Philadelphia Injury Attorney Blog

Recently, a 4-year-old suffered a fractured skull when she plunged 14 feet while waiting in line for a ride at an amusement park. The young girl remains in the hospital with head injuries, broken ribs, and a brain bleed, and according to news sources, a health and safety inspector investigating the theme park accident is focusing on a fence panel that divides the line’s queue.
Our hearts and prayers go out to the family of the 4-year-old victim. The family would be well advised to consult an experienced theme park accident attorney to independently investigate the circumstances which lead to her serious injuries.

If you have ever visited a popular amusement park, the mix of fun also involves endless and painful waiting for a relatively short ride of pleasure. When you enter an amusement park, like any other business, the owners and operators of the park have a duty to provide a safe environment for their guests, which includes providing for your safety and security, ensuring all waiting areas are reasonably safe and free from hazards. Amusement and theme parks must take precautions to make sure that surfaces are not uneven, not slippery, properly lit, and that all ramps and stairs have handrails, guardrails, and are not too steep. Employees should be trained in safety maintenance and injury prevention.

Amusement parks and water parks are often the site of slip and falls, negligent security, and attacks and assaults. As an experienced Pennsylvania theme park accident attorney, unfortunately, each year we are consulted by children and their parents who have been injured, drowned, or been attacked or sexually assaulted at an amusement park. Many times, amusement and water park accidents are the result of improper staffing, improper training, inadequate maintenance, or lack of appropriate security safeguards. Amusement park accidents many times involve a combination of premises liability, product liability, and negligent security, and all claims must be independently investigated at the outset to avoid spoliation of evidence and to preserve information that may be extremely important to the successful prosecution of a legal claim. When amusement park owners and operators fail protect your safety, they must be held accountable.

The experienced amusement park attorneys of Reiff & Bily always offer a free, no obligation consultation to victims and their families injured in amusement park or water park accidents.

The law firm of Reiff & Bily has joined forces with the Beasley Firm and together the Beasley Reiff Law Group now offers for free “My Lawyer - Travels With Me" iPhone and Android application to help Pennsylvania residents who are involved in a catastrophic accident.

The law firm of Reiff & Bily and the Beasley Firm are two nationally recognized law firms dedicated to serving those who have been catastrophically injured or wrongful death due to defective products, medical malpractice, premise liability, and amusement park or water park accidents. Together our lawyers have been awarded over $2 billion dollars in verdicts and settlements since the mid-1950's.

Our new “My Lawyer - Travels With Me" application will provide all of the tools to those injured in an accident to take timely and lawful action in order to protect their legal interests and financial future.

I have been researching, investigating, and litigating amusement park accidents, water park accidents, and hayride accidents for over three decades. I have been attacked by many individuals stating that I am nothing but a greedy lawyer taking the fun out of life. Many individuals today who are riding on safer amusement rides or using safer products quickly point the finger at lawyers and without the fight of dedicated lawyers for consumer safety and protection many products manufacturers, or amusement park operators and amusement manufacturers would still be placing profitability ahead of safety concerns.

When I meet with parents of children who were catastrophically injured or died on an amusement ride or hayride and the owner/operator points the finger at an innocent child when in fact the amusement or attraction was improperly maintained, improperly inspected, or was operated by an individual with a questionable background who was improperly trained, I am astonished to see a public relations campaign attacking lawyers who only get paid if they are able to prove fault or negligence and win a case. I am astonished and surprised to read negative posts on blogs by people who don’t have a clue as to what really happened and who most probably would also seek legal representation and an independent investigation if they or their child was catastrophically injured or killed.

Our experienced amusement park and theme park accident attorneys always work only on a contingent fee basis and only charge a fee if we win the case. Many amusement parks claim that they regulate themselves and have proper motivation to insure safety and many state agencies that regulate amusement parks don’t have the budgets or technical expertise necessary to properly do their jobs. In fact, many theme parks and amusement park operators claim that state and local legislators lack budget resources and technical experience to carry out proper safety checks and investigate accidents and claim that they can do it better. I believe that if an amusement park or water park is operating safely and taking all steps to insure that amusement ride accidents do not occur, they should not be so afraid of a lawyer double checking the system. After all, a contingent fee amusement park and theme park accident lawyer will not take the case or get paid if, in fact, it can be determined that the owners and operators did nothing wrong. For those who complain that lawyers are taking the fun out of life and always blame the victims. Think about how you would feel if you were catastrophically injured or your child was killed at a theme park or amusement park that was said to be safe and carefully hid defects and problems from the public.

Checks and balances are a good thing.