Submitted by Griff82 t3_y8vjiz in Pennsylvania
JR-Dubs t1_it2dfgh wrote
Reply to comment by CatOfTheDecade in What's with the ATV crowd in PA and what should I do about it? by Griff82
One of the few things that has stuck with me from law school and preparing for the bar lo these many years ago, is that there is a very low duty of care to trespassers upon your land, but there is a duty to warn of "known, man-made deathtraps", even to people on your land illegally. So, yeah, no booby-traps.
wagsman t1_it2ikpo wrote
What if you put up adequate signage saying there are man-made deathtraps all over this property?
JR-Dubs t1_it2kco1 wrote
Setting up booby traps is illegal. No matter what. When I say "known man made death traps", I mean something like the following (which is a case I actually had): A deep, but narrow trench cut on someone's land is covered by high grass that is cut at the end of the season and then the property got covered in snow, making the trench completely invisible. Man walks dog on the property (trespassing), dog got loose, while the guy was chasing the dog he fell into the trench and suffers serious injuries.
If you set up a bunch of punji traps on your property, not only are you going to get sued if someone gets injured, you're probably also going to get arrested, regardless of signage.
This all comes with the admonishment that this is not legal advice and you should not rely on it for anything except, maybe, entertainment purposes.
wagsman t1_it2tfds wrote
I figured booby traps would be illegal, but I was curious about the legality of signage a duty of care.
PoiLethe t1_it50swx wrote
Was it intended to be some kind of booby trap or was it just like a drainage ditch?
BeatsMeByDre t1_it41gxb wrote
So...you can't dig a hole on your own property?
the_real_xuth t1_it4hklp wrote
Nobody said that. But you do need to make it so that a reasonable person (even one who was trespassing) wouldn't fall in it accidentally. Because lots of trespass is legal and sometimes even required.
BeatsMeByDre t1_it4i968 wrote
Fair enough, I wasn't trying to be snarky, just don't understand sometimes😅
key2mydisaster t1_it5kmvp wrote
Nope, doesn't matter.
Because others can enter someone else’s property without criminal intent, the law views setting up a booby trap as going beyond defense and into endangering the lives of others.
SendAstronomy t1_it5re1u wrote
That is what the district attorney will call "Exhibit A".
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