If you or a loved one was injured at an amusement park, town fair, or carnival in Pennsylvania or New Jersey, you should discuss your legal options with an experienced amusement park injury attorney. Depending on what caused the amusement park accident, you could be entitled to financial compensation for medical bills, pain and suffering, and other damages related to the accident.
Serving Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the injury attorneys at the Wieand Law Firm are committed to holding amusement parks liable for ride defects, improper operation of rides, and other types of negligence that cause preventable accidents.
When visiting a carnival or amusement park you expect a fun and entertaining time for the whole family. However, a preventable amusement park tragedy can change you and your loved ones lives forever.
When a ride operator is careless, intoxicated, or improperly trained and supervised, he or she can make an error that injures or kills a passenger. There is also a risk that even with proper operation, design or manufacturing defects may cause a ride to break down while in motion, causing riders to fall, strike their heads, lose a limb, or suffer other catastrophic injuries.
It is difficult to find reliable and conclusive statistics on amusement park injuries and deaths, because, despite the immense potential for danger, the amusement park industry is loosely regulated. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has limited authority to regulate “mobile” amusement parks, such as carnivals and fairs that move from town to town, but, in the words of spokesman Scott Wolfson, who was interviewed by CNN in July 2017, the CPSC is “a small agency, and it’s tough to oversee every fair that sets up for a short period of time.” Moreover, the CPSC is not authorized to investigate accidents at “fixed-site” (permanent) amusement parks. Instead, each state or municipality sets its own regulations – which can vary widely from place to place.
Despite the troubling absence of universal safety standards, the incomplete data we do have suggests that amusement park accidents and carnival accidents are relatively common. The CPSC estimated that in 2016 alone, nearly 31,000 people visited emergency departments for treatment of amusement park injuries. The CPSC has also received reports of at least 22 fatalities since 2010.
If you are injured at an amusement park, you should avoid speaking with any park representatives, who will likely try to either discourage you from pursuing legal action or push you into accepting a low-ball settlement offer.
Instead, let an amusement park accident lawyer handle negotiations on your behalf. After receiving medical care, your next step should be to speak with a personal injury lawyer who has experience handling personal injury claims in your state. The Wieand Law Firm handles cases against amusement parks, fairs, and carnivals located in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, including:
PA – Altoona, Bloomsburg, Columbia County, Lancaster County, Lehigh County, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Westmoreland County; and
NJ– Atlantic City, Egg Harbor Township, Hope Township, Jackson Township, Ocean City, Scotch Plains, Seaside Heights, Tipton, West Mifflin, Wildwood, and others.
There are two basic types of compensation (“damages”) for an amusement park injury or amusement park death:
Economic damages and non-economic damages may be available if you were injured, or if a family member was killed, due to an accident or injury at an amusement park. These are considered “compensatory” damages because their function is to “make the victim whole.” If the accident involved particularly flagrant misconduct or malicious acts, you may also be entitled to “punitive” damages, which are meant to punish defendants who act with “gross” (extreme) negligence.
In cases where an amusement park accident results in the wrongful death of a park guest, the visitor’s spouse or immediate family members may be able to recover compensation by bringing a survival action or wrongful death claim.
The Wieand Law Firm handles claims for serious and catastrophic injuries. Types of injury claims we handle include:
To discuss an injury that occurred at an amusement park, county fair, state fair or carnival in New Jersey or Pennsylvania, contact the Wieand Law Firm, LLC at (215) 666-7777. Your legal consultation is free and confidential.
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