The drowning of a six-year old boy in southwest Missouri last summer triggers a new state law.
The law is a memorial to Ethan Cory, who was in a daycare program with the Boy’s and Girl’s Clubs of Joplin when the group went to a private water park in an unincorporated area near Joplin. The two life guards were not certified. The owner carried no liability insurance.
The state senate has finished legislative work on Ethan’s law…Senator Gary Nodler of Joplin handled the bill in his chamber. It requires one-million dollars in liability insurance for for-profit private-swimming pool operators that are outside of municipal regulatlion.
Nodler says the boy’s parents asked for the legislation with the hope that the insurance requirement would lead insurance companies to require lifeguards be certified.
Nodler says there probably are not many facilities like this one but the boy’s death emphasizes the need for this kind of law.
The new law goes into effect as soon as the governor signs it, meaning it will apply to the summer season. It does not affect hotel pools, water rides in theme parks, or municipal swimming pools. They’re already covered by state and local regulatlions. But places like the Swimmin’ Hole, where Ethan Cory drowned, will come underd state regulation for the first time.
Download Bob Priddy’s story (:60 mp3)
