Amusement Park Accidents

Amusement Park Accidents And Injuries

Every day, thousands of people visit amusement parks, be it at a permanent location or a traveling carnival/fair, with their families and friends to have fun and maybe to even relieve some stress. Most people assume that behind the scene, park owners and managers have taken all the right steps to ensure a safe experience for patrons. Sadly, that’s not always true. Sometimes the unimaginable happens, leaving you or a loved one in need of a personal injury lawyer. At Jackel & Phillips, we take pride in fighting for our clients to get them the compensation they deserve!

Amusement Park Operator/Owner Negligence

Injury causing acts and omissions by amusement park operators can “run the gamut” of bad behavior, but some of the more common examples include:

• Faulty Ride Design and/or Manufacturing;
• Faulty Ride Assemblage;
• Faulty and Poorly Maintained Cables;
• Poorly Maintained Ride Mechanics;
• Structural Damage to Rides;
• Failure to Post Proper and Required Warning/Disclaimer Signs;
• Failure to Properly Operate the Ride;
• Failure to Maintain Due Diligence Over Ride Operations; and,
• Untrained or Improperly Trained Staff.

These are but a few bad practices/mistakes that can unfortunately lead to accidents at amusement parks. While these incidents are rare, when they do occur you need someone with expertise to examine the often complex nature of why it happened and who is responsible. At Jackel & Phillips, we have the experience and knowledge to do just that.

Amusement Park Accidents Happen More Often Than You Think

There are many companies which specialize in providing mobile rides for state/local fairs and even more companies which assemble and operate these rides. Alongside the mobile rides, there are also often a caravan of petting zoos, food stands, and games of chance. Alarmingly, these operators often move across the country at a rapid clip stretching from across the Midwest to the South, including, of course, Georgia.

Therefore, one of the most alarming aspects of mobile amusement ride operators is how theses rides are repeatedly transported, taken apart and reassembled almost every week as they move from town to town. Needless to say, this type of work is hard both on the machinery and the workers who live months on end in trailers (often working most days until the early morning hours). In short, carnival life is a hard life. Accordingly, the never-ending chain of assembly and disassembly coupled with rapid and mobile operations create multitude chances for mistakes which so often can lead to terrible injuries to patrons, not the least of which is weary, run-down and inattentive workers of the mobile rides.

While ride manufacturers are responsible for the design and safe manufacturing of rides, it is up to operators to assemble these rides with the utmost care to ensure safe operations, strictly following each state’s safety protocols. Accordingly, in serious amusement park accidents, it is very important to thoroughly examine each aspect of design, manufacturing, assemblage, operation and maintenance to determine the factors which caused the injury event. That is why in civil lawsuits concerning amusement park injuries, the injured parties may sue multiple parties, including the manufacturer, owner and operators of the amusement ride.

Georgia is also home to several major permanent amusement parks which, for the most part, comply with safety standards and operate in a safe manner.  However, even established amusement parks have been negligent resulting in tragic consequences such as the 2008 death of a young boy at Six Flags. Incidents like this shocking and devastating event remind us all that it is our responsibility to hold businesses accountable to prevent the tragedy from happening again. When someone is injured at an amusement park, owner liability is dependent in many ways on what the owners knew and when did they know it.  So, you need an attorney on your side to make sure that a proper investigation is conducted.

All too often, it can be unclear who is liable for an amusement park injury. Worse, you may just assume that you or your loved-one are somehow at fault for the injury. However, there are often more factors to these cases than you know. Before you assume anything, reach out to a legal professional for help. An attorney at Jackel & Phillips can examine the details of your case to determine the right action to take. A consultation with Jackel & Phillips is free and non-committal, so you have nothing to lose.

Common Amusement Park Injuries

Some of the more common injuries that can result from amusement park visits include:

• Head or neck injuries similar to whiplash;
• Drowning;
• Death or serious injury by falling or being thrown from a ride;
• Broken bones or cuts;
• Stroke or other neurological damage;
• Back injuries; and,
• Amputations

No matter how minor your injuries may feel at first, more serious problems may come to light hours or even days after the event.  Sometimes, even the sheer force created by a ride’s spinning or jarring movement is enough to cause serious injury. This type of force itself could indicate that an amusement park ride, such as a roller coaster, is not calibrated safely for public use. At Jackel & Phillips, we believe that owners and operators of amusement parks have a responsibility to their patrons to provide a safe environment and we will fight to make sure that happens!

We Can Help!

If you are injured at an amusement park, you can bet that the amusement park operator will rapidly have a legal team on site with investigators to prepare a defense for any civil action. Therefore, it is critical for you to have an attorney on your side to help you preserve evidence, evaluate your potential claim and, just as importantly, help you determine the legally responsible parties. This is particularly true with mobile amusement park operators who will be gone from the location within days. More often than not, the faster an attorney gets involved, the better it is for your case. Indeed, time is often the victim’s worst enemy in amusement park accident cases because the amusement park location is a quickly changing environment where rides disappear, carnival workers migrate, and witness memories conveniently fade.

An amusement park injury may feel overwhelming or confusing, especially when you’re in pain from that injury. Let a legal professional with experience examine the details of your amusement park case and properly advise you as to whether you have a legal claim against the amusement park operator/owner. Remember, your claim may not only be just your own injuries. If a spouse, child or loved one was injured or killed in an amusement park accident, it’s also possible that you could be entitled to compensation yourself for that loss.

If you’re suffering from an amusement park injury, reach out to an amusement park injury lawyer at Jackel & Phillips. Don’t hesitate. If you or a loved one has been injured by amusement park negligence, you deserve an amusement park injury lawyer to fight for what you deserve. Acting quickly is important with these cases so that as much information as possible from the incident can be gathered with accuracy.  If you live in the greater Atlanta or Marietta area and have suffered an injury while visiting an amusement park, contact Jackel & Phillips to schedule an appointment for a consultation.