An almost 2-year-old Antioch girl died Sunday after falling into a backyard pool. The child’s family was staying in the Antioch home while trying to find its own housing, according to Antioch police. (Read staff writer Matthias Gafni’s article here. Write an online condolence here.) The even more startling revelation is that this is the third accidental drowning by a toddler in Antioch in just over six months. Add to that a near drowning in Brentwood last month and you have a pattern that is too dangerous to be ignored.

Usually, I’m the last person to advocate for government intervention — I’d like to think my fellow citizens are responsible enough to do the right thing. Clearly, not everyone is. So perhaps it’s time for California’s politicians to make it illegal to have an unfenced pool. Ask any of the families who lost a child — none of them expected this could ever happen. That’s why they call it an accident. But just as we take precautions by placing kids in car seats and putting safety gates at the top of stairs, we should take precautions with our pools. That includes owners who don’t have small children. You never know when guests will include these children, or when a neighbor’s child might wander in. This is when better safe than sorry rules out everything else, including expense and how much a fence might detract from how pretty the pool looks. One drowning is a tragedy. Three in about six months is a major cry for help.