Amusement Park Accidents

Welcome to the Rodgers Law Firm

We at the Rodgers Law Firm in Fort Worth, Texas understand the devastation and losses that may be caused by injuries suffered in amusement park accidents. Surviving victims often may have no transportation, may be unable to work due to injury may have no health insurance or large savings to pay for medical care, may not know how to find health care providers that will wait for payment until the case settles or is tried, and may not have the energy or know how to deal with the insurance company for the wrongdoer.

That's why we are here – to do everything we can to help our clients get the answers, the assistance, and the compensation that they are entitled to under the law.

We represent victims who have been seriously injured in amusement park accidents all over the DFW Metroplex and surrounding cities, including Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Denton, Burleson, Cleburne, Decatur, Weatherford, Haltom City, North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Azle, Mineral Wells, Mansfield, Sherman, and Denison.

Contact us for a free, no obligation consultation. We will meet with you at our office or any location convenient to you.

The following pages of detailed legal information will give you insights into the depth of our capabilities in these kinds of cases.

Examples of Amusement Park Accident Cases Handled By Our Law Firm

Amusement Park Customer Injured By Defectively-Designed Water Inner Tube Ride
Arlington, Texas

Our client, a slender built woman in her 40’s and her friend went to a water amusement park in Arlington, Texas. One of the rides they chose used large inner tubes, capable of holding up to six passengers, that were sent down a water slide starting at the top of a 70-foot tower and then zoomed over a 300-foot, triple-dip, bouncing course.

The ride had a sign stating “600 Pound Limit” to limit the total weight of all passengers riding in each inner tube to 600 pounds. The park ride attendants were responsible for directing riders as to where to sit and how many could sit in each inner tube.

Our client, her friend, and two very large men, each weighing at least 250 pounds, were instructed by the ride attendant to sit in the same tube. Our client questioned the ride attendant as to why he was not following the posted weight restriction, because the total weight of all four riders seemed to be well over 600 pounds. The ride attendant replied to the effect that it was “its ok, we do it all the time.”

Accepting this reassurance, our client then sat in the innertube, along with the other three passengers. She grabbed the handles of the ride and waited for the others to be
seated. Once the four passengers were seated, the attendant then attempted to send the tube to the release area. However, the tube was so heavy that it would not float over the lip of the loading pool. The ride attendant asked the men to bounce up and down so that they could clear the lip of the pool to go down the slide.

The tube went down the slide and, as she went over the first dip, she was bounced very high, which caused her to become alarmed for her safety and to tighten her grip on the handles of the tube at the bottom of the tube.

As she went over the second slide dip, the tube suddenly made very unusual and unexpected movements, which caused her to be forcefully thrown from the tube and upward several feet into the air. When she came down, she slammed into the side of the slide, landing on her rear end.

She was then washed all the way down the slide by the rapidly flowing water and into the unloading pool at the bottom of the slide. As she came up out of the water, she saw the tube she begin the ride in pass by her in the unloading pool carrying only the two large men. Her friend had also been ejected from the tube.

She suffered a fractured coccyx in the accident, a very painful condition that can last for years. Discovery showed that two other injury lawsuits had been filed before our client’s accident for the same problem with the ride – being forcefully thrown from the ride in a way that caused severe injuries. The suit was settled prior to trial. (TE15)

Amusement Park Customer Injured By Defectively-Designed Toboggan Water Ride
Arlington, Texas

Our client, a woman in her late 20’s, visited the same water amusement park in Arlington, Texas that was visited by our client described above. She was injured at the end of a 45-foot water slide ride when the toboggan she was riding in flipped after hitting the water at the end of the slide.

Her leg was pulled backward by the force of the water and her foot struck sharp rocks at the bottom of the pool, permanently injuring her hip and ankle. The case settled prior to filing suit. (SV)

Overview of Texas Amusement Park Accidents

According to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, in 2006 the amusement park industry had 335 million customers and gross sales were $11.5 billion.

