Personal Injury Law And Florida's Amusement Parks
Michael Babboni
Personal Injury
Florida is the Sunshine State, and every day millions of visitors flock to the amusement parks and other attractions scattered throughout its borders. With so many people visiting the state's water parks and amusement parks – not to mention carnivals, fairs, and other similar attractions – it's only natural that accidents will occur. For the most part these are minor and usually triggered by the unsafe actions of a guest. And they're also very rare – stats suggest that your odds of being injured in a theme park are 1 in 9 million.However, there are occasions when an accident happens in a theme park that leaves you with serious injuries. While you might think that this is always because of a faulty ride or a mistake made during ride operation, the reality is that 46% of these accidents are actually nothing but simple 'slip and trip' falls.
While it's true that you are taking some risk upon yourself when visiting a theme park, and as a result you won't' be able to seek financial compensation in many instances, there are occasions where you could potentially seek financial restitution. However, these can be difficult cases to win due not only to the inherent risks involved in a theme park and their efforts to mitigate responsibility, but also because the amusement parks have deep pockets to invest in legal teams with.
The key thing to understand is that negligence must be present in order to show that the park is to blame in most cases. This means that it must be proven that the park operators or staff knew about unsafe conditions and did nothing to deal with them or to warn others about the issues. Additionally, things like unsafe operation and behavior from the staff could be grounds for a suit. Potential causes of accidents that could prove to be grounds for a lawsuit include:
- Slippery surfaces
- Unlocked or unsecured doors that permit entry into hazardous areas
- Dimly lit areas
- Poor maintenance of rids and buildings
- Ride defects
- Ride operators who are intoxicated
- Failure to keep construction areas safe
- Poor handling or preparation of food
It's worth noting that there is also the question of 'reasonable risk', which refers to your ability to look at a situation and recognize the hazards associated with it. For instance, you should know that the area around a water ride could be wet, or that a roller coaster will potentially upset a heart condition. Despite that, most parks will have signs up warning you of the situations. Still, courts will look at reasonable risk when deciding on whether or not you have the grounds to seek compensation.
Most of the cases focusing on amusement parks and injuries that occur in them are settled out of court. The cases that do go to trial are difficult for anyone to win, and theme parks will generally settle if they know they have no chance of winning the case. That's why it's so important to find a good accident attorney in Florida – you'll have a professional on your side helping argue for your settlement and helping you understand whether or not you have a fair settlement.
Yes, amusement park injuries could be the grounds for financial compensation. However, it's one of the most difficult areas to purse financial restitution in and as such you'll need the help of an experienced lawyer in order to have any chance of getting the compensation that you're owed.