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What Amusement Parks Say In Court To Avoid Paying Personal Injury Claims

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Amusement parks are designed with safety in mind, but sometimes they fail to live up to those standards. If you believe that you've been wrongly injured anywhere on amusement park grounds, you have every right to sue for damages, but don't expect your opponent to go down easy. To help you prepare for the battle ahead, here are some of the most common defenses amusement parks use to get out of paying up:

You Didn't Follow Our Directions

Did you read all of the park's safety signs? Did you listen carefully to ride attendants and other park staff? While it can be difficult to keep up with all the rules, if you missed one that led to your accident, you could be looking at this defense in court.

While that sounds damning, don't assume that you'll lose. Some rules may have to be enforced by the park regardless of whether patrons follow them. For example, ride attendants have a responsibility to double check children for height requirements, even if their parents missed the same guidelines upfront.

You Knew the Risks

In cases where a ride was the main culprit, the park's legal team may try to bring up the assumption of risk – the idea that by agreeing to take the ride, you also agreed to take on the small amount of risk that naturally comes with it.

You Didn't Read Your Admission Ticket

They may do their best to read signs and listen to verbal instructions, but most amusement park patrons never think to take a closer look at their admission tickets. There, the fine print can hide a variety of stipulations that can rear their ugly head in case of litigation. Some tickets may even include hard-to-read legal language that forbids you from filing a lawsuit against the park.

The good news is that this defense may not hold up in court. From inexcusable negligence to vague language, there are many reasons why parks can't automatically absolve themselves of liability via their admission tickets.

Predicting the other side's defense is important for plotting your own winning strategy. To get a better idea of the kind of argument the defendant will most likely use in your situation, contact an experienced personal injury attorney. By planning your case out together from the start, you can streamline the legal process and avoid making mistakes that can put you at a disadvantage down the road. 

For more information, contact Conway Pauley & Johnson PC Attys or a similar firm.


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