January 2018 - Parks & Recreation - 26

L AW R E V I E W

Rope Swing Landowner Liability and Immunity
By James C. Kozlowski, J.D., Ph.D.

A

s illustrated by the court opinions described herein, a rope swing hanging from a tree in a public park would not normally constitute the type
of unreasonable risk of harm necessary to establish landowner liability
for negligence. Moreover, applicable statutory or governmental immunity
may preclude liability for ordinary negligence.
The mere existence of a rope swing
hanging from a tree does not make the
land itself unreasonably dangerous, providing a basis for landowner liability.
On the contrary, the danger associated
with one's choosing to use a rope swing
installed on the land by unknown third
parties would present an open and obvious risk of serious injury.
While rope swings pose an obvious
and easily avoidable risk of harm, under
limited circumstances, a public agency
may still have a general legal duty to
discover and remove known or readily
discoverable hazardous debris from the
premises within a reasonable time.

24

Parks & Recreation

Notice of Dangerous Rope Swing
In the case of Khachadourian v. State
of New York, 2015 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS
4842 (4/9/2015), claimant Nicholas
Khachadourian was injured when he
fell from a rope swing on a boat launch
located on state property. In the state
claims court, Khachadourian alleged the
state was negligent in " failing to prevent
the use of the rope swing or warn of its
dangers, failing to monitor or supervise
the use of the rope swing and failing to
ensure the safety of the rope swing. "
On August 5, 2012, claimant
Khachadourian, who was 21 years old
at the time, went to the Upper Hudson River Boat Launch with his broth-

| J A N UA R Y 2 0 1 8 | W W W. PA R K S A N D R E C R E AT I O N . O R G

er and three other friends. The group
parked in the boat launch parking lot
and used a path through the woods to
access a rope swing located in a wooded area near the shoreline.
The rope swing area was located approximately 131 feet from the end of
the boat launch's bulkhead and approximately 124 feet from the fence line of the
neighboring property. The path from the
boat launch parking lot to the rope swing
area was approximately 97 feet long.
At the time of the accident, there were
several wooden platforms affixed to the
trees, and a rope swing hung from one
of the tree branches. The rope was about
1 inch in diameter and about 25 feet
long. The bottom of the rope hung over
the water, about 10 feet from the shore,
where the water depth was 2-3 feet. The
rope had knots for people swinging on
the rope to grab onto.
About 20 minutes after they arrived,



January 2018 - Parks & Recreation

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