Amusement Park Injuries
Millions of people visit amusement and water parks every summer. These parks are filled with terrifying rides designed to make people flip out, in some cases. Thrill seekers everywhere love roller coasters and water rides with terrifying drops. Unfortunately, these parks can also be the source of injuries. The Consumer Protection Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates that roughly 5,000 injuries that require a trip to the hospital occur annually.
This number is just an estimate. The real number of injuries is not known due to the “roller coaster” loophole in the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1981. This law does not allow the CPSC to regulate rides which are fixed to one spot. They can regulate and inspect moving carnival rides but not amusement parks. Fortunately, amusement parks have a vested interest in people having fun and not getting hurt.
When accidents do happen, they generally fall into one of four categories. The four categories are:
- Consumer Behavior
- Operator Behavior
- Mechanical Failure
- Design Defects or Limitations
When consumer behavior causes injuries it is generally due to intentionally rocking cars, standing up, purposely defeating the safety restraints, sitting improperly, or holding a child above the safety restraint. Operator behavior injuries are due to abruptly stopping the ride, improperly assembling the ride, and improperly maintaining the ride. Mechanical failure causes injuries due to missing safety pins, broken welds or structural components, exposed electrical wires, malfunctioning lap bars or other safety restraints, and failure to shut off. Design defects or limitation injuries are caused by the ride being designed in a way that it causes injuries even when it is functioning correctly and without any unusual behavior on the part of the consumer or operator.
If you have been injured at an amusement park, contact the Wausau amusement park injury lawyers of Habush, Habush, & Rottier at 1-800-248-0171 to discuss your case and to determine your legal options.