Halloween Haunted House Injuries: Your Legal Rights
Halloween season will soon be upon us. If you are like many people, adults and children alike, you very well may elect to visit a haunted house. These venues typically are fun and entertaining. However, each and every Halloween season, patrons of haunted houses are injured, and sometimes seriously. In addition, there are also instances when a person is killed while visiting a haunted house because of the negligence of the operator of the entertainment site. With this in mind, there are some important facts and factors you need to keep in mind when it comes to an injury sustained at a haunted house.
The Duty of Care of a Haunted House Operator
The operator of a haunted house has a legal duty of care to its patrons. By inviting people to a haunted house, and usually charging those individuals to enter the premises, that duty includes ensuring that the facility is maintained and operated in a reasonably safe manner.
The operator of a haunted house cannot protect against any and all dangers. That is not the level of duty an operator of this type of venue bears. Rather, the operator of a haunted house has a reason to protect its customers against reasonably foreseeable dangers.
If a haunted house breaches that duty of care, and an injury arises because of that shortcoming, the operator can be held responsible for injuries sustained by a patron. For example, if fake blood is used as part of the costuming of haunted house actors, it is reasonably foreseeable that fake blood may end up on the floor. Therefore, a haunted house operator has a duty to clean up that type of spill. If timely clean up does not occur, and a patron slips, falls, and is injured, the haunted house operator is likely to be held responsible for those injuries.
A haunted house operator has an even higher duty of younger children are permitted into the venue. This heightened duty of care arises from the reality that children are generally more vulnerable than adults when it comes to a setting like a haunted house.
Common Patron Injuries at a Halloween Haunted House
Each October, some patrons visiting haunted houses experience a number of different types of injuries. Some of the most common injuries that occur in haunted houses, typically because of operator-related negligence, include:
- slip and fall accidents
- carbon monoxide poisoning
- exposed screws and bolts injuries
- falling props
- trampling
The most common types of accidents in haunted houses are of the slip and fall variety. Exposed screws, bolts, and other things that protrude represent another category of accident causes in haunted houses. Haunted houses are fun and scary because of props. However, falling props do present a very real danger to visitors.
Carbon monoxide poisoning than many people. Nearly every haunted house includes fog in its presentation. In the absence of proper ventilation, fog machines and other devices used to create this effect can cause a buildup of carbon monoxide within a haunted house. This buildup can result patrons suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Although rare, there are instances in which panic occurs at a haunted house, causing people to try and exit quickly. When this situation erupts, there is a very real possibility that some individuals will end up seriously injured, or even killed, because of trampling.
Injuries to Haunted House Staff
Keep in mind that the operator of haunted house does not just have a duty of care to patrons. An operator has a duty to keep performers and other haunted house staff members. As an aside, more often than not, performers and others at a Halloween haunted house are engaged as independent contractors on a seasonal basis.
Common types of injuries to performers and other staff members at a haunted house include:
- assaults from patrons
- cleaver elbow
- slip and fall accidents
- carbon monoxide poisoning
- exposed screws and bolts injuries
- falling props
- trampling
- haunted house throat
- freak accidents
In addition to the risks of the same types of accidents that can befall a patron, there are injuries that are unique to haunted house performers. High on the list is something called cleaver elbow. Because performers in haunted houses constantly are raising their arms, this can cause damage at the elbow area. The injury can be particularly painful and can persist for an extended period of time,
Haunted house throat typically is not a serious issue. It occurs because of all the yelling and shouting oftentimes undertaken by performers. There are isolated instances in which haunted house throat is a more serious, long-term condition.
From time-to-time, a haunted house performer is seriously injured or even killed because of a freak accident. For example, as part of seen, a performer may be directed to scare customers with a noose. In the process of doing this, a performer could accidentally slip and end up hanging from the noose. The freakish reality is that when events like this happen, they are overlooked initially. They injured performer is thought to be a prop or in the midst of his or her performance.
Seek Professional Legal Assistance from a Haunted House Injury Lawyer
If you or a loved one ends up injured due to an accident in a haunted house, it is important to quickly consult with an experienced haunted house injury lawyer, like a member of the legal team at The Doan Law Firm. An initial consultation with a haunted house injury attorney can be scheduled by calling (800) 349-0000. Calls are answered around the clock, 365 days a year, even on major holidays, including Halloween.
The Doan Law Firm has offices located across the United States. A haunted house injury attorney from The Doan Law Firm does not charge a fee for an initial consultation with a client. Appointments can be scheduled at The Doan Law Firm, at a client's home, or even at the hospital, depending on a person's circumstances.