Kids and adults enjoy rides at amusement parks, theme parks, water parks and traveling carnivals. Vacations are often planned around trips to places like Six Flags and Disneyland. Fast, scary rides can be a lot of fun. New roller coasters and other “thrill” rides are being built at a rapid pace. Some are advertised as being the world's fastest, highest or scariest.

Unfortunately, these rides are also getting more dangerous. In a recent year there were 9,200 amusement park related injuries nationwide with an estimated 2,100 of these injuries occurring on traveling carnival rides and 4,500 injuries involved fixed rides.

A decade ago, roller coasters averaged 55 miles per hour. Today they average more than 70 miles per hour and some approach 100 miles per hour. Roller coasters climb higher, drop more suddenly, whip and swirl more swiftly. And they inflict G forces higher than those endured by astronauts at lift-off.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) published the following injury statistics on amusement park injuries in 2002:
1. Mobile amusement rides accounted for an estimated 3000 injuries treated by emergency rooms.
2. Inflatable rides, such as inflatable slides and bounces accounted for an estimated 2,500 hospital emergency room trips.

3. From 1987 to 2000, for mobile and fixed-site amusement rides combined, there were an estimated 4.5 amusement-ride fatalities per year.

The CPSC has noted the hazard patterns associated with amusement related accidents include such causes as:

1. mechanical failures: This includes missing safety pins, broken welds or structural components, exposed electrical wires, and malfunctioning lap bars or other safety restraints.

2. ride operator behavior: abruptly stopping the ride and improperly assembling or maintaining the ride.
These cases illustrate the seriousness and variety of ride-related injuries:
1. A 28-year-old woman was found slumped over dead when her train arrived at the end of its run on Goliath, a 255-foot high, 85 mile-per-hour “hypercoaster” at Six Flags Magic Mountain, California. She had suffered an aneurysm or bleeding in the brain.

2. A 15-year-old girl was killed and her brother and a friend were injured when their lap bar broke away and they were thrown from the high-speed “Himalaya” roller coaster in Austin, Texas.

3. A woman drowned at Six Flags in Arlington, Texas when a river – raft ride overturned.

4. A 13-year-old girl had her feet severed at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom when a frayed cable snapped on a tower drop ride, the Superman Tower of Power. The ride drops 200 feet at 54 miles per hour.

5. At a festival in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a teenage girl was killed after falling 40-50 feet from a freefall-type ride called Air Glory. Air Glory riders are secured into harnesses, attached to cables, then hoisted to the top of a crane where they pull a ripcord and experience momentary freefall in a swing-like ride through the air. Witnesses reported that when the ripcord was pulled, they heard a snapping sound, then watched the victim fall directly to the bare ground. The other rider remained swinging on the line and was not injured.

6. A 4-year-old boy drowned in the Great Barrier Reef wave pool at Great America theme park in Santa Clara, California. According to park officials, six lifeguards were on duty at the 150-foot long pool at the time of the accident; the victim's family says that there were only four. The pool has a maximum depth of six feet when the surface is calm. The boy was found in water that was about 2-3 feet deep.

Amusement park rides in Texas are governed by the Texas Amusement Ride Safety Inspection and Insurance Act. Excerpts of key portions of this Act are reprinted at the bottom of this web page.

Losing the Right to Make the Claim
You must file your Texas amusement park accident suit within a certain time period or else you will lose your right to pursue your claim. In many cases, the suit must be filed within two years from the date of the accident.

Simply contacting the business that operates the amusement park or contacting the businesses’ insurance company about the accident is not enough to stop the running of the two year period.

If the amusement park is owned or operated by a federal, state, city or other governmental entity, the injury claim is governed by different limitations procedures and periods.

Claims against federal government entities are controlled by the Federal Tort Claims Act, which provides:
“A tort claim against the United States shall be forever barred unless it is presented in writing to the appropriate Federal agency within two years after such claim accrues or unless action is begun six months after the date of mailing, by certified or registered mail, of notice of final denial of the claim by the agency to which it was presented.”

