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Legally Reviewed by:

Jonathan Rosenfeld
J.D

March 2, 2023

Over $400 Million worth of case results

Awarded The Best Lawyer in 2024 by U.S. News

Nationally Recognized in Legal Community

Were you injured in a water park, or did you lose a loved one on a water slide ride caused by another’s negligent actions?

At Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, our personal injury attorneys help families who have lost a loved one in a water park drowning receive the financial compensation they deserve.

Call our premises liability lawyers at (888) 424-5757 (toll-free phone call) or use the contact form on our website today to schedule a free consultation related to your legal rights when considering a water park accident lawsuit.

Most of the nation’s water parks provide family-orientated fun with aquatic attractions, water slides, and other related rides. Some water parks are located on the grounds of larger amusement parks or included in a resort.

Common attractions include:

  • Water coasters
  • River rapid rides
  • Wave pools
  • Amusement park rides
  • Beach-style attractions
  • Traditional water slides
  • Splash pads, geysers, fountains, and sprays

Most of the larger indoor water parks open for the season around mid-April to late May, while outdoor parks and other theme parks tend to start opening towards the end of June.

Indoor parks are open year-round, while outdoor water parks will close for the winter season from October to March, depending on climate and location.

Both locations have wet grounds, where adults and children running on slippery surfaces could suffer severe fall injuries.

Water Parks: A Dangerous Activity

Many families enjoy water park activities to “beat the heat” during the hottest summer months. Adults and older children enjoy the theme park attractions, including dangerous water rides and a wave pool.

The water park operator is among the responsible parties for ensuring every guest’s safety by hiring and training a sufficient number of lifeguards, limiting access to dangerous areas, keeping water slides safe, and adequately maintaining the premises.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), approximately 4,200 trips to the emergency room occurred in 2019 involving individuals who sustained water slide-related harm in large and small water parks, wave pools, and theme parks in the United States.

Many horrific injuries in waterpark accidents resulted from poorly maintained rides, leaving victims severely injured. Days may begin with fun but end with severe injuries after falling from a collapsing ride or dropping from a tall waterslide.

Common Causes of Water Park Drownings & Accidents

Typically, water parks are severely overcrowded on hot summer days, exceeding the park’s capacity and leaving a lifeguard struggling to ensure everyone’s safety. Ride operators and water park staff are busy, and parkgoers are there to have fun and are not always attentive to their surroundings.

Water park accidents will happen no matter how much supervision is provided in crowded conditions, increasing the likelihood of severe water-ride injuries. While every water park accident is unique, the most common types of waterslide-related injuries occur because of:

  • Lack of adult supervision and failure to enforce safety rules
  • Slide mismanagement that leads to water park accidents
  • Faulty design, lack of quality, and not performing the annual maintenance of the water rides
  • Faulty manufactured equipment and machinery
  • Insufficient water park ride inspections

Severe water slide injuries are often the result of a lack of supervision, a failure to maintain equipment or improper operation by staffing that was never adequately trained.

Waterpark managers and owners must ensure that the rides are regularly inspected and free of any hazards or defects that could cause serious injury, including cuts or lacerations.

Common Water Park Injuries

More individuals die from drowning in water park accidents than any other catastrophic event in water parks, theme parks, and wave pools. The drowning is often the result of a crowded pool area that may be difficult for lifeguards to recognize when someone is in trouble.

The most common injuries occurring in waterslide accidents include:

  • Loss of life by drowning, electrocution, or being trapped under equipment or machinery
  • Water park injury when entering the pool and not wearing a life jacket
  • Broken bones when thrown from a raft
  • Back and neck injuries
  • Whiplash when the head and neck are jerked suddenly on a waterslide ride
  • Cuts and lacerations from sharp objects
  • Drowning
  • Traumatic brain injuries
  • Slipping and falling involving broken bones from tripping accidents on wet surfaces

Most slip-and-fall accidents in water parks, wave pools, and theme parks result in minor injuries. However, some injury victims are severely injured from a lack of warning signs in undesignated hazardous areas.

Their water park injury creates a liability issue where the victim can recover money for their damages.

Seriously injured victims will often file a wrongful death or personal injury lawsuit seeking financial compensation from the park’s insurance coverage or others when a third party is involved.

What to Do After a Water Park Injury

Were you or a loved one injured in a water park accident? You are likely unsure about what you should do next.

Initially, an injured person hurt in a water park might not know they were severely harmed immediately after an accident because adrenaline is racing through their bloodstream, masking a water slide injury and pain.

