Accidents that occur in NJ theme parks, such as Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson Township, NJ, can leave guests with serious, often life-changing injuries.
The case examples below, which involve severe injuries, include payouts amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars or more than a million dollars for individual claims involving serious injuries at Six Flags Great Adventure. However, many claims against amusement parks result in much smaller payouts.
Accidents at other amusement parks in New Jersey (as well as outside the state) can also return large settlements. For example, a $950,000 resolution resulted from a 2018 case in which a child sustained injuries requiring multiple surgeries and serious complications after his foot became stuck in a gap in the Raider Slide at an amusement park in Essex County, NJ.
Whether at Six Flags Great Adventure or at another New Jersey amusement park, accidents that result in serious injuries can give rise to personal injury lawsuits—if they were caused by another party’s negligence. The attorneys at Console & Associates, P.C. can help you understand your legal rights and options after a theme park injury. Contact us today for your free consultation, or call (866) 788-5500.
Theme park accidents are complex matters. In some theme park injuries, the cause is as simple as negligent maintenance of the premises that result in a guest tripping and falling.
The causes of injuries that occur on amusement park rides may be more difficult to determine. The ride itself or one of its components may have been improperly designed or installed. A safety feature may have malfunctioned. Ride operators may have negligently started the ride without ensuring that all riders were properly and safely positioned and secured in their seats.
Theme park lawsuits sometimes have more than one defendant. For example, you might sue Six Flags Great Adventure if you sustained an injury there, but your lawsuit may also name a ride’s designer and manufacturer.
A $1.7 million settlement was reached in 2021 in the wrongful death claim brought by the estate of a 19-year-old Six Flags worker who, in 2017, was struck by and pinned beneath the tires of a large lift truck, according to Asbury Park Press.
A park guest who reported sustaining injuries while riding the Big Bambu water raft ride blamed her injuries on the alleged negligent underfilling of a splash pool that was designed to slow the rafts and reduce the impact of the drop. For damages that included multiple disc bulges in the cervical region of her spine and a torn meniscus in her knee, both of which would require surgical intervention, she received a settlement of $750,000.
Major accidents that leave victims seriously injured—or worse—aren’t new to theme parks. Reports of theme park injuries stretch back decades, and so does the history of high-value Six Flags Great Adventure injury settlements. An especially memorable example is the fire that burned down the park’s Haunted Castle walkthrough attraction back in 1985. The Associated Press reported that the families of seven of the park guests who lost their lives in the fire received individual settlements of $2.5 million.
Six Flags Great Adventure has been sued numerous times in recent years, and the actual number of lawsuits filed represents only a fraction of the injuries reported to have occurred at the park.
The victim of an alleged 2016 injury on the King Cobra water slide at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor filed a lawsuit seeking $3 million, according to NJ.com. A lawsuit filed in 2017 arose out of a 2015 incident in which a minor’s restraint system allegedly disengaged as she rode Great Adventure’s El Diablo ride, reportedly leaving her holding on for dear life and sustaining serious and permanent injuries to her spine and shoulder, according to NJ.com.
In 2019, a Monmouth County physician filed a lawsuit against Six Flags Great Adventure after allegedly sustaining neck and spine injuries riding the Kingda Ka roller coaster, NJ.com reported. A 2021 lawsuit filed over a 2019 incident alleges that a Six Flags employee fractured a guest’s nose by raising the security bar too high and striking her in the face as she was waiting to exit a parachute drop ride, according to the Courier-Post.
Not all theme park injuries give rise to lawsuits, especially in the immediate aftermath of the accident. Many other injuries have been alleged to have occurred at Great Adventure in recent years. For example, Patch.com reported on the injuries a woman sustained when an unidentified object struck her in the face while riding the roller coaster El Toro in 2016.
The park faced a fine for failing to notify the state of a 2018 incident in which the shoulder strap of a rider on the Kingda Ka roller coaster broke, according to Asbury Park Press. An August 2021 NJ.com article recounted more than a dozen incidents at the park in a span of just five months. Then, in September 2021, a visitor reported suffering neck and back injuries while riding the Tornado funnel slide at Six Flags Great Adventure Hurricane Harbor water park, according to Asbury Park Press.
To identify all defendants, investigate and prove negligence, calculate the full extent of damages, and stand up to a major corporation like Six Flags Great Adventure, you’re going to want professional legal representation. You should have an attorney on your side for a Six Flags Great Adventure injury claim.
The experienced injury lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. have the skills to investigate theme park accidents and fight for the compensation you deserve, at no upfront cost to you. For a free, no-obligation consultation, call (866) 778-5500.