Claims against cities and other Texas governmental entities are controlled by the Texas Tort Claims Act. The claim notification procedures in this Act must be followed. It requires that written notice, often using mandatory forms supplied by the agency involved, be given to the agency against whom the claim is being made within time periods much shorter than a year after the accident. Certain exceptions do exist in unique circumstances, but they require the analysis of a qualified attorney to determine if they are applicable.

There are other reasons to act quickly. Key witnesses may disappear, witnesses’ memories may fade, and vital documents may be lost. Sometimes it takes months of investigation to determine who the true defendants are that are legally responsible for the accident. It is crucially important that you do not delay in consulting with an attorney.

Contact us for a free no-obligation consultation as soon as possible to ensure that you retain your right to pursue your claim.

Ask Us for a Second Opinion If Another Attorney Has Declined To Represent You
Attorneys regularly decide whether the case that they are reviewing does or does not meet all the requirements to be a viable, sound amusement park case. Making this determination is not an exact science. Based on different experiences and analytic abilities, one attorney may turn down the opportunity to represent a client and another attorney may decide to take the case.

The second reviewing attorney saw something the first reviewing attorney may have overlooked. The first attorney may have decided that liability was not clear, that the damages were not large enough, there was not available insurance coverage or other sources to pay the money damages, or that there were other problems in seeking a recovery.

We would welcome the opportunity to review your amusement park claim even if another attorney has turned the case down. There is no charge or obligation for our review.

You may contact us at the following phone numbers at any time:

Office: toll free: 1-866-560-1075

local: 817-717-4080


Excerpts of key portions of the Texas Amusement Ride Safety Inspection and Insurance Act (2007):

A. Definitions:
(1) Amusement ride – any mechanical, gravity, or water device or devices that carry or convey passengers along, around, or over a fixed or restricted route or course or within a defined area for the purpose of giving its passengers amusement, pleasure, or excitement.

Amusement ride does NOT include:
(A) any coin-operated ride that is manually, mechanically, or electrically operated and customarily placed in a public location and that does not normally require the supervision or services of an operator;
(B) non-mechanized playground equipment, including, but not limited to, swings, seesaws, stationary spring-mounted animal features, rider-propelled merry-go-rounds, climbers, playground slides, trampolines, and physical fitness devices; or
(C) a challenge course or any part of a challenge course, including a challenge, ropes, team building, or obstacle course that is constructed and used for educational, team and confidence building, or physical fitness purposes, if the person who operates the challenge course has an insurance policy currently in effect written by an insurance company authorized to do business in this state or by a surplus lines insurer, as defined by Chapter 981, Insurance Code, or has an independently procured policy subject to Chapter 101, Insurance Code, insuring the operator against liability for injury to persons arising out of the use of the challenge course, in an amount not less than:
(i) for facilities with a fixed location:
(I) $100,000 bodily injury and $50,000 property damage per occurrence, with a $300,000 annual aggregate; or
(II) $150,000 per occurrence combined single limit, with a $300,000 annual aggregate; and
(ii) for facilities other than those with a fixed location:
(I) $1,000,000 bodily injury and $500,000 property damage per occurrence; or
(II) $1,500,000 per occurrence combined single limit.

(2) ASTM -- The American Society for Testing and Materials.

(3) Class A amusement ride -- An amusement ride with a fixed location and designed primarily for use by children 12 years of age or younger.

(4) Class B amusement ride -- Any amusement ride not defined as a Class A amusement ride.

(6) Inspector -- A person qualified by training, education, or experience to conduct safety inspections of amusement rides or devices on behalf of an insurance company and in accordance with the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), the manufacturer's standards and criteria, or standards established by the insurance company.

(7) Inspection -- A procedure to be conducted by an inspector to determine whether an amusement ride or device is being assembled, maintained, tested, operated, and inspected in accordance with the current ASTM standards, the manufacturer's, or insurer's standards, whichever is the most stringent, and that determines the current operational safety of the ride or device.

