1. Watch a ride in motion with your child before letting your child board. Our ride injury lawyers suggest that if the ride looks unsafe, or if it looks like it might present dangers or temptations to show off to your child, don’t let your child ride.
2. Be cautious and use your own judgment about whether to let your child on a ride. An attendant may assure you a ride is safe for your offspring, but you know your child’s fears and tendencies. Your child might be too young or too fidgety to safely ride a coaster or other ride, even if he or she meets the minimum height requirement.
3. Read warning signs aloud to your children and make sure they understand. If they need to keep hands and feet inside a ride at all times, make sure they understand why they must, and what could happen if they don’t.
4. Pont out the entry and exit points and the entry and exit procedures to your child, as well as the locations of ride attendants and amusement park attendants.
5. Instruct your children to hold on tight to the ride, keep their feet flat on the ride car if they can, and stay safely seated in their ride seat. Our ride injury lawyers point out that many rides’ restraint systems are designed primarily for teens and adults and won’t properly restrain younger children. So your child’s best prospects for safety lie in maintaining a tight hold on the ride and a secure seat in the ride car.
6. If your child is afraid of a ride, don’t let peers pressure them into riding it. Frightened children will often try to exit a ride in motion and serious hurt themselves.
7. Obey ride-loading instructions that indicate when a child is more safely seated on the inside or the outside of a ride. Our ride injury lawyers remind you that those instructions could help prevent serious injuries resulting from centrifugal forces or the tendency of smaller children to escape ride restraints on fast turns or changes in acceleration.
8. Teach your children what to do and whom to contact if they accidentally get separated from you at an amusement park or other busy venue. Make sure they know the information park authorities will need to find and contact you.
9. Supervise your children as they ride amusement park rides. Always ride the rides with younger children, and even with your older children if they will allow it. Rider horseplay and misconduct remains one of the top causes of amusement park ride injuries, and children are generally less inclined to misbehave or show off in a dangerous fashion if they’re under parental supervision.
10. Remember that amusement park rides, like any pieces of heavy machinery, present dangers of catastrophic injury if misused or if safety is disregarded. Our ride injury lawyers emphasize that amusement park rides move fast, and can sever limbs and crush riders if safety is disregarded.
If your child should suffer injury from a dangerous amusement park ride and you need advice regarding your legal rights and options in the matter, feel free to contact us. Our experienced ride injury lawyers provide a free initial consultation to discuss your problem and help you find solutions. Over more than 12 years, we’ve helped injured ride accident victims successfully achieve a full financial recovery for the harm they’ve suffered. We’re here to help you too.