Amusement Park Accidents
The last thing any person needs to worry about when they go to an amusement park, a fair, or a stand-alone amusement ride is that they will sustain an injury. Unfortunately, there are times when individuals do sustain significant injuries as a result of negligent actions on the part of amusement ride operators or owners. Here, our injury attorneys in Sacramento want to examine common amusement park injuries as well as whether or not individuals are able to recover compensation when these incidents occur.
A Tragic Incident
On March 24, 2022, a 14-year-old boy fell to his death on a Florida amusement park ride. Nobody expects when they go to an amusement park is that they will sustain an injury on rides that are supposedly safe. In almost all amusement park injury cases, something went wrong outside of the hands of the rider. This can include a ride that was defective or an amusement park employee failing to take steps to ensure the safety of a rider.
In the case of the Florida incident, the 14-year-old boy exceeded the weight limit for the ride by approximately 100 pounds. Under no circumstances should this child have been allowed on the ride, but he was. This was a safety check failure on the part of employees.
Common Amusement Park Injuries
According to the Global Association for the Attractions Industry (IAAPA), more than 385 million individuals enjoy around 1.7 billion rides at more than 400 North American fixed-site amusement facilities. The chances of individuals sustaining injuries on an amusement ride are still relatively low, with an injury occurring in approximately one out of every 15.5 million rides.
During the latest full reporting year we have available (not counting 2020 due to the lockdowns that shut down many amusement parks throughout the country), we can see that there were approximately 1,300 total annual ride-related injuries across the country. The majority of these injuries occurred on family and adult rides or roller coasters, with a small percentage of injuries occurring on children’s rides.
The most common types of injuries that occur at amusement parks include injuries to the head, neck, or back caused by rides whipping individuals around. Additionally, faulty rides can also lead to broken or dislocated bones as well as internal injuries. If an individual is thrown from a ride or if there is a collision resulting from the amusement park ride failure, individuals are much more likely to suffer from serious traumatic injuries, including spinal cord trauma and traumatic brain injuries.
However, we need to point out that injuries or not only caused by mishaps on the actual ride. Injuries add amusement parks are also common when individuals are stepping into and out of the ride, and these often occur in the form of slip and fall incidents.
Recovering Compensation After an Amusement Park Incident
Any individual who sustains an injury at an amusement park needs to speak to a skilled accident attorney as soon as possible. If the injury was caused by the careless or negligent actions of an amusement park owner or operator or one of the employees, individuals should be able to recover compensation. Additionally, if the injury was caused by a defective ride, the manufacturer of the ride may be liable for any injuries that occur.