Family hires attorney to sue Playland for boy's death

Well, that rules out the "they're in it for the money" objection.

The family statement asserts that the ride should have had seat belts, better supervision and that the boy should not have been allowed to ride alone.

Granted, while seat belts are not really needed on the ride, they would be a way to prevent someone from standing up... though how do you put seat belts on a ride where riders ride in tandem (bobsled style?)

As for the Supervision and the "should not have been allowed to ride alone"... Wasn't a family member (his mother, if I remember from the initial reports when this happened) waiting for him in front of the ride? If he needed "Better Supervision" and if he should not have ridden alone, why was she waiting out front instead of being in the boat with him?*** This post was edited by SLFAKE 9/14/2005 11:35:03 AM ***

SLFAKE,

The Whizzer at SFGAm (as with any Schwartzkopf "Jet Star") have bobsled style seating with a seatbelt.

But I agree with you in regards to the supervision. If they were concerned about him misbehaving on the ride, then they should supervise him. As 'Gator said in the thread about pedophiles...

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PARENTS are the best protection, NOONE else is as invested in your kids as you are.

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I'm sure they'll get something and it will settle out of court, but again it's one of those things where you have to draw the line somewhere. I mean, who do you sue when your kid is too dense to not step in front of a bus on a busy street?

You sue the city for not installing 6 foot fences with razor wire on top ;)

....that is until someone else sues the city because their little Timmy got all cut up by the razor wire. :) :) :)

A: The bus driver! ;)

Please note that Playland allows adults (even those without any "points" remaining) to ride WITH their children...

To George: Even *I* don't read what I type....good to know SOMEONE does, LOL... :)

In response to Redman and little Timmy getting cut by the razor wire... (where is that damned Lassie when you need her! Timmy's caught in the barbed wire... again.)

Wasn't there a case in England where an elderly woman, who had been burgled several times, had her son install barbed wire atop the stone wall that surrounded her home... only to be later sued, successfully, by a would be burgler who was in jured by the wire while attempting to climb over the wall to burgle her house yet again? (sorry, I forget the details. I only remember that story from a few years back)

*** This post was edited by SLFAKE 9/14/2005 12:37:20 PM ***

Hehe! Burgle.....What a funny word!

I don't care what they're planning on doing with the money. They are blaming the park because the park failed to supervise their child any better than they did. Just goes to show that people will do anything to pass them blame so they can sleep easy at night instead of taking responsibility for their own actions (or in this case, lack of actions.)

Great point Rob. I remember having to yank a kid back more than once that was trying to shove their hands in an omnimover system track at WDW while parents smiled and looked on.

Remeber one dad getting very angry with me for grabbing their child when he was just being "curious". I explained that they were basically watching their child do the equivilent of walking in front of a steem roller and and sticking hand in a light socket, he got huffy and walked off.

The shame is that this will most likely be settled out of court. I personally can't imagine what a grieving parent goes through but the line needs to be drawn somewhere.

When the mother was interviewed shortly after the incident she mentioned her son was afraid of the dark. Yet for some reason she allowed him to ride alone anyway?

I always give space to the grieving, but I am losing something here in this grieving. Better supervision? If you thought your child was going to be a problem, shouldn't you have thought about riding with him? Oh wait, the park should have thought your child would have been a problem, even though you were comfortable with him riding alone, yes this makes as much sense.

In it for the money or not,the loss of a life is horrible, the want to point fingers at someone almost like a addiction, the ability to accept any responsibility from any corner being like asking someone to accept their addictions. The truth is always the victim in the end.

Always ride with your kids until they are able to ride alone, simple. When can they ride alone, they will let you know that :)

And the attorney will be donating his fee as well?

Maybe the parents aren't looking for money. It appears more that what they are looking for is absolution. They need someone to say officially, "Mommy, Daddy, it's not your fault that little Jon died."

So now parks will be put in the position of assuming that Mom and Dad are totally unfit parents, and once again the state knows best how to raise children.

i agree that its weird for her to complain about lack of supervision if she wasnt willing to supervise her own child, but i also think that the park should have had at least one or two emloyees sitting alongside the track of the ride with flashlights. i dont think ive ever been on any sort of dark ride that didnt have employees watching the ride. nothing usually happens, but its good to have.