Water Park Accidents

Many people enjoy visiting water parks in the summer in East Tennessee. Although they are a popular amusement, they may have dangers involving broken rides, improper ride design, poorly trained staff or ride attendants, improper maintenance, inadequate or inattentive lifeguards, missing barriers, improper enforcement of weight and height restrictions, intoxicated guests, and improper water flow. If you have been seriously injured, the only way that you may be able to pay for medical costs and time off work to recover is by filing a claim or lawsuit. It is important to retain experienced representation from a premises liability attorney who understands the complex issues that may arise. Knoxville water park accident lawyer Mark Hartsoe is ready to help victims aggressively assert their rights.

Although a water park cannot insure your safety as a patron, it is required to use reasonable care under the circumstances. In order to hold a park owner liable after an accident, you will need to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that whatever condition caused your injuries was created by the owner or its agent, or the owner or operator had actual or constructive notice of the condition before your accident happened.

In Tennessee, constructive notice may be established by proving that a dangerous condition existed for so long that the park owner should have become aware of it. For example, if a ride was broken for long enough that the water park or its agents should have noticed it in reasonable routine maintenance inspections, constructive notice may be shown. Sometimes it is also possible to show constructive notice by pointing to a recurring incident or pattern of conduct that indicates that the dangerous condition exists. For example, if there is a surface near a ride that becomes unduly slippery, multiple people have fallen and hit their heads because of it, and then you also hit your head, you may be able to prove constructive notice even if the particular slipperiness that caused your accident only existed for a short time. In Tennessee, a property owner is put on constructive notice of any dangerous condition that is a continuing condition or a recurring incident, irrespective of what caused it and which method of operation is used.

Traditionally, park owners have defended themselves by using the assumption of risk doctrine. Express assumption of risk occurs if the plaintiff specifically agrees to accept a particular risk of harm arising out of someone else's conduct prior to being injured. For example, you may have been warned of particular risks of injury by signs at the entrance to a water park, and you may have expressly waived your right to recover damages under certain circumstances when you bought a ticket. Whether express assumption of the risk applies depends partly on the language in the waiver contract at issue.

Under an implied assumption of risk doctrine, when someone who knows of a danger voluntarily exposes themselves to it, they are deemed to have assumed the risk and are precluded from recovering damages. In other words, if an injury was a result of inherent risks involved in going to a water park, the park may not be liable for it. However, in Tennessee, implied assumption of risk has been absorbed into the principle of comparative fault. The reasonableness of your actions in confronting a risk will be determined under those rules. It is critical to promptly evaluate the legal issues in your case and available evidence to support your claim.

If you suffered injuries in a water park accident, you should seek guidance from Knoxville water park accident attorney Mark Hartsoe. Call the Hartsoe Law Firm at 865-804-1011 or contact us via our online form to set up a free consultation with an injury attorney. Mark Hartsoe assists people throughout East Tennessee, including in Knox, Blount, Monroe, Loudon, Jefferson, Grainger, Cocke, Campbell, Hamblen, Greene, Anderson, Cumberland, and Fentress Counties.