Under Georgia law, property owners must take reasonable measures to prevent foreseeable attacks or assaults and to keep people safe on their property. This means that an amusement park can be held responsible for the injuries you suffer on its property if the landowner failed to provide sufficient security to prevent them.
Factors for Proving Negligent Security at an Amusement Park
There are four elements to holding the amusement park liable for negligent security:
1. The amusement park had a legal duty toward you. The company has a legal duty to take reasonable measures to keep the park and its approaches safe for its guests. This legal duty also extends to employees, vendors, and other individuals who are on the grounds for a legal purpose, such as to read the electric or water meter.
If an amusement park experienced several incidents of assaults happening in its arcades, for example, it would have an obligation to provide reasonable security in those areas to prevent future assaults.
2. The amusement park violated its legal duty. If the amusement park did not provide sufficient security, it breached its duty to you.
Reasonable measures to prevent assaults in an arcade could include:
- Installing security cameras in the area.
- Posting signs in the arcade that notify patrons of the rules, which might include warnings against horseplay, roughhousing, physical confrontations, and assaults. The signs should also warn people that violating the rules will result in prosecution.
- Assigning security guards to the arcade and surrounding area.
- Immediately removing rule-breakers from the park.
- Banning people who engage in assaults from future entry to the park.
- Exploring whether changes in the location, layout, and configuration of the arcade would help deter future assaults.
If the amusement park fails to take enough reasonable measures, it could be considered negligent.
3. The negligent security at the amusement park caused your injury. Negligence by itself does not subject the park to liability, but when the company’s negligence causes an injury, the landowner is responsible. If someone assaulted you because of the park’s failure to provide adequate security, the park could be liable.
4. Adequate security would have prevented the crime. It is impossible to prevent every crime, but Georgia law requires property owners to take reasonable steps to prevent foreseeable crimes. If assaults continue to occur in the arcade, for example, the amusement park could be held liable for failing to prevent these foreseeable crimes by improving its security in and around the area.
Damages for Injuries from Negligent Security at an Amusement Park
When you get hurt because of an amusement park’s negligent security, you may be eligible to recover damages that include:
- Medical expenses. This can cover your ambulance, emergency room, doctors, hospital, prescription drugs, physical therapy, and all other reasonable medical care needed as a result of your injuries.
- Lost wages. If you missed work because of your injuries and recuperation, you may be able to recover the income you lost.
- Decreased earning potential. A significant injury may impact your future earnings over the course of your life. If you must take a lower-paying job because of your injury, you may be able to recover the difference between your previous and your current earning capacity.
- Pain and suffering. Simply paying a person’s medical bills does not compensate them for the physical pain, mental distress, and inconvenience suffered as a result of their injury. Calculating pain and suffering damages can help address that deficit.
- Loss of enjoyment of life. Victims of violent crime often face a lifetime of psychological ramifications from the trauma. Many people experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) which can harm personal relationships and make employment and social interaction difficult. Physical injuries can also cause you to be unable to do things that you enjoyed before, like walking or hiking.
How to Get Help for an Injury from an Amusement Park’s Negligent Security
If an amusement park failed in its legal duty to protect you from foreseeable harm and this negligent security caused your injury, you might be eligible for compensation. Call S. Burke Law today at 404-842-7838 to schedule your free consultation. We know how to win a negligent security case. We will answer your questions and tell you if you might have a case against the amusement park.