Everyone in Northeast Ohio can see that there has been a rapid increase in trampoline, ninja, zipline, and water parks in our communities. However, many people visiting these parks, or other amusement parks or resorts, do not realize that there is minimal regulation in Ohio over amusement facilities to ensure they are complying with industry standards and keeping our kids and our community safe. This blog tackles the issues relating to amusement and trampoline park injuries, explores the concerning trends relating to trampoline park injuries, and also discusses Plakas Mannos’s recent $1,500,000 settlement on behalf of a family who suffered injuries at an Ohio recreational resort.
Data Demonstrates That Unsafe Trampoline and Amusement Parks Pose a Significant Risk to Guests, and Especially Children
Because trampoline and other amusement parks are often staffed by teenagers, experience significant turnover, and are operated by people with no certifications or industry training, there is no surprise that medical professionals are worried about the trends they are seeing. For example, a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics found that while there were only 581 emergency room visits in 2010 resulting from injuries at trampoline parks like Sky Zone, that number increased by over 1000% just 4 years later to 6,932 emergency room visits.
In reviewing the data, significant injuries like head injuries, fractures, and dislocations were much more likely to occur in a trampoline park than on a home trampoline. Furthermore, many of these serious injuries occur because the amusement or trampoline park operator fails to hire competent staff, fails to appropriately train staff, fails to monitor staff, fails to ensure that the facility/park is set up in a safe way, and/or fails to inspect and maintain equipment. While much has been written about the increased risk of injuries at trampoline parks, these parks are not alone in the risks they pose to Ohioans.
Below are just some of the ways people suffer injuries due to the negligence of unsafe businesses in the amusement industry:
- Trampoline Parks: Poorly designed or maintained trampolines can lead to dangerous falls, broken bones, and head injuries including traumatic brain injuries. Often parks do not keep adults and teenagers away from small children, which can create dangerous collisions that have life-altering consequences.
- Amusement Parks: Defective rides, poorly maintained rides, operator negligence, and insufficient safety precautions can turn a fun day into a tragedy.
- Water Parks: Wet surfaces, defectively designed rides, and unmonitored rides can cause slip-and-fall accidents, drownings, and other severe injuries or deaths.
- Ziplines and Ropes Courses: These high-adventure activities, when improperly designed, maintained, or operated, pose significant risks, including falls from dangerous heights or collisions with poles or trees.
Whether due to poorly designed facilities, improperly maintained equipment, improper safety guidelines, or staff incompetence or negligence, these amusement park accidents can result in life-changing consequences, including broken bones, traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, or even death.
Plakas Mannos Recently Obtained a $1.5 Million Settlement Against an Unsafe Park Operator and Manufacturer
When the personal injury attorneys at Plakas Mannos perform an investigation we don’t just look for the most obvious reason that an injury happens, but instead, we set out to discover all of the reasons, so that we can not only obtain justice for our clients, but also so we can help make sure no one else suffers a similar injury.
In a recent recreational injury case, we successfully secured a $1,500,000.00 settlement for a family who was seriously injured at an Ohio resort when zipline equipment failed, resulting in a crash into a support beam at approximately 40 mph. Although the resort owner blamed the device manufacturer, Plakas Mannos retained industry experts to inspect the entire zipline and perform a failure analysis on the equipment. The recreational injury attorneys at Plakas Mannos also took the depositions of all the park operator’s employees who were involved and learned that not only were the employees not trained to inspect the equipment as required by the manufacturer, but that no one ever even read the operator’s manual for the equipment. In other words, this injury didn’t just occur because of a product failure, but instead occurred because of a totally preventable system failure created by an unsafe operator who paid no attention to industry standards and instead tried to operate the park as cheaply as possible.
This case serves as an important reminder to businesses that while risks always exist with thrill-seeking, businesses who profit still have an obligation to act within industry standards to prevent known risks of injury to guests, whom are often children, or unable to protect themselves if something goes wrong.
How Do Recreational Resorts Try to Avoid Taking Responsibility for Their Negligence?
Many trampoline, zipline, ninja, water park, and other amusement industry operators hide behind the legal defense of assumption of risk. This defense provides that, where individuals engage in a recreational activity, they assume the ordinary risks of the activity and generally cannot recover for an injury resulting from such risks. For instance, under the assumption of risk defense, the operator of a driving range will probably not be liable to a golfer who was struck by an errant golf ball. A participant, however, does not assume risks that are not directly associated with the activity in question, such as a golfer falling into a large, uncovered drain hole when retrieving a golf ball from the rough.
Owners and operators may also claim that a hazard on their property was “open and obvious.” The “open and obvious” defense similarly absolves facility owners from liability to users for injuries resulting from dangerous conditions on the property that are not concealed and are discoverable by ordinary inspection. Again, however, if the risk of injury is not obvious or if the owner can anticipate that the user will be distracted, the open and obvious defense does not apply.
Additionally, many facilities require any user to sign a waiver in order to participate. Many times the entirety of the waiver is not shown to the user, or the waiver may be so one-sided that it lacks enforceability. While some users may believe that just because they signed a waiver they have no ability to recover for the park’s negligence, that very well may not be true. Rather than assuming that the waiver you signed bars your claim, you should talk to an experienced recreational injury lawyer who can review the same and advise you of any arguments you may have to overcome the terms of the waiver.
How We Can Help with Your Amusement Park or Recreational Resort Injury
If you’ve been injured on a zipline, at a trampoline park, like Sky Zone, a water park, ninja park, or any other amusement or recreational facility in Canton, Akron or across Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas, Mahoning, Columbiana, Medina, or Cuyahoga County, Ohio, give Plakas Mannos a call to help you investigate the causes and hold unsafe operators accountable. Our experienced recreational injury lawyers understand the complexities of recreational injury cases, including the need to investigate whether operators followed safety standards, maintained their equipment, and trained their staff appropriately.
We’re committed to fighting for the rights of injury victims and ensuring negligent facility owners are held accountable. We are ready to stand by your side and guide you through the legal process, so you can focus on healing. Contact us today for a free consultation to discuss your case.
About the Authors
Maria Klutinoty Edwards is an attorney and partner who handles complex cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, business litigation, medical malpractice, and industrial accidents.
Collin Wise is an attorney and partner who concentrates his practice on personal injury, wrongful death litigation, business litigation, car crashes, and truck crashes.
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