Amusement Park Safety Interview with Chris Aitken

September 9, 2013

Summer is a great time to take yourself or your family to enjoy an amusement park; however we must not neglect the risks. Summer is peak season for amusement parks which also unfortunately means peak season for accidents. In the past 20 years, 93,000 children have ended up in the ER after getting injured at an amusement park. 20 injuries are reported per day on average.  Fixed Site Rides account for 1/3 of the cases while mobile rides account for a little under a third. 12% of the accidents happen in rides in malls and arcades.  In light of the recent Texas Six Flags tragedy where a woman fell from a rollercoaster due to apparent ride operator neglect, it is important to understand some of these dangers and how the law comes into place.

Martindale Hubbell, a leading legal publication, recently featured AA&C’s Chris Aitken in a podcast interview on amusement park safety due to his assistance in litigating two of the most notable amusement park incidents in the nation’s history. Both incidents occurred at Disneyland, located right here in Orange County. The first incident involved a cleat that detached from the Sailing Ship Colombia due to maintenance and training errors. This accident was responsible killing one and seriously injuring another in front of their child and grandchild. This event changed California law and the way in which theme parks are inspected and regulated. This became crucial in another AA&C case in which a young man was killed on Disneyland’s Big Thunder Mountain.For more information on these two cases visit:  https://www.aitkenlaw.com/orange-county-theme-park-accidents-lawyer/

In this podcast, Chris discusses many topics including

the obligations of amusement parks, what ordinary people should be thinking about relating to rides, what people can do to prevent injuries, and what legal action people can take for their own redress and compensation. We hope you enjoy the podcast.