A day out at Hershey Park, Knoebels, Kennywood, or any of Pennsylvania’s other world-renowned amusement parks should be a perfectly safe experience for both children and adults. Fortunately, accidents resulting in serious injury within these parks are few and far between. However, when negligence by park staff members and/or managers causes a person harm, the consequences are often devastating.
Pursuing civil recovery following an injury that occurs inside a theme park can be a complex endeavor, which makes retaining a seasoned State College amusement park accident lawyer especially important. In addition to advocating for your rights throughout settlement negotiations and/or civil court proceedings, a tenacious premises liability attorney could provide irreplaceable assistance with collecting relevant evidence, building the strongest claim for your unique circumstances, and demanding fair compensation for all your recoverable losses.
The liability waivers and disclosures that virtually every amusement park puts into writing for all ticketed guests do not make them completely immune from litigation. If gross negligence by a theme park employee directly results in a guest’s serious injury, the injured individual may have grounds for legal action against the park and its owners.
Through a successful lawsuit or settlement demand, a victim could recover for all past and future economic and non-economic losses that they can trace back to an injury sustained due to negligence by the named defendant(s). Compensable damages often include:
As a State College amusement park accident attorney could affirm, the value of a particular claim depends substantially on the specific losses that a particular plaintiff suffered. The underlying facts as to how the incident occurred and the egregiousness of the conduct leading to the accident can also be a factor.
Beyond showing that a theme park staff member, manager, owner, or an affiliated third party directly caused harm through reckless or careless misconduct, victims may face defenses arguing that they were also at-fault for causing the incident. Pursuant to 42 P.S. §7102, any civil plaintiff found partly to blame for causing or exacerbating her own damages could be subject to a proportional reduction in available compensation or be barred from recovery completely, depending on her percentage of total fault relative to all named defendants.
Furthermore, 42 P.S.A. §5524 establishes a two-year filing period—generally beginning on the date of initial injury—for most personal injury cases, regardless of how long the effects of a plaintiff’s injury will last. Navigating around these and other common legal roadblocks could be much easier with help from a theme park accident lawyer in State College.
Amusement park injuries can cause physical, financial, and psychological harm that lasts for years afterwards. After an accident of this nature, understanding and proactively enforcing your right to pursue recovery through a legal claim could be vital to preserving your financial security and long-term quality of life.
A capable State College amusement park accident lawyer at Marcus & Mack could provide the custom-tailored assistance you need to effectively demand the monetary damages you deserve. Call today for a consultation.
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