Injuries at Amusement Parks

When people are injured at amusement parks, the injuries are typically caused by the consumer’s own behavior, the operator’s behavior, mechanical failure of the ride, or design defects or limitations.

Consumer behavior can be the cause of injuries when the consumer intentionally rocks the car, stands up, defeats the safety restraints, sits improperly, or holds a child above the safety restraint. Defeating the safety restraint means that the consumer does something which defeats the purpose of the safety restraint. This can mean wearing it incorrectly or not at all.

Mechanical failure can be something as simple as a missing safety pin or malfunctioning lap bars or other safety restraints. It can also be broken welds or structural components, exposed electrical wires, or a failure to shut off. This is one area where regular, thorough inspections can help.

Operator behavior can be at fault when the operator of the ride abruptly stops the ride, improperly assembles the ride, or improperly maintains the ride. Design defects or limitations are at fault on rides that injure people even when they appear to be functioning correctly without any unusual behavior on the part of the consumer or the operator.

The Consumer Protection Safety Commission estimates that 5,000 injuries occur each year that require a trip to the hospital. The real number of injuries is not known due to the “roller coaster” loophole in the Consumer Product Safety Act of 1981. While the CPSC can regulate and inspect rides that move, such as those found at carnivals, they can’t regulate rides fixed to one spot. Fortunately, amusement parks have a vested interest in people having fun.

If you have been injured in an amusement park accident, contact the amusement park injury lawyers in Kenosha at 1-866-499-4700 to discuss your case.