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Originally Posted by Nisses
Yes, because if you live by the law, you'll never get hurt, it's like a failsafe, you don't even have to use common sense anymore?
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no, but the point is the company should have
already had them in place--it's a matter of keeping themselves covered and providing safety to ALL their patrons, not just the daringly idiotic ones.
Homeowners and building owners are held responsible for the safety of people who are on their property. That's a legal maxim that's been held for decades. Like I said, the fences would also be in place to prevent other accidents such as runaway small children. Having dealt with small children in a dangerous (to them) environment teaching them to swim, and monitoring others as I lifeguarded, I've seen time and again how easy it is for children to slip away from their parents, and run themselves right off the edge of something (in this case, the side of the pool) without regard to what's underneath. I think alot of you would agree that if it were a small child that had run off the side accidentally, the company would be responsible--that's because they are. Them not having fences up around their upper stories to prevent people access to a major hazard (6-8 story drops) to their health is an active form of negligence, and odds are they will be held accountable. One of the largest aspects of consumer law and tort law is public safety, and lacking those fences both the company and the City of Orlando disregarded everyone's safety.
Additionally, refer back to my example of the backyard swimming pool. If a person has one, they are required to do everything within reason to secure that pool from outside parties that could accidentally do themselves harm. Generally, this means things such as locked gates and fences above the average persons height. If the government will hold private citizens to certain standards regarding attractive nuisances, why should we not expect to hold the government (in this case the city) and companies to the same standards? Is it that terribly unreasonable?
Fences, warning labels, owners/operator's manuals for cars/large equipemnt, and many other things are placed on this earth for no other reason than to guarantee the general person safety. Any company or public authority that decides that their money is worth more than the health of the general public doesn't deserve to be in business or governing.