Every year, millions of people ride roller coasters, water slides and carnival rides at theme parks, water parks and county fairs. Almost all of them go home safe. When a ride injures someone, the park or the carnival usually says the same thing: riders accept the risk. California law does not accept that answer for every injury. This article explains who can be responsible and what makes these cases different.
Theme parks and traveling carnivals
Permanent parks run the same rides every day with their own maintenance crews. Traveling carnivals bring portable rides to fairs and festivals, set them up in a few days and take them down again. Both must keep their rides safe, and California inspects both kinds of rides. With a traveling carnival, several businesses may be involved: the ride company, the fair that hired it, and the company that built the ride.
A high duty of care on the ride
California’s highest court has held that the operator of a ride like a roller coaster owes riders the same high duty of care that a bus or train company owes its passengers: the utmost care for their safety. Riders give up control once the restraint closes. The operator is responsible for the restraints, the maintenance, the operators it trains and the rules it enforces.
Some bumps are part of the ride
Not every injury on a ride is a case. The same court held that being bumped in a bumper car is part of the activity. The question is whether the injury came from a risk the ride should not have had, such as a failed restraint, a mechanical failure, an operator error or a missing warning, or from a risk that is part of the ride itself.
The ride can be a defective product
When a ride or a water slide is badly designed or built, the manufacturer can be responsible, together with the park. These claims need engineers and the ride’s own records.
Fairs run by public agencies
Many California fairgrounds are run by state or local public agencies. A claim against a public agency usually must start with a written government claim, and the deadline is short. Read more about claims against a government agency.
What to do after a ride injury
- Report the injury to staff before you leave, and ask for a copy of the incident report.
- Photograph the ride, the seat and restraint, any signs, and your injuries.
- Get the names of witnesses and the ride operator.
- Keep your ticket, wristband and receipts, and see a doctor.
- Call early. Rides get repaired, and a carnival can leave town in days.
Read more about our amusement park, theme park and water park cases.