Halloween Hayride Kills Toddler
One year old Zoe Montgomery was killed last week when she was run over during a Halloween hayride at the Orr Family Farm, at an Oklahoma farm themed amusement park. The toddler fell under the wheels of the trailer during the hayride. According to news reports, the incident occurred when Zoe’s mother, Carie Montgomery, attempted to get Zoe off the back of a trailer. The mother tried to get her child off of the ride when the trailer jerked suddenly, sending Zoe flying to the ground near the wheels. Carie Montgomery, 24, threw herself at her daughter in an attempt to save her. The toddler was air lifted to OU Medical Center where doctors pronounced her dead. (news article)
Tragically, Zoe Montgomery’s story is not unique. The experienced lawyers at the Pennsylvania catastrophic injury law firm of Reiff & Bily are currently involved in a very similar claim for catastrophic injuries where a young student on a school trip was trapped and pulled under a Halloween hayride in Bucks County, Pennsylvania one year ago and was mangled due to inadequate supervision or training of the ride operators and inadequate site and safety crowd control. Simply put, similar to the situation that occurred with Zoe’s unfortunate death, the operators of the hayride had inadequate safety controls in effect to prevent an easily avoidable accident, particularly in an area that was noisy and frequently visited by young children. Many of the hayrides and other amusement park accidents are simply accidents waiting to happen when proper control mechanisms are not in place. When amusement park and hayride injuries occur, the injuries are quite significant because of the number of people involved and the size and weight of the equipment. These rides have the ability to crush, pin and eject riders causing catastrophic injuries. We express our heartfelt condolences to the family of Zoe Montgomery and sincerely hope that state officials and investigators do a thorough job in investigating this horrific and catastrophic accident.
Accidents caused by poor maintenance, lack of maintenance or inadequate supervision at amusement parks, quasi-amusement parks and /or hayrides are an unfortunate reality and this recent incident at the Orr Family Farm highlights how children are the ones most affected. Amusement park and hayride operators should not take their responsibilities lightly. If they fail to insure their customers safety because of their carelessness or negligence, they must be held responsible for these injuries and the losses that they have caused.
If you or a loved one has been catastrophically injured or killed as the result of a hayride accident, please contact Reiff & Bily for a free consultation at 1-800-421-9595 or online at www.reiffandbily.com.
