Parents of Child Ejected from Waterslide to Sue City and Manufacturer
Amusement park enthusiasts are always looking for more and more excitement, and parks are happy to oblige. Every year another park has a new ride promising more thrills, more height, more drops, more scares, and more adventure than the last. They call these rides “thrill rides,” and for good reason—these rides give a sense of danger, but for some rides the danger is very real.
In 2016, a Kansas boy was killed while riding what was at the time the world’s tallest waterslide. Caleb Schwab, 10, suffered a fatal neck injury and two women in the same raft suffered facial injuries. His parents settled a lawsuit with the owner of the slide earlier this year for $20 million, and the slide will be demolished.
Closer to home here in California, another 10-year-old boy was thrown from a waterslide at The Wave water park in Dublin this past May. It was less than two hours after the grand opening of the slide. While riding the slide, he was ejected and thrown onto a concrete barrier. The child survived, but suffered many injuries, including cuts, abrasions, and burns in areas ranging from his legs to his head.
In early November, the boy’s parents announced they were filing a lawsuit against the slide’s manufacturer as well as the city of Dublin. According to video of the incident, the boy came down the slide at a high speed and hydroplaned up the side of the half-pipe slide. Instead of sliding back down, he flew over the side, landed on the concrete and skidded until he came to a stop. His parents said he is still recovering and suffers fears at night. They also claim numerous safety issues with the ride, including that the water pressure was too high near the end of the slide, and there was insufficient padding on the concrete. They also state a park employee told them that the slide was tested for height but not for weight.
This case could open up some questions about amusement park waterslide liability. Currently there are no federal regulations for water parks. Every state makes its own rules, which conceivably means a person could be safe in a park in one state but at risk for catastrophic injury in another.
At Taylor & Ring, we have the skill and experience to help if you were injured due to the negligence of another. We work tirelessly to obtain the compensation you deserve. Call us today at 310.776.6390 or complete our contact form to schedule a consultation. We have offices in the Los Angeles area.
David Ring is a nationally renowned plaintiff’s personal injury trial attorney and has obtained multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements on behalf of seriously-injured individuals or families who have lost a loved one in a tragic accident. For more than 20 years, he has represented victims of sexual abuse, sexual harassment, assault, molestation and sexual misconduct in cases against a variety of employers and entities, including schools, churches and youth organizations.
He prides himself on providing aggressive, yet compassionate representation for children who have been sexually abused and women who have been sexually harassed or assaulted. Read more about David M. Ring.