My husband dislocated his shoulder on a waterslide here in California after he recieved insufficient instructions from the slide operator. He was told nothing on how to position his body before being allowed to go down the slide. His shoulder was dislocated when his elbow came in contact with the wall of the slide shoving his arm back and up in such a way to cause the injury.
We went to court. He had missed 2 1/2 months of work, needed physical therapy and possible surgery. We have 5 children and were only looking to recover what we had lost. Although not working had affected his self esteem (he has worked since age 15 and we have never been on public assistance) we were not seeking more than his wages.
The judge in our case decided that, even though the park lied about previous such injuries, he assumed the risk of injury when he chose to go down the waterslide.
Assuming the risk meaning you know it's potentially harmful or dangerous(like sitting in a stadium where a foul ball may hit you in the head) but you figure it's worth it.
For us this was basically the same as saying we were unfit parents by taking our children there. We "knowing" took them somewhere that was potentially harmful or dangerous.People have had their children taken away from them for less.
Our case was the first of it's kind to be decided this way as far as Amusement Park cases are concerned.
When you go to an Amusement Park your assuming the risk.
