Amusement Park Accidents

Amusement park accidents in Michigan and elsewhere may result in catastrophic injuries, particularly for children. Sometimes carnival rides do not have adequate safety equipment, are constructed inappropriately, or are operated by people who are not attending to safety concerns or who are not trained in their jobs. Although the Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates rides, it does not always monitor them adequately for safety. If you were injured or a loved one was killed in an amusement park accident, you should consult an experienced Grand Rapids or Traverse City premises liability lawyer at the Neumann Law Group. Our principal, Kelly Neumann, is an award-winning trial attorney who can provide aggressive and knowledgeable representation.

Amusement park accidents may involve a malfunctioning carnival ride, or they may also involve incidents like slipping on a broken step or a case of food poisoning in the food court. Invitees to amusement parks—people who have been invited onto the premises to enjoy the attractions there and have paid to do so—are owed the highest duty of care in premises liability lawsuits. Several duties are owed by property owners to customers and guests in Michigan: a duty to keep the property in a reasonably safe condition, a duty to protect them from unreasonable known risks or those that should be known, a duty to warn of dangers unless they are open and obvious, and a duty to inspect the property to discover any dangers of which the owner may have been unaware.

Generally, the simple existence of a hazardous condition like a spill or a broken step does not automatically make the owner liable to an invitee. Instead, you will need to prove notice—that the owner knew or should have known about the problem. There are certain circumstances in which an owner or possessor of property may be found to have constructive notice of a defective condition. These situations include those in which an employee created the dangerous condition through an unreasonable omission or act that breached the duty owed to visitors, or in which the defective condition is shown to have existed for long enough that the landowner or possessor should have discovered it.

When an amusement park accident is a result of carelessness by an employee, rather than a defective condition, it may be possible to recover damages under a theory of negligence rather than premises liability. Negligence requires you to show that the defendant failed to meet a duty of reasonable care and that this failure caused your injuries. For example, if a ride operator is not properly trained, and as a result, you fall out of a ride and suffer injuries, you may be able to establish that the park owed you a duty to adequately train its operators and prove the park's negligence in not doing so.

When injuries occur due to a defective ride or aspect of a ride, such as a defective lap belt, you may be able to bring a product liability lawsuit against the manufacturer. You will need to establish that there was a manufacturing, design, or marketing defect and that it caused your injuries.

You do not expect to come away from a visit to an amusement park with serious injuries. If you are hurt in an amusement park accident, our Traverse City and Grand Rapids premises liability attorneys may be able to help you recover compensation. The Neumann Law Group also represents victims in Ann Arbor, Flint, Lansing, Kalamazoo, Detroit, Wyoming, Saginaw, Muskegon, Midland, Holland, Warren, and Petoskey, as well as communities throughout the Upper Peninsula. Contact us at 800-525-NEUMANN or via our online form to set up a free consultation with an injury attorney.