When area families visit Georgia’s Six Flags, or perhaps area county fairs or water parks, ending up in the hospital should be the furthest thing from their minds. We expect that amusement parks of all types uphold a high standard of safety, because although rides are supposed to be thrilling, there should be no real element of danger. However, the reality is that sometimes people do get hurt on amusement park thrill rides.
Last week, five people were taken to hospitals from an amusement park in New Jersey after suffering injuries on a water ride. The park patrons were reportedly riding on tubes when they became stuck at the end of a tunnel. Luckily, no one suffered serious injuries in the incident but the park’s president did concede that it was a frightening event for the riders.
The exact cause of the accident–which took place on a 30-year-old ride– is not yet clear, but the ride is currently shut down while state officials perform an inspection.
When it comes to amusement park rides malfunctioning, negligent maintenance is often the cause. In these cases, the amusement park’s owners can often be held liable for any injuries. On newer rides, it may sometimes be a negligent manufacturing issue.
Experienced premises liability attorneys are often able to investigate these issues and hold any negligent parties accountable, while securing compensation for the victims.
This particular amusement park is no stranger to these issues. While it doesn’t appear to have fielded any premises liability claims under its current ownership, the previous owners faced at least five claims, one of them resulting after a man was fatally electrocuted on a kayak ride.
It is vital that negligent property owners are held accountable, not only in order to provide some relief to victims, but also in order to stop these businesses from putting the public at risk.
Source: NorthJersey.com, “Update: 5 injured in ride accident at Mountain Creek amusement park,” Abbott Koloff and Jeff Green, July 25, 2012
- Our firm handles similar situations to the one discussed in this post. If you would like to learn more about our practice, please visit our Atlanta Premises Liability Overview page.