Broward County Fairs Accident Attorney

As a child, visiting a county fair was one of the best experiences of childhood. Was there anything better than going on the amusement rides, winning giant fluffy toys, watching older siblings and parents play the carnival games, and spending time with loves ones? Music would blare and it was easy to forget about all the cares of the world for a while.

Many years later, you might be in a position where you now take your own children to county fairs. Though the pandemic has put a huge hand on the pause button, you probably can’t wait to get down to the next local or state fair.

While some people have endless positive memories linked to county fairs, the truth is that some leave amusement parks and county fairs with extreme injuries. If you or a loved one has recently been injured at such a county fair event, we urge you to contact a Broward Country personal injury attorney today, and The Injury Firm is one of the best services around.

Carnival Accident and Amusement Park Statistics

Compared to vehicle collisions and slip and fall accidents, accidents in county fairs aren’t as closely monitored. Therefore, it’s difficult to put a number on accidents in recent years. However, we know that they exist thanks to various reports over the previous 40 years.

For example, a report in the early 2000s showed that over 10,000 people needed hospital treatment alone after incidents with fixed and mobile amusement rides. Each year, many were injured and an average of between four and five people lost their lives.

Elsewhere, between 1990 and 2010, an average of 20 injuries occurred per day between May and September. If you think that this statistic is scary, this is only the number for those under 18 years of age (and it only counts hospitalizations). If we were to consider all injuries to children under the age of 18 from amusement park rides, some predictions are as high as 4,400.

Although the statistics are somewhat sporadic, thousands of people have been injured in a carnival accident over the years, and many cases require compensation to cover damages. If you believe that you deserve compensation to cover damages after a carnival ride accident, please contact the personal injury specialists at The Injury Firm today. However, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

Safety of Carnival Rides

While carnivals and county fairs contain amusement parks, it’s important to differentiate between fixed and mobile rides. For example, Disney and other permanent amusement parks will have fixed rides. On the other hand, carnivals tend to have mobile rides as they travel around the state and country. Does this make them less safe?

When carnivals end, rides are often taken apart to make transport much easier. Upon arrival at the next location, the team will then reassemble the rides for the next group of people to enjoy. According to experts, this doesn’t make them inherently less safe just because they’re frequently dismantled. In fact, some will argue that mobile rides are safer because they’re inspected every time they are taken apart and reassembled. Those performing the assembly watch as the condition of certain parts changes.

In terms of the statistics, however, nothing suggests a difference between fixed and mobile rides. All companies planning to offer rides to the public must undergo checks regardless of where they are in the country.

So, the mobility of carnival rides doesn’t make them any more dangerous than fixed rides. Yet, there is a potential problem that has caught the attention of specialists in recent years; the difference in inspections from one state to the next.

Earlier, we mentioned that all rides were subjected to checks, but some states are more stringent in this area than others. As an example, it was recently reported that five inspectors look after all the rides in Ohio. They are employed to visit all permanent and temporary amusement park rides to check their condition and safety for the public. Step into Pennsylvania, however, and you’ll find around 2,000 inspectors traveling around the state performing this task.

Consequently, there’s a clear difference between the safety protocols in these two states. In Florida, we’re fortunate enough to have protection from the FDACS (Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services). The FDACS is responsible for all amusement rides in the state unless the parks have on-site inspectors (parks with over 1,000 employees). While permanent rides are permitted each year, temporary rides are permitted whenever they are set up in a new location.

Worker Safety

While most articles on this topic will focus on people visiting carnivals, it’s important to note that county fairs also have a responsibility to keep all staff safe. Unfortunately, there are many examples of cases where a breach of duty caused injury or even death to workers. Back in 2016, a maintenance worker was killed while inspecting a children’s ride.

As a worker at a carnival or county fair, you should feel safe in your role. If there’s a breach of duty, you could be entitled to compensation just as much as a customer visiting with family. If you need advice, feel free to contact The Injury Firm for a free case evaluation today.

Common Carnival Accidents and Injuries

As a Broward County injury attorney, we’ve seen a whole manner of injuries and accidents over the years. For example, some people are unfortunate victims of a technical malfunction. If the built-in safety mechanism doesn’t activate, this leaves all persons on the ride vulnerable. While some are thrown from their seats, others slip or cannot hold on to the ride while gravity pulls them toward the ground.

As well as issues with the ride itself, sometimes the operators lack experience or training. Inexperienced operators can make simple mistakes or simply not act quickly enough when a ride malfunctions. Without the right training or experience, they may not recognize danger or know what to do when something goes wrong. Sadly, too many carnivals and county fairs work on the assumption that everything will go smoothly. As we’ve seen in this guide, this isn’t always the case.

Depending on the accident, victims can experience lacerations and cuts, broken bones, concussions, brain damage, spinal fractures, and other serious injuries. When a ride behaves erratically and suddenly stops, this can lead to severe head injuries. Every year, a handful of people lose their lives at carnival events too.

Duty of Care

When contacting a Broward County injury attorney after a carnival ride accident, one of the things that you’ll hear frequently revolves around duty of care. When filing personal injury cases, your legal representative needs to prove a breach of duty from the carnival or state fair. In other words, the company must have been negligent, acted incorrectly, or otherwise put the lives of its visitors in danger.

While many carnivals have a busy schedule, this doesn’t mean that safety should ever take a back seat. Like a shop or restaurant, they have a duty of care toward all customers. If you’re injured because of something you do, like trespassing, the carnival can’t do much about this. However, it can remove all hazards, train employees, and keep rides in working order.

Additionally, carnivals should provide ample signage for customers as well as make everyone aware of how to act and behave on rides. If customers shouldn’t put their arms outside their compartment, they should be made aware.

Also, carnivals face all the other hazards that apply to restaurants and other businesses. For example, this includes obstacles in common walkways and spillages near eating areas. The carnival also needs to provide adequate lighting to prevent slip and fall accidents.

Contact The Injury Firm Today

If you’ve suffered a carnival accident, we urge you to contact the friendly team of personal injury lawyers at The Injury Firm as soon as possible. The sooner you get in touch, the quicker your legal representation can gather evidence and build a strong case. Remember, county fairs often move around to different locations. If you wait too long, it could move and some of your evidence will disappear forever.

After suffering a county fair accident, the best thing you can do is seek medical attention. As well as getting the right treatment, this also starts a paper trail signaling the extent of your injuries. If you’re with family or friends, ask them to photograph the hazard because this could prove pivotal in the case. If possible, speak to eyewitnesses and gather their contact details.

Then, contact a Broward County personal injury attorney while you recover. We’ll collect statements from witnesses, collate all paperwork, negotiate with insurance companies, protect your legal rights, and contact expert witnesses.

Whether a personal injury or a wrongful death case, we’ll assess the damages and push for a fair settlement. If no fair settlement comes, we can take the case to court. In case this isn’t enough, you won’t pay anything until the county fair accident case is resolved!