Injured by an Amusement Park Ride: Who is Liable for Damages?

The amount of amusement parks has steadily increased in the last few years. Not only is there an increase in the number of amusement parks, but the amount of “thrill-seeking” rides has also increased. Generally amusement park rides are safe, but in the last five years notable cases of injury or death due to an amusement park have started cropping up. An injury that occurs at an amusement park does not always occur when someone is on a ride. There have been cases of people becoming injured while watching a ride, or just by falling on uneven sidewalk in the amusement park. When it does involve a ride, the injuries can range from whiplash and broken bones to a more severe casualty such as death.

Liability Laws

When looking at who is liable for damages after an injury at an amusement park, it will be important to consider the three different types of laws that operate during this situation. Someone or a company can be sued for damages based on the premises liability law, a product liability law, or due to negligence.

Premises Liability

Under the premises liability law, the company or individual that owns the premises in which the amusement park is set up can be liable for damages. In order to be compensated, your lawyer will have to show that there was carelessness in regards to the park’s safety that led to the injury received. For example, an uneven park surface leading to a fall and a broken leg.

Product Liability

Under the product liability law, the company or individual who designed and maintains the ride could be liable for damages. Under this law, your lawyer can to explain to the court how a fault in the design of the ride or product caused the injury. Within the subject of product liability law, it will also be necessary to show that the rides were not properly maintained or inspected. In regards to this, not only the ride’s manufacturer may be liable but also an independent ride maintenance company, or even the state’s department that carries out inspections on the ride.

Negligence

Under negligence, it can also be discussed that the amusement ride was not properly maintained and checked for safety. However negligence law goes one step further when looking at who is liable for damages to include instances where the person injured is not informed about the dangers of the ride, or was given wrong information about the dangers of the ride. It can also include instances in which an amusement park employee operates the ride in an unsafe manner. For example, when an employee operates a roller coaster at a speed, which it was not intended for. These situations can also be labelled as negligence.

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