The Risks of diving Boards

Diving boards have been disappearing from community and backyard pools at an alarming rate recently. Many people wonder why. The answer to their question is that diving boards, in the majority of cases, are simply not safe.

Everyone knows that if an individual dives too deeply off of a diving board, he or she can hit his or her head on the bottom of the pool and cause serious problems. These serious problems start at paralysis and end at death. What the majority of people don’t realize is that most of the diving injuries are caused by people diving out too far and hitting the up-slope of the pool. The up-slope is the sloped part of the pool that goes from the shallow end to the deep end. In backyard pools, this problem is particularly common. In fact, the problems with diving boards are more dangerous in backyard pools than in neighborhood or competition pools.

Backyard pools are more dangerous for diving boards because of the construction standards. While the majority of community pools are built to the standards of the American Red Cross or the YMCA, both of whom have high standards of construction, backyard pools are generally built to specifications created by an association of pool builders.

The differences between the standards are exceptional. For starters, the American Red Cross requires that pools with diving boards be at least 10 feet deep below the diving board. The pool builders’ association only requires 8 feet deep. That is 2 extra feet of headroom for the American Red Cross that backyard pools do not have. In addition, the distance required between the end of the board and the start of the up-slope is also less for the association of pool builders. These two main categories create problems for backyard pool diving boards that community pools do not have.

If you have been injured in a diving accident, Contact the Madison diving board injury lawyers of Habush, Habush, & Rottier at 1-800-822-1690 to discuss your case and to determine your legal options.