The Mercers Playground is an Accident Waiting to Happen.


05-03-1999: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that
  • parents should never purchase a home trampoline or allow children to use home trampolines.
  • even when supervised, children under age 6 years should not be allowed to use a trampoline.
(Click logo's below for more information)

The Mercers have put a trampoline in their side yard.
The trampoline is jammed up against the property line 6' cedar fence and is set into an area with a hard concrete block wall and hard slate surfaces and pea gravel.

All parents should be concerned about allowing their children to utilize the Mercer playground due to the physical safety hazards, the lack of supervision and the failure to follow even minimal safety usage rules.
  • FACT: Trampoline-related injuries increased 140% from 1990 to 1996.
  • FACT: The CPSC estimates that in 2001 there were 91,870 hospital emergency room-treated injuries associated with trampolines.
  • FACT: About 93% of the victims were under 15 years of age, and 11% were under 5 years of age.
  • FACT: 30% of trampoline-related injuries treated in an emergency department were fractures, often resulting in hospitalization and surgery.

Many insurance companies will no longer offer homeowners insurance to families with trampolines. Trampolines are considered an "Attractive Nuisance" by many localities and courts. Have the Mercers informed their insurance company about their trampoline? Do they have enough insurance to cover any injuries to YOUR children?
  • "Trampolines are not eligible for new policies, and existing policies will be non-renewed if they have one and do not remove it." says Ken Stover, executive vice president of Western National Mutual Ins. Co.
Would the Mercers take responsibility for any injury to your child from their unsafe play area?

We know the Mercers have refused to take responsibility for their poor playground placement and the illegal noise it creates on my property. We know they've conspired with Woody747 to harass and threaten me. We know they've cheated on a signed mediated agreement. We know "their" trash company has stolen my trash cans and we know their "friends" commit childish pranks against my property.

Does anyone really believe that if a guest was injured on their unsafe playground that the Mercers would assume personal and financial responsibility -- or would they drag your injured child out to the street and then claim it didn't happen in "our yard"?

Do a Google Search for "trampoline safety" and you will see website after website detailing the dangers (or click one of the Site Banners above). The trampoline safety list below was compiled from these websites.

  • Allow only one person on the trampoline at a time.
    • There are routinely up to 8 children using the trampoline at the same time of varying ages.
  • Trampoline use should be supervised at all times by a responsible teen or adult.
    • The entire playground is generally unmonitored and unsupervised. On both occasions that my home has been stoned from the playarea, the parents claim they were unaware and didn't even answer the phone when I called.
  • Place it so that it can be easily supervised at all times.
    • The trampoline is placed in the Mercers side yard and is "out of their way". Out of sight, out of mind...
  • No child under 6 years of age should use a regular-size trampoline.
    • Very young children routinely use the trampoline, at the same time with many older larger children. A 12 year old child holds an 8 month old baby and jumps on the trampoline with three other children at the same time!
  • Secure the trampoline to prevent unauthorized and unattended use.
    • The trampoline is easily accessed through an unlocked gate from their front yard which often remains open flapping in the breeze all day and through the night.
  • Do not set the trampoline near trees, fences, poles, or other playground equipment.
    • The trampoline is jammed up against a 6' cedar fence.
  • Never leap onto the trampoline from another area or structure.
    • The Mercer children and their guests climb up on a 5' slippery plastic playhouse with a peaked roof and leap to the trampoline.
  • Use shock-absorbent material on the ground around the perimeter.
    • The trampoline is placed in an area with a concrete block wall around part of the perimiter, with large slate slabs and pea gravel. Any child falling from the trampoline could easily land on hard unyielding surfaces.


How the Mercers or any parent could allow their children to "play" in such a dangerous "accident waiting to happen" area is incomprehensible to me. Would they allow their children to play on a busy street, near the edge of a cliff or associate with a known pervert? (The Mercers do allow Woody747 in their house...)

See more pictures of the unsafe playarea and how the entire playarea is jammed between our houses, up against the property line and "out of their way".