Amusement Park Accidents Injury Lawyer
Our California theme park injury lawyers help victims recover compensation
Millions of people visit California’s amusement parks each year, usually without incident. These places are typically thought of as places for friends and families to gather, relax, and enjoy entertainment and thrilling rides that you cannot experience elsewhere. Unfortunately, sometimes, an amusement park visit ends in serious injuries—or worse. When this occurs, victims should discuss their legal options with an amusement park injury lawyer in Los Angeles as soon as they can.
If you have been hurt at an amusement park, the lawyers of Blair & Ramirez LLP will review the facts of your case at no cost to you. To schedule your free case evaluation with an amusement park injury attorney in Los Angeles, call our office today.
How common are amusement park accidents?
According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, there were approximately 30,000 injuries related to amusement parks in 2016. That said, data regarding amusement park incidents is limited, making it difficult to truly know just how common they are. What is clear, however, is that amusement parks and amusement park rides can pose a serious risk of injury to park visitors, especially in cases where park staff or their vendors are careless or negligent.
Can you sue an amusement park?
In many cases, people who are hurt in amusement park accidents can sue the company that owns it for their accident-related losses. As is the case with other types of accidents, in order to recover compensation, an accident must have been the result of someone else’s negligent or intentional act. Most amusement park injury lawsuits arise from the following:
Amusement park employee negligence
Amusement park companies can be held vicariously liable for the negligent conduct of their employees. Some examples of potential employee negligence include failing to adequately maintain rides, failing to adequately maintain the property, providing improper instructions to guests, or providing inadequate security to visitors.
Products liability
In some cases, if a ride or amusement park product was defective and caused an injury, victims may be able to recover compensation from the amusement park or the product / ride manufacturer by filing a products liability claim. Products liability claims are based on one of three types of defects: design defects, manufacturing defects, or marketing defects. Because these kinds of defects can be hard to spot, anyone injured on an amusement park ride should discuss their case with an experienced attorney.
Premises liability
Amusement parks have a duty to keep their premises reasonably safe for their visitors. This includes stairwells, elevators, escalators, bathrooms, common areas, and any other areas that their patrons may visit. Common examples of accidents that can lead to premises liability lawsuits include slip and fall accidents, incidents involving falling objects, fires, explosions, and toxic exposure.
Are amusement parks regulated?
There is no federal oversight of amusement parks, and each state has different rules regarding how they are regulated. In California, the Amusement Ride and Tramway Unit of the Department of Industrial Relations is responsible for the regulation of both temporary and permanent amusement rides. If an amusement park is found to be in violation of these regulations, it may be sufficient for victims to establish amusement park liability without any further evidence.