Six Flags Injury

The type of Six Flags injury or injuries that you sustain plays an influential role in determining the amount of financial losses. Here are the most common types of injuries sustained at an amusement park such as Six Flags.

Whiplash

Whiplash is one of the types of injuries that often produce delayed symptoms. The injury develops when the neck and head suddenly move back and forth in a highly forceful motion. Because of the violent nature of the movement, muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the neck and shoulder can tear or at the very least stretch to the point of generating acute pain. Whiplash can also be severe enough to trigger a concussion and/or migraine headaches.

Fractured Bones

You can fracture a bone just about anywhere inside an amusement park like Six Flags. However, sustaining a Six Flags injury of a fractured bone happens the most often on rides and at food and beverage stands. Sustaining a fractured bone while on a ride typically is the result of the body making a strong impact against the side of a car or striking an object outside a car. Slipping and falling at a food and beverage station or another location inside an amusement park can cause a fractured bone in an arm that is used to brace for the impact of a fall.

Brain Trauma

The worst possible Six Flags injury sustained involves falling victim to brain trauma, which can vary in severity from a mild concussion to significant internal bleeding. Brain trauma is an especially dangerous health consequence on rides that move fast and make hard stops at the main area where park visitors wait their turn for thrill-seeking fun. Even the protection of a shoulder harness does not ensure the head remains fully protected during a trip around a roller coaster or a voyage through a water park.

Not every Six Flags injury sustained results in filing a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. Nonetheless, if you sustained a Six Flags injury, you should be aware of the three primary types of compensation awarded during a civil trial.

Special Compensatory Damages

Also referred to by attorneys as economic damages, special compensatory damages represent the tangible costs associated with your amusement park accident case. As by far the costliest type of expense, medical bills can quickly run into tens of thousands of dollars. You have the right to request compensation to cover the costs associated with diagnostic tests, treatment programs, and physical therapy sessions. Your Six Flags injury attorney also might ask the judge hearing your case to award you compensation for prescription medications and the use of an assistive device such as a pair of crutches.

If a Six Flags injury has forced you out of work, you have the right to request compensation for lost wages, as well as estimated future loss of earnings.

General Compensatory Damages

The shattered trust generated by a Six Flags injury can trigger a wide variety of negative emotions. Recovering the costs connected with emotional distress issues is a compensation category called general compensatory damages. If you developed symptoms related to the mental health condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), your personal injury attorney asks the judge hearing your case to award a reasonable value for compensation. To calculate a reasonable value for general compensatory damages, your lawyer uses a formula that factors in the value of economic damages.

Punitive Damages

The judge hearing your case retains the legal authority to award punitive damages, which do not compensate you for the losses associated with tangible and intangible expenses. Instead, judges award punitive damages to punish defendants for committing one or more acts of negligence. The awarding of punitive damages also deters defendants from committing the same type of negligence in the future. If the defendant committed an intentional act of negligence, the judge hearing your case might award you a value for punitive damages that exceeds the combined value of special and general compensatory damages.

After your personal injury attorney discovers the cause of your Six Flags injury, the next step involves deciding whether another party committed one or more acts of negligence by proving the presence of four legal elements. From failing to inspect a ride to not securing safety restraints, negligence comes in many forms at amusement parks such as Six Flags.

Duty of Care

The first element to prove for establishing negligence concerns showing the judge hearing your case that Six Flags owed you a duty of care to protect you against getting hurt while on the venue’s property. One of the most clear-cut examples of the duty of care doctrine comes from the healthcare industry. A healthcare provider owes patients a duty of care to keep them healthy. Proving the presence of the first element of negligence is easy for an amusement park accident case, as several legal precedents have ruled that amusement parks are responsible for the safety of venue visitors.

Breaching the Duty of Care Doctrine

Proving Six Flags violated the duty of care doctrine represents the most difficult element of negligence to prove. Your personal injury attorney from Morgan and Morgan must collect persuasive physical evidence like the footage captured by a park security camera. Witness accounts also play an important role in determining whether Six Flags breached the duty of care doctrine, especially if there is a lack of physical evidence to build a convincing case. Copies of medical bills and records also help your lawyer build a strong, factually-based argument in front of a civil trial judge.

Accident Caused Your Injuries

Medical bills and records also play a pivotal role in proving the third element of negligence, which is connecting the amusement park accident with your injuries. The legal team representing Six Flags might assert that you sustained your injuries from another event. For example, an attorney arguing for the defendant might claim you sustained a broken arm not from the impact made by a park ride, but instead, from the impact made by a fall from a ladder while you worked on a home improvement project.

Financial Losses

The fourth element of proving negligence, which is showing the judge hearing your case that you suffered financial losses, is about as easy to prove as proving the first element of negligence. Your personal injury attorney submits copies of medical bills to demonstrate the value of your financial losses, along with copies of bank statements and employer timekeeping records, if your Six Flags injury forced you to miss work.

Experience is an important criterion when choosing a personal injury lawyer, but only if the experience has resulted in a proven record of getting clients the compensation they deserve. Strictly promoting the number of years an attorney has practiced law means not as much as the positive results achieved by a personal injury lawyer. Morgan and Morgan covers both years of experience and establishing a proven record of success by providing more than 35 years of highly-rated legal services.

You also want to work with an attorney who promptly returns all forms of communication. Nothing causes more stress for a client than having to wait for an answer to an important question. Your personal injury attorney should provide legal support for you during the entire process, whether the process involves filing an insurance claim or a civil lawsuit that seeks monetary damages. Far too many personal injury attorneys meet with clients for a free case evaluation, only to disappear for the remainder of a case.

Learn more about the benefits of hiring a Six Flags injury attorney from Morgan and Morgan by scheduling a free case evaluation today.