The Dangers of Diving Boards – Spinal Cord Injuries

Spinal cord injuries resulting from sports and recreation activities in the United States are most commonly result from water-related activities. Nearly 13,000 diving-board injuries are treated every year in the country’s hospitals. Of this 13,000, nearly 800 result in spinal cord injuries.

Many accidents that occur in or around swimming pools include:

• Hitting the bottom of the pool due to insufficient depth.
• Hitting the sides of the pool.
• Hitting protruding waterpipes, ladders, or other objects in the pool.

Diving in shallow water should be strictly prohibited and is incredibly dangerous. Many personal backyard pools are classified as above ground pools. These types of swimming pools often only average a depth of 3 feet, making any kind of diving or jumping into the pool dangerous. Both children and adults should not underestimate the dangers of diving into shallow water.

There are four major factors involved in the use of a diving board which contribute to spinal injuries:

• Diving too deeply off of a diving board or the side and striking the bottom of the pool.
• Diving too far out off of the board or the side and hitting the upslope portion of the pool or pushing off of the wall and hitting the upslope.
• Diving or sliding into shallow water and striking the bottom.
• Striking an underwater object.

If you have been injured in a pool you do not own or due to an act of negligence on another person’s part, contact an Appleton diving injury lawyer immediately to discuss the details of your case. The owner. manufacturer, or manager of the pool in which you were injured may be liable for your injuries.

Contact the Appleton diving injury lawyers of Habush Habush & Rottier, S.C. at 1-800-757-8644 to discuss your case and to schedule an initial consultation.