Cautionary Tale

[kgg]

2 hours ago, Mablung said:

Did this accident occur in the US?

Canada

[Northmount]

On 1/29/2024 at 7:11 PM, kgg said:

Sorry to say not up here in Canada.

And Ontario is worse than Alberta.  You can't even walk around an old abandoned acreage or farm without the owners permission without risk of being charged with trespassing fenced or not.  So if you are injured while trespassing, you are likely on your own, plus trespass charges.  For many years, Ontario's regulations for all sorts of things have been lots more restrictive than Alberta's.

 

[Mablung]

On 1/29/2024 at 6:50 AM, TomE said:

Typically have to prove gross negligence to claim liability.  Since she had a snow removal service treat her driveway she has a good case.  We have guests sign a liability release that explains the risks when trying out a horse or pony on our property, but we are still liable for "gross negligence."  We require a helmet, have our trainer present during the ride, etc.

Gross negligence is required only in certain contexts, mainly professional contexts in which the professional owes a heightened duty due to the nature of the activity but is also afforded the additional protection of a heightened degree of breach of that duty before the professional can be held liable.  Gross negligence is not the general rule, however.  "Regular" negligence, if you will, is generally all that is necessary (in addition to causation and damage, of course) in the context of premises liability actions.*

* None of this is legal advice, just observations about principles of tort law generally applicable in all US jurisdictions.

6 minutes ago, Northmount said:

And Ontario is worse than Alberta.  You can't even walk around an old abandoned acreage or farm without the owners permission without risk of being charged with trespassing fenced or not.  So if you are injured while trespassing, you are likely on your own, plus trespass charges.  For many years, Ontario's regulations for all sorts of things have been lots more restrictive than Alberta's.

 

US law on trespass to land is very similar.  The volitional act to enter the property of another is sufficient to establish liability.  That doesn't stop people from trespassing, of course, under the mistaken idea that they can do so on land or abandoned buildings as long as they don't hurt anything, but it's still technically a trespass.

[kgg]

1 hour ago, Northmount said:

You can't even walk around an old abandoned acreage or farm without the owners permission without risk of being charged with trespassing fenced or not. 

Yes and rightly so. The worst for trespassing in my rural area are the snowmobile users then the citi-idiots during bird / deer hunting season then the ones cutting down tree's without permission (tree poachers) then the truffle hunters then the garbage tippers then the illegal grow op's and of course the deer poachers. The only ones that I give permission too travel my land are the wolf/coyote hunter group, a trapper and the owners of the adjoining farms.

kgg