(8) Mobile amusement ride -- An amusement ride that is designed or adapted to be moved from one location to another and is not fixed at a single location.

(9) Owner/operator -- The person or entity responsible for an amusement ride and his or its agents or representatives.

(10) TDI -- The Texas Department of Insurance.

C. Amusement Ride Operation Requirements. An owner/operator may not operate an amusement ride unless the owner/operator has satisfied and is continuing to satisfy the following requirements.
(1) The owner/operator must file with TDI a combined single limit or split limit insurance policy in an amount of not less than $100,000 bodily injury and $50,000 property damage per occurrence with a $300,000 annual aggregate or $150,000 per occurrence combined single limit with a $300,000 annual aggregate for Class A amusement rides and an amount of not less than $1,000,000 bodily injury and $500,000 property damage per occurrence or $1,500,000 per occurrence combined single limit for Class B amusement rides insuring the owner or operator against liability for injury to persons arising out of the use of the amusement ride.
(2) The owner/operator must also file the original amusement ride inspection certificate (TDI Form AR-100, Amusement Ride Certificate of Inspection/Re-Inspection) certifying with respect to each amusement ride the matters required by the Act. A separate inspection certificate is required for each amusement ride showing the name, serial number, manufacturer of the ride, the inspector's name, the owner/operator, a picture of the ride in an operable state taken at the time of the inspection, and other information as requested. The inspection certificate is valid for a period of one year. The inspection shall be conducted by the insurer or a person with whom the insurer has contracted. The inspector shall provide both the insurer and owner/operator with a written certificate that the inspection has been made and that the amusement ride meets the standards for coverage.
(B) The inspection must include a method to test the stress- and wear-related damage of critical parts of a ride that the manufacturer of the amusement ride determines are reasonably subject to failure as the result of stress and wear and could cause injury to a member of the general public as a result of a failure. The inspection shall include a review of the owner/operator's daily inspection records and inspection and maintenance program in accordance with ASTM practice or the manufacturer's guidelines/inspection criteria. The inspection shall be conducted with the amusement ride or device in an operable state and include an evaluation of the device for a minimum of one complete operating cycle.
(C) If the amusement ride or device consists of interchangeable major components, such as cranes used in bungee jumping operations, the crane or major component used during the inspection shall be considered an integral part of the amusement ride and the inspection certificate shall include the manufacturer and serial number of the crane or major component inspected with the amusement ride. If the inspected crane or major component is replaced by another unit, a new inspection is required to include the new identification and serial number of the replacement unit.
(D) Any bungee jumping amusement device shall include a safety net or air bag as an integral part of the ride. The safety net or air bag shall be of sufficient size to cover the jump zone. The safety net or air bag shall be rated for the maximum free fall height possible from the jump platform used. If the jump area is over water, the water must be of sufficient depth to provide an adequate safety cushion. The safety net or air bag shall be inspected as an integral part of the amusement ride.
(F) If the amusement ride or device does not meet the inspection standards, the amusement ride shall not be operated until all necessary repair(s) and/or replacement(s) have been made and the ride re-inspected and an inspection/re-inspection certificate issued.
(G) The amusement ride owner/operator shall complete the following prior to any operation of the ride:
(iv) immediately after any injury or death involving equipment failure, structural failure, or operator error, the amusement ride/device shall be closed for public use until a new inspection is performed and an inspection/re-inspection certificate is submitted to TDI.
(J) The records of the inspections required by this section shall be made available for inspection by any municipal, county, or state law enforcement official at the location at which the amusement ride is operated.
(4) the owner/operator who operates a mobile amusement ride must perform and record daily inspections of the mobile amusement ride including safety restraints on each mobile amusement ride.
(A) Records of the daily inspections must be available for inspection by any municipal, county, or state law enforcement official at the location at which the amusement ride is operated, and the records must be maintained with the amusement ride for a period of one year.
