Central Florida is home to various world-renowned amusement parks, fairs, and attractions. The people of Central Florida and Orlando in particular, are fortunate to have so many fun and exciting places to visit. Unfortunately, that amusement park fun can quickly turn into pain and suffering when someone is injured. This is when you will need an Orlando Amusement Park Injury Attorney.
The US Consumer Product Safety Division keeps statistics for all amusement park accidents, and they are much more common than people think. In 2016, they estimated amusement park injuries resulted in 30,900 visits to hospital emergency rooms. There have also been 22 amusement park deaths since 2010. The Center for Injury Research and Policy, reports more than 4,400 injuries are suffered by children every year.
Injuries suffered while at an amusement park can be caused by many things, including:
- Slipping and falling
- Lightning strikes
- Negligence by another guest at the park
- Negligence on the part of ride operators, maintenance personnel, or other employees.
There is no single body nationally that oversees the safety of rides at amusement parks. Instead, that is left up to the state. In Florida, The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) has the duty of inspecting all amusement parks in Florida, except for those with over 1000 employees. The Mega Parks, with more than 1,000 workers, including Universal Studios, Disney, Sea World, Busch Gardens, and Epcot are exempt from those Florida regulations. Instead, they are solely responsible for keeping their entire park safe for guests, including the rides, and other attractions. Could this be a conflict of interest?
When we think of injuries at a theme park, we naturally think of the horrific deaths reported by the news media. However, more common and less reported are injuries from slipping and falling, getting on and off rides, tripping downstairs, injuries from flying objects, vehicle accidents, and another guest’s negligence.
We all understand accidents happen, but they do so for a reason. Amusement parks have a responsibility under Florida law to protect and ensure your safety. If you, a family member, or friend is hurt on their property, and the amusement park was at fault, or even partially so, that person is entitled to be compensated for their pain, suffering, inability to lead a normal life, medical expense, lost wages, and so forth.
If you are injured at an amusement park, the first and most important thing to do is to seek medical attention. Secondly, you must immediately report the accident to park management and ask for a copy of the incident report. Finally, you need to protect yourself, and any potential claim, by immediately contacting the Law Offices of Rand Saltsgaver for expert legal counsel. His team will quickly investigate the situation, to determine if they can be of assistance to you. They will get video footage, if it exists, gather contact information of all involved, including witnesses, take pictures of the dangerous condition that caused your injuries, document your injuries, and collect all the medical records in order to maximize the value of your case.
The Law Offices of Rand Saltsgaver has handled a number of these cases during his forty-year career. He knows how to build your case, fight for your rights, hold the negligent parties responsible, and make them pay! Contact them today for a free conference.