New Jersey residents may have heard about some of the amusement park accidents that have occurred this summer. The fatal accident at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City has made big headlines, and authorities are still investigating why a 10-year-old boy died on the world’s tallest water slide. In another amusement park accident, a 6-year-old boy sustained a traumatic brain injury after falling from a Ferris wheel in Tennessee. These accidents occur at amusement parks all the time, though they may not always make the news.
An amusement park accident on Aug. 16 injured six people at Ocean Beach Park in New London, Connecticut. According to reports, the victims sustained minor electric shocks while riding the Scrambler ride shortly before 2 p.m. The victims were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries that included a contact burn. The man who was operating the ride told police that he felt a small shock while the ride was on.
Reporters interviewed locals who go to Ocean Beach Park on a frequent basis, and many said that they were not surprised about the electric shock incident. One person said that she thought the rides did not look safe, and other people said that the rides looked old. A father told reporters that he would not be bringing his 10-year-old daughter back to the park until the rides are improved.
The owners and operators of amusement parks owe their guests a duty of care. A person who is injured while using a ride or walking on the amusement park grounds might to have the assistance of an attorney in demonstrating that the owner failed to warn guests of a known hazardous condition and should thus be held responsible to pay compensation for the resulting losses.
Source: CNN, “Six get electric shock on Connecticut amusement park ride,” Lauren Del Valle, Aug. 17, 2016