Amusement parks are designed to ensure everyone has lots of fun and a great time, but unfortunately, in Las Vegas and Nevada, serious injuries at amusement parks occur every year.

Sadly, these types of injuries can especially affect younger children and teenagers, who are frequent visitors to amusement parks.

There are lots of ways injuries at amusement parks can happen:

  • Parking lot accidents can occur when visitors are inpatient in the parking areas.
  • Slip and fall or trip and fall injuries can occur due to spills or uneven sidewalks.
  • Injuries on rides can occur if rides are defective or improperly run.
  • Foodborne illness can occur if hygiene isn’t properly maintained in food court areas.
  • Assault, battery and other crimes can occur if amusement parks do not maintain proper security.
  • Heat stroke and heat exhaustion can happen at amusement parks that don’t provide adequate shelters and places for people to rest.

These are only some of the more common injuries suffered at amusement parks each year. In addition, many other amusement park injuries can occur. If you have suffered any type of injury while visiting an amusement park, you’ll want to contact a personal injury attorney in Las Vegas or Nevada to talk about whether you have a legal claim.

I’ve been injured at an amusement park. Should I file a legal claim?

If you’ve been injured at an amusement park, you can choose to seek a legal claim or you can choose to walk away. Before you make that choice, however, keep in mind that the cost of your injuries can be substantial.

For example, if you have broken an arm because of a slip and fall accident while visiting an amusement park, you may lose weeks of work. You may not be bringing in much income during this time. In addition, the process of going to the emergency room, getting a cast, sitting for x-rays and getting follow-up treatment for your broken arm can easily end up costing thousands of dollars or more. If you have suffered a serious injury, such as a permanent head injury, your costs will be much higher and you will face these higher costs for the rest of your life.

Seeking a legal claim through the help of a Las Vegas personal injury lawyer is important because it gets you compensation so you can pay for all of the costs of your injuries — including the cost of lost wages and medical bills. In addition, legal claims send a strong message to amusement parks that they need to take proper care to provide a safe environment for children and other visitors.

Who is liable in my claim?

In order to file a lawsuit after an amusement park injury, you need to be able to show damages. That is, you need to be able to show you were injured as a result of negligence and that your injuries caused pain and suffering, medical bills, lost wages and other losses. In addition, there must be a liable party. This means there must be someone who is responsible for the injuries. This can be the owner of the park, for example.

Determining the liable party isn’t always simple, though. For example, if you are injured in a pedestrian accident in the amusement park parking lot, how can you be sure who was at fault? Was it the other driver? If it was, you will need to pursue their car insurance company. Was it the park themselves for not providing adequate signage or safe parking areas? If it was, you will want to file against the amusement park for their negligence.

Working out who is liable in your claim, and who you should pursue, can be complex. If you’d like to speak to a professional attorney about the situation in Las Vegas or anywhere in Nevada, contact G. Dallas Horton & Associates. Our legal team would be pleased to meet with you to help you get one-on-one advice about your situation.