Brown v. Hayden Island Amusement Co.

378 P.2d 953, 233 Or. 416, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 288
CourtOregon Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 20, 1963
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 378 P.2d 953 (Brown v. Hayden Island Amusement Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Oregon Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Brown v. Hayden Island Amusement Co., 378 P.2d 953, 233 Or. 416, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 288 (Or. 1963).

Opinions

LUSK, J.

The plaintiff, a girl fifteen years of age, brought this action to recover damages for personal injuries sustained by her when she dived into a swimming pool owned and maintained by the defendant and [418]*418struck her head on the bottom of the pool. She alleged that the defendant was negligent (a) in failing to provide adequate markings showing the depth of the water in the pool and (b) in failing to warn the plaintiff that the bottom of this pool was not constructed in the same manner as other swimming pools in the vicinity of Portland, Oregon, in regard to depth of water near the sides of the pool. There was a jury trial and at the conclusion of the testimony the court denied a motion for a directed verdict made by the defendant. In submitting the case to the jury the court withdrew allegation of negligence (b). The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff. Thereafter the court, on motion of the defendant, entered judgment for the defendant notwithstanding the verdict and the plaintiff has appealed.

Defendant operates an amusement park in Portland known as Jantzen Beach Park where it maintains, besides two wading pools for small children, a “shallow” pool and a “deep” pool. These pools were built in 1928. The plaintiff was injured in the shallow pool, which is approximately 165 feet running north and south and 100 feet running east and west. It has no springboard or other diving apparatus. Its shallowest parts are at the ends and sides and the floor slopes towards the middle. The maximum depth is approximately five feet. The deep pool adjoins the shallow pool on the east and is equipped with the usual facilities for diving. A photograph of the shallow pool, defendant’s Exhibit 12, is herewith reproduced.

On the west side of the shallow pool, midway between the north and south ends, is a concrete abutment which bears the legend “SHALLOW POOL” in conspicuous letters, plainly visible to anyone coming from the dressing room to the shallow pool. On either side [419]*419of the concrete abutment are steps leading down into the water. At either end of the pool, near the corners, the word “SHALLOW” in tile is imbedded in the cement. The letters were painted red each year before the opening of the season.

According to the testimony of J. F. Turpin, manager of the park, the shallow pool was used for instruction as well as by anyone who chose to use it. [420]*420The plaintiff, who was an experienced swimmer and diver, testified that she liked to go into it first because the water was warmer than in the deep pool. She freely conceded in her testimony that she knew she was diving into the shallow pool.

Plaintiff was a student in high school at the time of the accident. On June 7, 1958, at about seven o’clock in the evening, she and a number of her schoolmates, girls and boys, went to Jantzen Beach Park for a swim and to enjoy the other recreational facilities. Plaintiff had never before been to the Jantzen pool. She paid the regular charge, changed to her swimsuit and went to the shallow pool. Some of the boys had preceded her and were already in the water. She walked to the north end of the pool to a spot a few feet from the east side and looked around for any indication that it might be dangerous to dive. She testified that she made a shallow dive which she described as “at—about a forty-five degree angle to the pool. ” She took about two steps and dived out toward the middle of the pool. Her “hands hit the bottom and jerked back and my head hit.” The doctor who attended her testified that she received a laceration on the top of her head and was apparently diving straight down.

The plaintiff had been accustomed to swimming in a pool at Mount Scott in Portland where there is a shallow pool and a deep pool. According to the plaintiff’s testimony, the shallow pool at Mount Scott is about sixty feet long and forty feet wide and it is about four feet deep in its deepest part, with a gradual slope to the opposite end.

The plaintiff was accustomed to diving in the Mount Scott pool at the four foot depth and testified that people commonly dived in this pool. She said [421]*421that she knew that all pools are deeper in some places than in others; that the Mount Scott pool in places was from one and one-half to three feet in depth and that she had no information as to the location of the deeper and shallower parts of the Jantzen pool. She testified that she “saw what I thought was the same kind of arrangement as the Mount Scott Pool, a shallow pool and a deep pool; and I took it for granted that this spot where I dove in would be deeper as it was at the Mount Scott Pool.”

She gave as reasons why she thought the water was deep where she dived, that close to where she stood there was a handrail evidently for use in getting out of the pool, and that she observed that the water was breast high on her boy friends who were standing approximately in the middle of the pool. These boys averaged about six feet in height. She testified:

“Q When you saw the water on your friends did you draw any conclusions as to the depth of the water in the pool where you were to dive?
“A Yes, I did. I figured if it was that deep on them, then it must be even deeper towards this end, since I figured that was a gradual deepening of the water towards where I was standing so I assumed it would be deep enough for a dive.”

She indicated the position of the boys on a diagram of the pool as not quite half the distance to the south end and opposite the northernmost flight of steps leading into the water on the west side of the pool. She said:

“In considering these things I didn’t stand there and say, ‘Now, it’s chest deep on my friends and there’s a handrail there so it must be at least as deep on me.’ I just kind of generally took in the whole situation and drew a conclusion, I guess.”

[422]*422She also observed people scattered generally throughout the pool, though none in the immediate area where she dived. Plaintiff was asked whether she noticed the steps on the west side of the pool, and, if so, what she thought they meant when she was considering these things before she dived. She answered: “That it must be pretty shallow in that part.”

She testified that she could see the bottom of the pool as she stood there before diving, but could not determine its depth. After she dived she estimated that the water was about three feet deep where she struck her head on the bottom. She testified that it would be safe to make a shallow dive into four feet of water and, as previously stated, that this was the depth of the water in the Mount Scott pool at its deepest part.

The parents of the plaintiff went to the scene of the accident a month or several months afterwards— the precise time is not clear—and inspected the pool from outside a wire fence which surrounds the pool. The gate in the fence was locked so that they were unable to get closer than eight or nine feet to the pool. They testified that at the north end they saw the “shallow” markers above described. Mr. Brown testified that “If you looked real close you could see it * * *.” Mrs. Brown described the marker as “very pale.” The plaintiff was not asked and did not testify whether she observed the markers.

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Related

Brown v. Hayden Island Amusement Co.
378 P.2d 953 (Oregon Supreme Court, 1963)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
378 P.2d 953, 233 Or. 416, 1963 Ore. LEXIS 288, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/brown-v-hayden-island-amusement-co-or-1963.