Unfortunately however, a fun-filled day can quickly turn into a tragic nightmare. Something as simple as a loosely fastened lap bar on a roller coaster car can change a person's life forever. The lap bar can lift suddenly in less than a second, throwing a person from the coaster. Coaster speed can range from 30 mph to 100 mph, leaving a person's body battered with injuries, if they manage to survive at all.
Injuries sustained in an amusement park accident may require extensive healthcare treatment, including surgeries, physical therapy, and medications, all adding to significant medical expenses. Additionally, the injured person must take time off work to focus on recovery, which adds to their financial stress. There may also be mental healthcare required as well after going through something so traumatic.
Texas law is on the side of amusement park accident victims. If you are struggling with injuries, high medical bills, and emotional distress, you can seek compensation from the negligent party. Enlisting the help of a trusted Dallas amusement park attorney can hold those legally responsible for the harm they caused you or someone you love.
Have you been injured in a Dallas amusement park accident? Are you struggling to pay medical bills? Are you battling emotional anguish in the aftermath of the event? Look no further than Rasansky Law Firm. Our experienced team of personal injury lawyers has the in-depth legal knowledge and skills necessary to help you receive the compensation you deserve.
As fun as they are, amusement parks and carnival rides can be dangerous. We want to put our trust in the owners of these facilities to keep their rides safe, but that isn’t always the case.
At Rasansky Law Firm, we understand the pain and suffering that comes with a serious amusement park accident. That's why we're relentless in our efforts to protect our clients from insurance companies, individuals, or businesses that may try to avoid paying out damages. Our team has secured millions of dollars in compensation for our clients, and we're ready to fight for you too.
When you work with Rasansky Law Firm, you'll receive personalized attention from our skilled attorneys. We aim to help you move forward after your amusement park accident with peace of mind and financial stability.
Don't wait to seek the help you need. Contact Rasansky Law Firm today for a free consultation. Our mission is to help you obtain fair compensation, enabling you to focus on healing and rebuilding your life.
Regarding Dallas amusement park accidents, there are some surprising facts that most people don't know or realize. Knowing these facts could save your life.
While we all enjoy a good thrill ride, we rarely think about the potential dangers that come with them. According to a Consumer Product Safety Commission report, there are roughly 6,000 to 8,000 amusement park and traveling carnival injuries each year. Additionally, CPSC reports ten deaths occur annually. Those staggering figures highlight the hidden hazards associated with amusement park rides.
Although park owners, staff, and ride manufacturers contribute to many theme park ride accidents, rider conduct can play a role also. Although current research does not provide actual numbers for these rider-related incidents, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions confirms that riders do sometimes cause amusement park accidents.
The IAAPA defines rider behavior that violates safety precautions, such as:
Amusement park injuries can have long-lasting effects.
The truth is that an amusement park accident can alter a person's life forever. Injuries like traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and broken bones all have serious long-term consequences. These injuries usually result in ongoing medical treatment, and often cause permanent disability, or even death.
Dallas amusement park accidents can result in legal action.
If you sustained injuries while at an amusement park in Dallas, you may have a right to receive compensation. The park, the ride manufacturer, and other involved parties may be responsible for the accident. Speaking with an experienced personal injury attorney to explore your legal options can help illuminate who may be liable for your injury so that you can move forward in pursuing compensation.
Going to an amusement park or carnival is a popular summer activity. In fact, every year these establishments receive hundreds of millions of visits. It’s not difficult to understand why. After all, amusement park rides are thrilling, exhilarating and downright fun. But there is a dark side to the amusement park industry that you might discover only after you or your loved one suffers a serious injury.
The Dallas area offers an astounding selection of amusement parks of various types, including:
Unfortunately, most of these establishments have seen injury accidents at some point or another.
Despite the enjoyment generated by amusement parks, many of the rides are deceptively dangerous. The International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions reported about 1,200 ride-related injuries nationwide in the year 2016 alone.
Amusement park safety is shockingly unregulated in Texas. Although state law grants the Texas Department of Insurance general authority to enforce safety regulations for the amusement park industry, much of the actual oversight of theme parks is delegated to insurance companies.
Fortunately, amusement parks are required to carry insurance. In order to obtain and maintain coverage, they must (i) submit to periodic inspections and (ii) file a Quarterly Injury Report with the Texas Department of Insurance. Inspections are normally carried out by the insurance company, not the government, although Texas law requires amusement and theme parks also to submit to spot inspections by state government officials.