The injured person should see a doctor if experiencing any of the following symptoms that could be a waterpark injury:

  • Difficulty breathing
  • Vomiting repeatedly
  • Difficulty with your joints
  • Experiencing pain in the neck, shoulders, head, or back

Water park injuries are likely more severe than some first expect. A doctor can accurately diagnose patients using the best equipment to determine what type of water park injury they have after or near drowning, falling from a high place, or having other experience on a water slide due to dangerous conditions.

Water Park Injury Liability Waiver

Many partygoers believe they signed water park liability waivers when they bought tickets releasing owners and managers from their liability when water park guests are hurt.

Water parks often disclaim liability when accidents are caused by ordinary operations. However, it cannot automatically disclaim liability.

The staff, facility, owner, or other third parties are responsible for causing harm are not automatically safeguarded by water park liability waivers and might be held legally accountable in many cases.

Our personal injury attorneys will typically build a case by determining who is liable for causing a water park injury, fatality, and unspecified damages in an accident that could include:

Water Park Facility

It matters how much work water park owners do to protect the public and other water park guests to avoid dangerous scenarios. There may be more than one company responsible for the safety of employees, vendors, the public, or other water park guests.

Performing annual maintenance for the upcoming season or year-round business is crucial to maintaining a safe environment. The owners/managers must ensure that the pool area is maintained correctly without broken equipment and post warning signs indicating the water depth.

In addition, the staff must inspect every pool drain to ensure they are in proper working order and ensure proper drainage moves water away from wet grounds.

Discovering an unsafe condition like a broken slide requires immediate repair and further inspection. The ride should be closed to ensure everyone remains safe from hazardous conditions.

Water Park Employees

The employer must ensure that every worker understands their job description and has been adequately trained to lifeguard, operate rides, or monitor water park guests, ensuring everyone complies with safety rules.

Any failure to follow the rules could lead to negligence, meaning that individual water park employees, the employer, and facility staff could be liable for their actions.

Third Parties

Sometimes, other individuals that work for or around the water park could be held legally liable for your injuries.

For example, a third party could be any individual engaging in “horseplay” or other risky behavior that causes a victim harm. In these cases, the individual responsible for your water park injury might also be held financially accountable for medical bills and lost wages.

How to Determine Liability to Ensure All Those Responsible Are Held Liable

Our theme park accident lawyers typically base our premises liability claims on vicarious liability [1], where the water park owners, supervisor, and water park operators could be held entirely or partially responsible for all damages, even if the victim signed a liability waiver.

Our waterslide accident investigation might determine that the water park owner or supervisor is liable for their employee’s negligence. Our clients can recover money even if every potentially involved party has not filed a compensation lawsuit.

Our law firm might determine vicarious liability in finding that the park owners and managers should be held responsible due to their hiring negligence or lack of training involving individual employees acting under the owner’s direction and supervision.

Nearly all personal injury-related claims involving waterslide injuries are resolved out of court, even when multiple parties are involved. However, if all parties cannot reach a negotiated agreement, or the defendants failed to provide a good faith offer, the victim’s attorneys will file a personal injury lawsuit or go to court.

Hire a Water Park Accident Attorney to Handle Your Waterpark Accident Lawsuit

Were you or a family member injured due to a dangerous condition on a water ride or in the facility? Contact the best water slide attorney at (888) 424-5757 today to schedule a free consultation.

Discuss the circumstances surrounding your accident with a personal injury lawyer at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers, LLC, to ensure you are adequately compensated and those responsible are held liable for your damages, losses, pain, and suffering.

Attorneys Prosecuting Water Park Accident Lawsuits Involving Injury & Death

Surviving family members who lost a loved one in a waterslide accident can seek financial compensation by filing a wrongful death lawsuit. Qualifying family members typically include spouses, children, parents, and grandparents who need compensation for medical bills, funeral & burial costs, lost wages, and future lost earnings.

Our personal injury lawyers accept all waterpark accident lawsuits on a contingency fee basis, meaning you owe us nothing if we cannot obtain compensation for your damages.

All confidential or sensitive information you share with our law office remains private through an attorney-client relationship.

Resources: [1] CFI

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Jonathan Rosenfeld was professionally objective, timely, and knowledgeable. Also, his advice was extremely effective regarding my case. In addition, Jonathan was understanding and patient pertaining to any of my questions or concerns. I was very happy with the end result and I highly recommend Jonathan Rosenfeld.

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Jonathan helped my family heal and get compensation after our child was suffered a life threatening injury at daycare. He was sympathetic and in constant contact with us letting us know all he knew every step of the way. We were so blessed to find Jonathan!

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Jonathan did a great job helping my family navigate through a lengthy lawsuit involving my grandmother's death in a nursing home. Through every step of the case, Jonathan kept my family informed of the progression of the case. Although our case eventually settled at a mediation, I really was impressed at how well prepared Jonathan was to take the case to trial.

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