Latest Blogs

Swimming pool diving accidents can cause head, neck and spinal cord injuries.  Each year more than 7,000 people in the U.S. experience diving accidents. The Spinal Cord Injury Information Network and the University of Alabama at Birmingham reports that less than 10% of all swimming pool diving injuries involve a diving board.  Further they report that properly installed diving boards provide a visual reference, showing where the proper diving environment is located.  A diving board helps clear the edge of the pool to ensure there is plenty of room to dive into the deepest part of the water. However, swimming pool diving accidents do happen when using diving boards incorrectly and when diving from the edge of swimming pools.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recommends the following precautions:

• Never dive into above-ground pools.  They are too shallow.
• Don't dive from the side of an in-ground pool.  Enter the water feet first.
• Dive only from the end of the diving board and not from the sides.
• Don't dive if you have been using alcohol or drugs because your reaction time may be too slow.
• Improper use of pool slides presents the same danger as improper diving techniques. Never slide down head first; slide down feet first only.

The statistics are staggering, but the stories behind the statistics are personal and devastating.  Here are just a few from last year:

• June 18, 2012 a father broke his neck in a diving accident in Pennsylvania. 
• August 2012  two young children were injured in a community pool diving accident in Fort Worth, Texas.
• September 22, 2012 a 5-year-old died after falling off a 10 foot diving board while participating in an aquatic program to teach children to dive in Orlando, Fl.

"By law pool owners are required to post 'no diving' signs when diving cannot be done safely. Let's make this a year of "no" diving accidents. Observe the 'no diving' signs and follow the safety tips of only using diving boards as recommended and never diving from the edges of pools," says Fort Myers Swimming Accidents Lawyer, Randall Spivey of Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A.

Florida Personal Injury Attorney, Randall L. Spivey is a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney – the highest recognition for competence bestowed by the Florida Bar and a distinction earned by less than 2 percent of Florida attorneys. He has handled over 1,600 personal injury and wrongful death cases throughout Florida. For a free and confidential consultation to discuss your legal rights, contact the Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A., in Lee County at  239. 337.7483 or toll free at 1.888.477.4839, or by email to Randall@SpiveyLaw.com.  Visit SpiveyLaw.com  for more information. You can contact Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A. in Charlotte County at 941.764.7748 and in Collier County 239.793.7748.