Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog
The unique attractions at an amusement park can provide a great deal of entertainment, but they also pose an inherent risk of injury — thousands of people are injured every year.
If an amusement park accident was a result of inattention or carelessness of the park or park employee, then you may have be able to file a lawsuit against the park for negligence. In order to prove negligence in a lawsuit, the injured person, plaintiff, must prove that he law required the park (defendant) to be reasonably careful, that the park or its employees were not careful, and that this carelessness led to the injury sustained by the plaintiff.
The amusement is responsible for the actions its employees. This means that if an employee was negligent and his negligence caused the injury, the injured person may sue the park. The park’s employees or the park itself may be negligent by doing something or failing to do something. Examples include:
- failing to post warnings that, for example, people with heart problems or high blood pressure should not go on a ride
- posting signs that fail to adequately warn people about the risks involved in riding a ride
- failing to properly train employees, including ride operators
- failing to maintain equipment in a safe condition
- failing to conduct routine inspections of rides
- improperly operating a ride, or
- providing incorrect instructions to riders.
But not all claims against amusement parks are due to negligence. Another common type of lawsuit against amusement parks is product liability.
Some amusement park accidents are caused by defective components or rides and not by improper operation, use, inspection, or maintenance. For example, the a rider may fall to the ground off of a ride if the ride has faulty safety designs.
Design or structural defects in the ride itself may give rise to defective product liability lawsuits against the manufacturer of the ride or the manufacturer of the defective part. In these lawsuits, the plaintiff must prove that the equipment, structure, or part was defective and that the defect specifically caused the injury or death to the victim.
Regardless of the type of claim you might have, if you or a loved one was injured while attending an amusement park, contact our office immediately. Our office handles amusement park injury lawsuits from across the country.