Drowning and Swimming Pool Wrongful Death Claims in Georgia & South Carolina
Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death in the United States, particularly among children. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that approximately 4,000 people die from unintentional drowning each year, and drowning is the number one cause of death for children ages 1-4. Many of these deaths are entirely preventable and result from inadequate supervision, defective pool equipment, missing safety barriers, and negligent property owners.
At Roden Law, our drowning and swimming pool death lawyers represent families across Georgia and South Carolina who have lost loved ones in preventable drowning incidents. Whether the drowning occurred in a residential pool, a hotel or resort pool, a public aquatic facility, or a natural body of water, our attorneys investigate every angle to hold negligent parties accountable.
Georgia & South Carolina Pool Safety Laws
Both Georgia and South Carolina have enacted pool safety regulations designed to prevent drownings. Georgia’s pool safety regulations require fencing, self-closing and self-latching gates, drain covers compliant with the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act, and proper signage. South Carolina’s public swimming pool regulations establish similar requirements for public and commercial pools.
Violations of these safety regulations can establish negligence per se — meaning the violation itself is evidence of negligence — in a wrongful death claim.
Common Causes of Preventable Drownings
Drowning wrongful death cases commonly involve:
- Inadequate fencing and barriers: Pools without proper fencing, self-closing gates, or pool covers, allowing unsupervised access
- Defective pool drains: Suction entrapment from non-compliant drain covers, trapping victims underwater
- Inadequate lifeguard supervision: Understaffed or inattentive lifeguards at public pools, hotels, and water parks
- Lack of safety equipment: Missing rescue equipment, flotation devices, or emergency communication systems
- Defective pool equipment: Malfunctioning pumps, broken ladders, slippery decking
- Negligent property maintenance: Cloudy water obscuring visibility, broken lights, algae-covered surfaces
- Apartment complex and HOA pools: Failure to enforce rules, maintain equipment, or provide supervision
Pool drownings at hotels and resorts involve both premises liability claims against the property owner and potential product liability claims against defective equipment manufacturers. Our hotel and resort injury lawyers have specific experience with hospitality industry drowning cases.
Wrongful Death Claims for Child Drownings
Child drowning cases are particularly devastating and legally distinct. Property owners owe a heightened duty of care regarding “attractive nuisances” — features like swimming pools that are likely to attract children who cannot appreciate the danger. Under Georgia’s wrongful death statute (O.C.G.A. § 51-4-1 et seq.), parents may recover the full value of their child’s life. South Carolina’s wrongful death statute (S.C. Code § 15-51-10 et seq.) instead lets the jury award damages proportioned to the loss the death caused each beneficiary (S.C. Code § 15-51-40).
Damages in Drowning Death Cases
In Georgia, families who lose a loved one to drowning may recover compensation for the full value of the deceased’s life, pre-death pain and suffering (drowning victims may experience terror and conscious suffering), medical expenses for resuscitation attempts, funeral and burial costs, loss of companionship, and in cases of egregious negligence, punitive damages. Contact Roden Law for a free consultation — there is no fee unless we recover compensation for your family.
