If you fall getting off a ride at an amusement park can they be held liable?
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If you fall getting off a ride at an amusement park can they be held liable?
I fell getting off a ride at an amusement park, because the ride operators were
no where in sight to help me off the ride. Other riders began to bum rush to get
on the ride so I had no choice but to attempt to get off the ride with no help
from the operators and I fell and broke my ankle.
Asked on March 7, 2017 under Personal Injury, Minnesota
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
The park would only be liable if it were to be considered negligent, or "unreasonably careless," to not have operators help you disembark the ride. This is not a determination or opinion you--or any layperson--can render, since you have no relevant knowledge, education, training, etc. Rather, you would need to have some expert in amusement park ride construction render a learned opinion that this was unsafe--and hiring such an expert can be expensive.
Bear in mind that even if you establish that the park was negligent or at fault, you can only recover compensation equal to the sum of your out-of-pocket (not paid by insurance or Medicare/caid) medical costs, lost wages from the injury (if any), and, IF the injury resulted in long term (typically, many months or more) significant disability or life impairment, some amount for "pain and suffering," which amount is typcally in relation to or proportionate to the medical costs. Unless you had an unusually severe broken ankle, or one that will never heal properly, it may not be worth the cost of a lawsuit, especially given that you need to hire an expert to write a report and testify.
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