Posted
An Allegheny County Common Pleas jury yesterday awarded $1.2 million to a Monroeville couple whose daughter was killed five years ago when a roof broke loose at Kennywood Park. Theirs was the last of several lawsuits against Kennywood by patrons injured by flying debris in a May 31, 2002, storm. The other injured park-goers settled out of court. Stephanie Wilkerson, 29, was the only fatality and her parents' suit was only one to go to trial.
Read more from The Post-Gazette.
Trying to think of a similar scenario, golf courses have had to deal with lightning strike cases for ages. Like an amusement park, golfers basically pay to use the facilities and the course is liable for pretty much anything. Whether the course is negligent or not is another story. Looking up some of those cases, one case reads….
"a plaintiff can recover from a defendant even where the defendant's negligence coincides with an act of God"
This sounds exactly what the plaintiffs in the Kennywood case look to be arguing.
Furthermore in case....
A golf course can warn golfers of what to do in the presence of lightning, can warn golfers of the approach of lightning by using signals, and can create and maintain lightning-proof shelters.
I’d guess to some extent, an amusement park might be liable for the same reasons if inclement weather were to strike. The lawyer could argue if a park knows a storm is coming they should warn guest and provide shelter, otherwise they are negligent. Unfortunately in Lost Kennywood there is little actual shelter besides maybe Exterminator, food stalls, gift shops, and the bathroom. Even if guests are warned is there really a place to fit a thousands people? Not just for Kennywood but any park.
You couldn't have one building with only a few doors and expect 20,000 people to funnel in within 15 minutes. So would a park be expected to provide multiple shelters throughout the park within so many feet so everyone would have fast access to shelter? And what if a building can hold 1000 people and 1100 come running up? Do you tell 100 of them to go somewhere else and risk getting sued if they get injured? Or do you squeeze them in, then get sued because someone was injured because the park ignored the capacity of the building?
It's a whole bunch of what ifs. But at what point do you say this isn't realistic either physically or fiscally to do?
My brother-in-law is FD, a friend of mine is an FD captain, another a paramedic here. I know how people who actually work those jobs deal with death.
Again, which city?
-CO
Step back and stop judging people who lost a child. No one should have to bury their child, and you don't know a damn thing about what it's like to be in their shoes.
I felt sorry for the first 10 min I was in Lost Kennywood the next season, then it was "the Whip is ugly without a roof. when can we get a new one."
If I was hit by the roof and killed, I would have at least died in my fav. place in the world. I have a nice note written that if I die in a park on a ride, DON'T SUE, Get the ride up and running as soon a possible. I died happily.
*** This post was edited by Kennywood_Racer 8/2/2007 1:30:25 AM ***
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