(B) The daily inspection record must include an inspection of the following:
(i) safety belts, bars, locks and other passenger restraints;
(ii) all automatic and manual safety devices;
(iii) signal systems, brakes and control devices;
(iv) safety pins and keys;
(v) fencing, guards, barricades, stairways and ramps;
(vi) ride structure and moving parts;
(vii) tightness of bolts and nuts;
(viii) blocking, support braces and jackstands;
(ix) electrical equipment;
(x) lubrication as per manufacturer's instructions;
(xi) hydraulic and/or pneumatic equipment;
(xii) check communication equipment necessary for operation (if applicable);
(xiii) prior to opening, operate ride through one complete cycle of proper functioning; and
(xiv) any other component that is included in the manufacturer's specific ride maintenance and safety checks or current ASTM standards, or that the operator or person performing the daily inspection deems necessary for inspection.
(C) TDI Form AR-300 (Daily Inspection Record) sets forth the inspection requirements of this subsection and also includes the name of the device, location (city, state), date of the inspection, manufacturer and serial number, and owner/operator. The form must be signed by the person performing the daily inspection and his supervisor.
(D) Daily inspection record forms used by industry associations, individual operators, or individual manufacturers may be used to fulfill the requirements of this paragraph if the forms contain all of the inspection items and elements set forth in this paragraph and the TDI Form AR-300 (Daily Inspection Record).
(E) the owner/operator who operates a mobile amusement ride must also follow the manufacturer's specific checklist for specific ride maintenance and safety checks.
Quarterly Reports.
(a) An owner/operator who operates an amusement ride (the operator) shall maintain accurate records of each injury caused by the ride in any state which injury results in death or requires medical treatment. An injury is caused by the ride if the injury occurs on the ride or is in any way associated with the ride.
(1) TDI Form AR-800 (Quarterly Injury Report). The operator shall file an injury report on a quarterly basis and shall include in the report a description of each verifiable injury caused by a ride that results in death or injury that requires medical treatment.
(2) The term "medical treatment" includes treatment (other than first aid) administered by a physician or by registered professional personnel under the standing orders of a physician.
(3) The term "medical treatment" does not include first-aid treatment (one-time treatment and subsequent observation of minor scratches, cuts, burns, splinters, and any other minor injuries that do not ordinarily require medical care) even though treatment is provided by a physician or by registered professional personnel.
(1) TDI Form AR-801 (Quarterly Governmental Action Report). The operator shall file a governmental action report on a quarterly basis and shall include in the report a description of each governmental action taken in any state during the quarter covered by the report relating to that particular amusement ride, including an inspection resulting in the repair or replacement of equipment used in the operation of the amusement ride.
(2) The term "governmental action" includes an action in the exercise of police power or in the exercise of constitutional, legislative, administrative, or judicial powers conferred on federal, state or local government, which results in any notification to the owner/operator relating to the amusement ride, including notifications of any perceived deficiencies regarding the safety of the amusement ride or the possibility of actual or imminent non-compliance with applicable laws; or any action taken in an administrative law forum or court of law, including private civil lawsuits.
Denial of Entry to Amusement Rides; Prohibiting Operation of Amusement Rides.
(a) The owner/operator of an amusement ride or device shall have the ability to view patrons so that no one is permitted on such ride or device who appears to be in an intoxicated, drugged, or other condition of health that could be detrimental to the safety of themselves, other patrons, the operator, or spectators.
(b) The owner/operator shall exercise reasonable control to prohibit the wearing of improper attire or lack of attire as deemed appropriate for the ride or device.
(c) The owner/operator will prohibit the carrying of any article which might be dropped or thrown from the ride or device.
(d) The restrictions set forth in this section and others that will preclude participation on an amusement ride or device shall be posted in plain view at the entrance to the ride. No operator may waive such restrictions.
[END OF EXCERPTS OF KEY PORTIONS OF THE AMUSEMENT RIDE SAFETY INSPECTION AND INSURANCE ACT]


Copyright 1994 - 2007 Clifford B. Rodgers.

Last Modified July 6, 2007.