The Texas Department of Insurance publicly released its Amusement Ride Injury Report recently, which summarizes individual Quarterly Injury Reports across the amusement park industry. The results are disturbing to say the least. 75 amusement park injury reports were recorded in Texas for 2017, more than one accident per week. The report does not even include injuries treated on-site.
There are various causes of amusement park accidents, each with unique characteristics. Here are some frequent causes of park incidents:
1. Mechanical Malfunctions
Ride operators maintain and inspect the rides before operation. Rides may sometimes malfunction due to worn-out parts, poor maintenance, or design defects. For example, in 2016, a 10-year-old boy in Kansas City, KS, died on the world's tallest waterslide (17-story chute), the Verrückt, when his raft went airborne due to a design flaw.
2. Operator Negligence
Amusement park ride operators must ensure their riders' safety. However, when they fail to do so, accidents can happen. Operators can be negligent if they do not operate the ride correctly or fail to provide proper instructions to riders. For instance, in 2022, a 14-year-old boy fell off a 430-foot drop tower at an Orlando, Florida, theme park after a ride operator failed to secure his seatbelt.
3. Rider Behavior
In some cases, rider behavior can also cause harm. Riders may fail to follow ride instructions or intentionally act recklessly. For example, standing up or leaning out of ride cars can lead to serious injuries or death.
4. External Factors
External factors like weather conditions or natural disasters can also contribute to amusement park accidents. Strong winds, heavy rain, or lightning can cause rides to malfunction, leading to incidents.
There are many different types of injuries that can occur on amusement park rides, including:
When you enter an amusement park, you are trusting its owners and operators to ensure a reasonably safe environment for you and your other family members to enjoy. On rare occasions, the pre-existing medical vulnerability of a passenger can combine with the inherent danger of a certain ride to produce an injury, and that isn’t anyone’s fault. However, most often, an accident that causes injury is someone's fault.
Generally speaking, if the accident wasn’t your fault and the ride wasn’t inherently dangerous, the park’s owners or operators, or the manufacturers of defective equipment, are to blame. There are several common ways that amusement park accidents happen, including:
If you sustained an injury at an amusement park in Dallas due to someone else's negligence, you might wonder if you can hold them liable for your injuries. Liability means a party is legally responsible for the harm caused to another person.
Here are the various parties who may be held liable:
1.The Amusement Park Owner
The amusement park owner should face liability if they fail to maintain safe conditions in the park, or if they fail to warn guests of any dangers. For example, injured victims can hold amusement park owners liable if a roller coaster has broken or missing safety restraints and causes an injury.
2.The Ride Manufacturer
If a ride has a defective design or manufactured part, causing an injury, the rider can hold the manufacturer liable. For instance, the manufacturer can be responsible if a poorly designed roller coaster harness causes an injury.
3.The Ride Operator
An injured person can hold a ride operator liable if they were negligent in operating the ride. For example, if the operator fails to properly secure a guest in the ride, leading to an injury, the operator can be liable.
4. Other Guests
In some cases, other guests can act in a negligent manner that causes harm to someone else. For example, if a guest throws an object from a ride, hitting and injuring another guest, they can be held liable.
Determining liability can be complicated in Dallas amusement park accident cases. An amusement park accident may involve multiple liable parties, not just one. You may potentially sue park owners, ride manufacturers, operators, maintenance crews, and visitors.
Additionally, amusement park rides involve complex mechanical and engineering systems. Expert analysis may be required to figure out whether a design flaw or mechanical failure caused the accident.
What if you're partially at fault for the accident? Can you still seek damages? There's a big misconception that you can't seek compensation if you were partly at fault for the accident. According to Texas law, you can receive financial relief, but there is a restriction. That's why it helps to know how comparative negligence rules in the Lone Star State could affect your amusement park injury claim.
Comparative negligence is a legal concept that allows a court to allocate fault between the parties involved in an accident. Under Texas law, a victim of an accident still can claim damages as long as they are less than 51 percent at fault for the accident.
If the court discovers the victim is 51 percent or more at fault, they cannot recover damages. This legal principle is also known as the "51 percent rule."
Other legal terms used to describe comparative negligence include "proportionate responsibility" and "comparative fault." These terms all refer to the same concept: that more than one party can be responsible for an accident, and the court must determine each party's fault.
