, resilient surface as recommended by the manufacture. Further, the city replaced certain parts on the swing with parts that were not recommended by the manufacturer and did not operate properly. Articles in local newspapers discussed dangerous conditions in the city’s parks, including the park where the child was injured. A lawsuit was brought against the city for the child’s injuries.
For decades, the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has warned about the dangers of crib meshing. Between 1978 and 1985 when crib meshing was more common, CPSC records document 15 deaths. While deaths related to meshing have fallen over the years, about 50 babies die annually due to defectively designed cribs. Just two months ago, the CPSC announced the recall of 600,000 drop side cribs manufactured by Delta Enterprise Corp. after the death of an 8-month-old baby who suffocated when the drop side of his crib detached. The recall announcement is available at the CPSC’s website at 