Florida Personal Injury Lawyers Blog
A boy has fallen from a classic wooden roller coaster at a western Pennsylvania amusement park.
A spokesman for Idlewild and SoakZone amusement park says the child fell from the ride Thursday afternoon.
A Westmoreland County emergency dispatcher says the child was conscious and airlifted to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, about 50 miles west.
A park spokesman said he doesn’t know the boy’s condition or where he was on the ride when he fell. It is unknown whether the ride malfunctioned or if horseplay was involved.
The Roller Coaster opened in 1938 and takes riders up, down and around a wooded hillside. It doesn’t require seat belts, and children under 4 feet tall must be accompanied by an adult.
The accident comes four days after a 10-year-old boy was decapitated as he rode a water slide at a Kansas water park.
Roller coasters are enjoyed by children, adults and all thrill seekers, but what you may not know is that coasters are the most dangerous rides at an amusement or theme park. In recent years, more than 10,000 people have been treated in emergency rooms throughout the United States due to amusement park and roller coaster injuries. If a roller coaster accident, like a fall from the ride, was caused by negligence, an injury victim may be entitled to compensation from the owners of the park.
Roller coasters have various speeds, height, intensity, size, G-force, etc. Children are the most susceptible to injuries from a roller coaster mostly because of the amount of G-forces a body can tolerate at high speeds. All bodies react differently from intense G-forces, so where one person may walk away unscathed, another person could suffer back injuries, neck injuries, brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, blood clots and wrongful death. Roller coaster seat belt systems can also cause injuries to riders depending on the differences in height, weight and size. Another issue, as this case highlights, is the risk of falling out of coasters from extreme heights.
Roller coaster and amusement park accidents can be devastating. If you or someone you love has been involved in a roller coaster accident, call our Florida Roller Coaster Accident Attorneys at Whittel & Melton today at 866-608-5529 or contact us online.