Here's an illustration:
Imagine you went to a Dallas amusement park and got on a roller coaster, but the ride operator didn't properly fasten your safety harness. As a result, you suffered a herniated disc. However, you also talked on your phone and did not completely follow the operator's instructions.
If the court finds that the ride operator was 80 percent at fault for the amusement park accident and you were 20 percent at fault, you can still recover damages, but the amount you receive gets lowered by that 20 percent. So, if a judge or jury sets your award at $100,000, you'll receive $80,000.
Consulting an experienced personal injury attorney can help you understand how the rule applies to your case, so you can continue to fight for fair compensation. Remember, just because you may have been partially at fault for your injury does not mean you can't recover damages.
Depending on the circumstances, an amusement park injury claim might be based on one of the following assertions:
Several factors will determine whether a Dallas amusement park injury case will require a court hearing. In many cases, the involved parties can agree on a mutually beneficial settlement without going to trial. In some situations however, if a satisfactory settlement cannot be agreed upon, going to trial may be necessary.
Circumstances that may lead to a case going to court include:
Factors that could lead to out-of-court settlements include:
The pros of going to court include having a jury hear your case and award more significant compensation than we sometimes see on a settlement. The downside to going through the court system consists of a lengthy trial, high-cost legal expenses, and an uncertain outcome. If the trial costs a great deal to litigate, you could end up getting less money in the end even if the award is higher than what the settlement might have been.
Alternatives to court include mediation and arbitration, which are often less expensive and time consuming than going to court. In mediation, an objective third party helps the parties settle. In arbitration, a neutral third party makes a binding decision. According to Forbes, approximately 95 percent of civil cases settle without a court trial.
Depending on the damages sought in Dallas, a district or county court will hear your personal injury claim. Reach out to a personal injury lawyer who can evaluate your case and advise on the best course of action.
Picture this: A teenager visits her favorite Dallas amusement park, enjoying a fun ride with her best friends, when suddenly, the ride malfunctions and tosses the high schooler off, resulting in head and neck injuries. Her parents believe the park may be at fault for not maintaining the ride correctly. In this scenario, what evidence would they need to prove their case?
Building a strong case for a Dallas amusement park injury lawsuit requires collecting the following pieces of evidence:
In a personal injury case, compensation refers to the monetary amount awarded to the victim to cover their damages. A settlement can help those injured recover and move on with their lives because it will ease the financial burden they experience. In a Dallas amusement park injury case, compensation may cover medical expenses, income loss, physical pain, emotional suffering, and other related damages.
The amount of compensation available in a personal injury case varies depending on the facts of the accident. Some factors that can impact the payment amount include the severity of the injuries suffered, the cost of medical treatment, the length of recovery time, and whether there is permanent disability or impairment. In wrongful death cases, sometimes the amount of compensation is relatively high.
According to a Jury Verdict Research study, the average Texas personal injury settlement over the last six years was $826,892. Remember that figure is only an average, and your award could be substantially lower or higher based upon the circumstances of your case.
The statute of limitations in Texas is generally two years from the date of the injury. This restriction provides a clear time frame for both parties to take action and resolve the issue. There are some cases where the time frame may be shorter, so make sure to consult a Dallas amusement park accident lawyer as soon as possible after the injury occurs.
It is incredibly stressful when you get injured in an amusement park accident caused by another person's negligence. Here are some of the different services that an amusement park accident lawyer offers:
Having an amusement park accident lawyer on your side offers several benefits, such as:
To ensure you hire the most qualified attorney to represent you after your amusement park accident, you should ask any attorney you consult with some key questions about pursuing a claim from start to finish. Here are some good questions to ask:
If you or a loved one has suffered a serious injury at an amusement park, you can count on the personal injury lawyers at Rasansky Law Firm to help you recover the compensation you are entitled to. Our team of qualified attorneys are ready to help you fight back. We truly care about helping people get the compensation they deserve to move on with their lives.
Want to get an attorney’s opinion on your amusement park injury? Give us a call right now at (214) 651-6100 to learn more about your legal options, as well as how we may be able to help you on a no-win no-fee basis.
The attorneys at Rasansky Law Firm are happy to speak to you about your potential case free of charge. If we can help with your claim, we’ll do so for no out-of-pocket cost to you. Call us 24/7 at (214) 651-6100.
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