There is no doubt that children and adults look forward to visits to amusement parks. An amusement park provides hours, if not days, of entertainment, excitement and activity for the entire family. However, amusement parks can also be the site of serious accidents that can lead to traumatic injury. If you are injured at an amusement park, you may wonder who is responsible for your lost wages, medical bills and other expenses, which is why it is important to have the facts about amusement park accidents.

Premises Liability in Amusement Park Injuries

In many cases, an amusement park injury falls under premises liability. Premises liability determines who is liable when a condition on land or in a building causes an injury. Rides, activities and other aspects of an amusement park are all considered part of the premises of the park. If you can demonstrate that the park was negligent in some way or that your injury was caused by carelessness of an employee, you may have a premises liability claim.

Invitee or Trespasser Amusement Park Accidents

There are two different types of entrants to amusement parks – invitees or trespassers. An invitee is someone who was admitted to the park and allowed to be in the location where they were injured. A trespasser is someone who was injured where they were not permitted to be.

An amusement park must maintain all aspects of the park in a safe manner, whether the person who enters the park pays admission or is admitted for free. If park management knows or should be aware of any dangerous condition, they are required to inform any invitees to the park. If they fail to do so and the invitee suffers an injury, park ownership or management may be liable.

The park owes no degree of safety to a trespassing person, although they may not cause them intentional harm. In the case of a person who sneaks into the park when it is not open, is not owed the same degree of protection from injury as an invited guest.

Off-Limits Section of Amusement Park

There may be an exception to the trespasser rule, however. If someone who enters the park during normal hours as an invitee accesses a section of the park that is supposed to be off-limits, it is possible the park owner or management could be held responsible for any injury sustained.

If you entered an off-limits area that was not clearly marked off-limits or if there was no way for you to know you were not permitted to enter that section of the park, the amusement park can be held liable for your injuries.

Protections on Rides

Amusement parks must be certain that all rides are safe. They are required to provide adequate restraints for passengers on the ride. In addition, they must conduct routine maintenance and safety inspections. Employees must be supervised and safety instructions provided for all riders or staff members. If you are injured because you ignored safety instructions, you may not be eligible for compensation for your injury. For example, if you extend your arm outside of the car on a ride causing injury after you have been warned not to do so, you may not be eligible for compensation. However, if there were no warnings that extending your arm outside the car would cause injury, you may be eligible.

If you or a loved one were injured at an amusement park, contact the personal injury lawyers at Lundy Law to learn the facts about amusement park accidents. Arrange for your initial consultation by calling 1-800-Lundy Law or complete the easy form online.