My son was a bystander and was injured by a set of keys that fell out of a man’s pocket while the man was on a ride at a theme park. Who is at fault?
The theme park should have had notices posted, warning patrons of certain rides to secure objects such as keys – and some even go so far as to have employees announce this policy before the ride loads. If these signs existed or announcements were given, the park will probably not be liable.
It is not reasonable to expect park employees to pat down riders before they get on a particular ride in addition to signs and warnings. If the man should have seen the signs or simply ignored the warnings, written and oral, he may be liable for your son’s injuries. This would be somewhat difficult to prove: essentially what your attorney will have to show is that announcements were made and/or signs were posted so that patrons of the rides would comply with securing items and since the rider’s keys fell out, the rider had ignored those notices. Of course, the rider’s attorney will argue that the rider thought his keys were sufficiently secured or that your son was standing in a place where getting hurt by a falling object was a reasonably foreseeable action.
Other issues for you to discuss with your attorney include whether it will be difficult or impossible to track down who owned the keys and what possible damages you can expect from such a case. Damages will be determined in large part by the seriousness and/or permanence of your son’s injuries. If he wasn’t hurt too badly or if there aren’t any visible scars, it may not be worth bringing the action.
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