If you are injured on or by roller coasters in Nevada, you may file a lawsuit for money damages against the owners and operators. These may include the:
- amusement park,
- hotel,
- operators of the ride,
- designers of the ride, and
- parent corporations.
The statute of limitations in Nevada personal injury cases can be as short as two (2) years, so be sure to contact us right away to start working on your case.
To help you better understand Nevada’s laws on roller coaster accidents, our Las Vegas Nevada personal injury attorneys discuss the following, below:
1. Compensation
If you were injured on a Nevada roller coaster, our Las Vegas personal injury lawyers may be able to help you get compensation for:
- Medical bills,
- Dental bills,
- Chiropractor bills,
- Lost wages,
- Lost earning capacity, and
- Pain and suffering.
If your family member died, then you can sue for wrongful death in pursuit of damages for:
- Loss of support,
- Loss of companionship, and
- Grief and sorrow.
In order to get a settlement or win at trial for Las Vegas roller coaster injuries, you will usually need to prove
- that the owner or an employee was negligent or
- that the coaster suffered from a design or manufacturing defect.
Roller coaster accident victims may have grounds to sue the proprietor for negligence.
2. Proving negligence
Companies that own premises open to the public in Nevada have an obligation to exercise reasonable care to prevent injuries. This includes the companies that own and operate roller coasters.
If they fail to exercise such reasonable care and, as a result, you are injured, you will often be entitled to compensation.1
Example: Victoria decides to take her daughter, Wendy, on a roller coaster. The sign says you must be at least 54 inches tall to ride. Victoria is only 52 inches tall, but while she is getting on the ride, the attendant is checking his text messages and does not notice. If Wendy is injured because of her size, the owner of the roller coaster is most likely liable.
However, if Wendy had stood on her toes to appear tall enough, a jury might find that she shared fault for her injury under Nevada’s comparative negligence law. If the jury determines that Wendy (or Victoria) was more than 50% responsible, she will not be able to recover.
An experienced Nevada personal injury lawyer can help you determine
- who is at fault for a roller coaster injury in Las Vegas and
- how much compensation you might be entitled to.
3. Common injuries?
The Las Vegas strip is home to many thrilling roller coasters, including the
Many visitors who drive from California to Las Vegas also like to stop in Primm, Nevada to ride the Desperado roller coaster at Buffalo Bill’s.
Though while Nevada’s roller coasters are generally safe, accidents and injuries still happen.
The Amusement Safety Organization reported 119 significant injuries on the roller coasters at the New York, New York and Circus Circus in 2018 alone.
Reported injuries included:
- Neck, back and shoulder injuries (including whiplash);
- Stomach injuries from the lap bar;
- Facial injuries from being struck by cell phones, cups and other objects;
- Difficulty breathing; and
- Blackouts.
In 2019, a woman who fell off of the Circus Circus Adventuredome roller coaster is now a double amputee.2
Even if your roller coaster accident did not result in a serious injury, if it was caused by someone else’s negligence you have the right to seek damages for your losses.
Roller coaster injuries can be fatal.
Additional reading
For more in-depth information on roller coaster injuries, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Head Motions While Riding Roller Coasters – Implications for Brain Injury – The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology.
- Roller Coasters, G Forces, and Brain Trauma: On the Wrong Track? – Journal of Neurotrauma.
- Significant Spinal Injury Resulting From Low-Level Accelerations: A Case Series of Roller Coaster Injuries – Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
- Roller coaster related fatalities, United States, 1994–2004 – Injury Prevention.
- Amusement park injuries and deaths – Annals of Emergency Medicine.
Learn more about suing for premises liability in Nevada.
Legal references:
- NRS 41.130 provides: “Except as otherwise provided in NRS 41.745 [limiting employer liability], whenever any person shall suffer personal injury by wrongful act, neglect or default of another, the person causing the injury is liable to the person injured for damages; and where the person causing the injury is employed by another person or corporation responsible for the conduct of the person causing the injury, that other person or corporation so responsible is liable to the person injured for damages.” See also Turner v. Mandalay Sports Entm’t, LLC (2008) 124 Nev. 213.
- Rio Lacanlale, “Woman who fell from Las Vegas roller coaster is ‘double amputee’,” Las Vegas Review-Journal (April 4, 2019).