Synopsis

  • Spring break remains a popular time for family fun, but it is also the season for injuries and complications created by negligent resorts.
  • Common sense decisions will likely keep your family safe, but accidents still happen when resorts don’t follow procedures and safeguards are left out of place.
  • The most common causes of spring break resort injuries are related to swimming pool accidents, slips and falls, burns, bed bugs, and assault.
  • If a resort does not keep the premises safe or fails to warn of dangerous conditions, it has breached its duty to guests and can be held liable for injuries that occur for those staying on their property.

Your Family’s Best Spring Break Should Be Injury Free

If you are preparing to pack your family up for a weekend road trip to the water park, or for a dreamy beach getaway down south, or maybe the skis are packed and you all are flying west to hit the slopes one last time this year, the last thing you want to think about is what would happen if someone in your family becomes injured while on a spring break vacation. Unfortunately, these accidents do happen and sometimes not at the fault of you or your family member. In fact, nearly 20 percent of U.S. vacationers have an accident, get sick, or suffer some kind of an injury on spring break.

If you or someone traveling in your party is injured, assaulted, or a tragic death has occurred, it is much easier for hotels in the U.S. to be held liable than resorts located in foreign countries. U.S. laws hold stateside hotels and vacation spots responsible for negligent or criminal acts, and in cases of premise liability.

Common Injuries at U.S. Vacation Resorts

The most common causes of injuries on U.S. hotel premises are related to swimming pool accidents, slips and falls, burns, bed bugs, and sadly, sexual assault (even more so during spring break season). There are several things that a hotel should be doing though to lessen those risks for guests. In the U.S., a hotel must inspect food and drink, take some responsibility for worker acts under employer liability, and the hotel grounds and property must be maintained in a reasonably safe condition. Repairs need to be regularly addressed to fix dangerous conditions and protect guests from known hazards.

Common hotel safety responsibilities include a duty to:

  • Control all types of insect infestation (“bed bugs”)
  • Exercise reasonable care in hiring and training hotel staff
  • Keep steps dry and unobstructed
  • Maintain stairs and elevators
  • Maintain locks on hotel rooms
  • Maintain proper security (security guards and cameras) to avoid theft and assaults on guests
  • Maintain adequate lighting
  • Practice safe food handling and preparation processes
  • Repair hotel defects
  • Train hotel pool staff to prevent injuries to guests

Hotel guests, in legal terms, are known as invitees. This means that the property owner must actively seek out and remedy dangerous property conditions. When a hotel does not inspect or keep the premises reasonably safe, or fails to warn of dangerous conditions, it has breached its duty to guests. Hotel and Resort employers could also be liable for the negligent acts or omissions by their employees in the course of their employment.

Common sense will likely keep you all safe, but accidents and injuries still happen when resorts don’t follow procedures and safeguards are left out of place.

If A Family Member Has Suffered Injuries in a Spring Break Accident

If a hotel or vacation resort has been negligent and you or a loved one is injured, or a wrongful death has occurred on the resort property, the owners of the establishment could owe financial restitution to your family. Once everyone is safely back home, call the law firm of Wagner Reese at (888) 204-8440 for your FREE consultation to discuss your situation and depending on what state you were injured in we can find a way to help you understand your rights.