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Comment by eweise | Hacker News Reader

I sweated the years we had a trampoline. It was visible from the street so anyone could have jumped on it and broke their neck. One of my children's friends did get hurt but fortunately, not enough to become an issue. They're a huge liability and not sure insurance covers them.

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How did this common-sense-defeating liability culture actually start in the US? From a European perspective it is really strange to be liable in situations like this.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attractive_nuisance_doctrine

I find most of the CYA/liability things around childcare in modern west to be stupid (or amusing), but having nearly drowned in an abandoned pool as a young teenager, after wandering into it alone and getting stuck underwater for a moment throughout my own stupidity, I very much appreciate the idea described here, and think it's good.

Wait it only applies in 14 states? Why do people act like it’s true of the entire country?

Insurance does not cover them and if they find out you have one they are likely to cancel your coverage.

I'm not sure why "you can lose your home insurance for having one of these" isn't being brought up more.

It gets worse - if you make an unrelated insurance claim while owning an undisclosed trampoline then insurance company can deny your claim due to having the trampoline even if the claim has nothing to do with the trampoline.

Not sure how common that is, but it's definitely a possibility. My cousin is an insurance adjuster and he said he denies claims for misrepresentation all the time.

So all you trampoline owners I hope you're renters or have disclosed your trampoline to your homeowners insurance.

> ...while owning an undisclosed trampoline...

This is the weirdest combination of words I have seen this week. If I own a trampoline, why would my insurance company care? And if they care, why doesn't the market fix this, parents with trampolines would certainly choose other companies.

They care because trampolines have a very high rate of injury. If you throw a birthday party at your house and one of your neighbors kids breaks their arm or worse, neighbor might decide to sue you. That then puts your insurance company on the hook. Even if your policy forbids trampolines you can often plausibly argue you weren't aware, and they end up having to pay out. Insurance companies refuse to cover things all the time and trampolines are apparently a big problem for them (just talked to our insurance broker a few weeks ago about this as my family is pushing to get one and I'm having to push back.)

Insurance… lawyers… No wonder most kids these days are glued to screens: liability free!

Went to an “amusement” park the other day (US). Throughput of people going down a waterslide at about 2 kids per minute. Insane. Wavepool? Cleared out every 15 minutes or so. Non-stop whistling by an army of lifeguards. Insane. A kid got whistled at because they had a kid on their shoulder. Okay… At least the cop walking around the park (in uniform) all day was nice and handed out stickers. That’s right, a cop at an amusement park. No wonder these places are dying and being turned into warehouses or what have you.

I ended up finding an insurance plan which explicitly covers trampolines. I now basically pay for the cost of the trampoline each year. Insane.

What a time to be alive as a kid in America.

I was at a trampoline park last weekend (regular kind of place, everything padded for safety, as you'd imagine).

A ten year old kid left in an ambulance, neck injury, one side of the body paralyzed at the time of the event.

I really hope the kid recovers... but I don't think I'll ever forget that image.

Yes, everything in life has risks, but I don't even want to imagine how I'd feel if my kid, or my kids' friend had a life-changing injury on a trampoline at my home.

Would you feel better if their life-changing event came from a car wreck? Tragic things are unfortunately part of life.

In most of the USA getting around by car is mandatory. Trampolines are optional.

Trampolines are one of the top avoidable causes of ER visits.

There are many other factors to consider however. Such as time spent with friends, doing something physical, etc. Plus, there’s a spectrum of ways to use trampolines. You’re still allowed to parent…

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