Amusement Ride Injuries

Hi. I’m Indiana personal injury attorney David Holub.

This video discusses amusement ride safety and how safety regulations can prevent injuries to people on amusement rides. Amusement ride injuries usually involve devices or equipment such as roller coasters and other equipment which is designed to spin a person around at a high speed and cause a thrill. Hence, sometimes amusement rides are called thrill rides.

While we have handled many lawsuits of this type, one case that comes to mind is where a woman suffered serious injuries when the amusement ride she was riding on was operated at an excessively high speed and caused her to injure her spinal column. This was a spinning machine where the individual riders would be strapped into the inside of this spinning cylinder and it would go at a high enough rate to pull them and push them up against the wall and it would be simulating an anti-gravity sort of feeling. In this particular case, the operator was operating the equipment at a very high rate of speed, higher than what the manufacturer recommended in the operating manual, and as a result, the woman suffered a serious injury.

Over the years, there have been so many amusement ride injuries that most states have special regulations that govern amusement rides. The Indiana regulations provide, in part, that the owner of an amusement ride must be familiar with the equipment manufacturer’s operating manual and know the safe limits of the equipment.

In Indiana, no amusement ride device is to be operated in an unsafe manner or contrary to the manufacturer’s instructions. The owner or operator of a device in Indiana cannot permit an individual who is not properly trained or instructed in the operation of the amusement ride to operate the amusement ride because doing so could bring danger to the riders. In Indiana, an operator must be trained in safely controlling the ride, stopping the ride in an emergency, and keeping the ride under control at all times.

Belts, bars, safety bars, footrests–all such equipment must be in good working order and be capable of securing a person in place during the operation of the amusement ride. And lastly, all amusement rides must be inspected daily before use and a log must be maintained verifying the inspection and if it’s in any way unsafe, it should be taken out of service and not used.

If you were injured as a result of an unsafe amusement ride, please call and speak to one of our attorneys today.