When accidents are preceded by victims signing liability waivers, such as most skydiving simulator accidents, can victims file lawsuits to get damages?
Whether or not victims can sue skydiving simulator businesses for injuries depends on whether or not they signed a liability waiver, what that liability waiver stated, and how they were injured. For example, waivers can’t protect these businesses from injury claims due to gross negligence. If you can bring a lawsuit, you can request compensation for all damages related to the accident, including your economic and non-economic losses. All victims have to file their lawsuits before the statute of limitations runs out, or else they will lose the opportunity to get compensation from negligent skydiving simulator businesses.
To set up a free case review with our Arkansas personal injury lawyers, call (479) 316-0438 today.
Can Victims Always Sue Skydiving Simulator Businesses for Injuries?
Most skydiving simulator businesses require participants to sign liability waivers before the activity begins. This gives these businesses immunity from lawsuits for injuries due to ordinary negligence.
That said, even if you sign a waiver, that does not automatically bar you from suing. When signing a waiver, you assume certain risks associated with simulated skydiving, though the actual risk of injury should be relatively low when staff are properly trained, equipment is in good working condition, and participants are given the necessary safety equipment to use during the simulation.
When you sign a waiver, you only agree to the excluded liabilities expressly stated within the document, not unknown risks. For example, waivers do not bar victims from suing for injuries due to gross negligence during skydiving simulator experiences. With these activities specifically, participants are held in a simulated freefall in a controlled wind tunnel operated by staff. Recklessly using wind speeds that are too high during a simulation could result in serious injuries, as could suddenly stopping the wind speed while a participant is suspended mid-air. If a staff member caused your injuries through gross negligence, their employer may also be liable.
Our Huntsville, AR personal injury lawyers can obtain surveillance footage from the skydiving simulator business and speak to eyewitnesses to confirm if you were injured due to ordinary or gross negligence. If gross negligence did not cause the accident, we can review the waiver document to see if it goes against public policy or is otherwise unenforceable. If you didn’t sign a waiver or someone else signed one on your behalf, you can likely sue for ordinary negligence.
Can Victims Sue for All Damages in a Skydiving Simulator Injury Cases?
If the waiver is unenforceable in your case, we can file a claim to recover all compensable damages against the at-fault party, including hospital bills, missed wages, and emotional pain and suffering.
Hospital Bills
The bulk of your damages may be from medical treatment, and our lawyers can start gathering proof of medical bills when we begin preparing your case. We can monitor your medical costs throughout your claim so that we can show an exact timeline of your injuries, treatments, and damages. States don’t cap medical damages in injury claims and typically let victims recover compensation for future medical damages, too. To ensure this in your case, we can get medical experts to testify in court if your case does not settle.
Missed Wages
Missing work, even for a few weeks, could seriously affect your ability to support yourself and your family. Lost wages are covered in injury claims, provided victims can show their income before the accident. Our lawyers can do this through employment records, pay stubs, and tax returns.
Emotional Damages
Traumatic injuries have emotional consequences for victims in addition to financial and physical implications. Emotional distress, mental anguish, and physical and emotional pain and suffering are compensable, but proving them requires different tactics. Our lawyers can use the necessary equations to estimate your non-economic damages, considering the severity of your injuries, their impact on your life, and your likelihood of physically recovering as we do.
Punitive Damages
Keep in mind that if you signed the waiver and can still sue, it might be because the skydiving simulator business or its staff was grossly negligent, which could open the door to possible punitive damages if your case goes before a jury. To prove gross negligence, we may have to show that a staff member at the skydiving simulator experience failed to use even a small amount of care for you or your safety.
How Long Do You Have to Sue for Skydiving Simulator Injuries?
Each state has its own statute of limitations for personal injuries due to negligence. In Arkansas, for example, the deadline to sue at-fault parties for injuries and damages is three years, according to Ark. Code. § 16-56-105. Having our lawyers review the waiver document immediately is crucial so that you can confirm if you have a valid case as soon as possible after the accident.
The accrual date for the statute of limitations is typically the same as the accident’s date. Skydiving simulator injuries can vary but are typically apparent right away, meaning victims rarely get tolling for the delayed discovery of injuries in these situations.
Victims do not have unlimited time to sue for skydiving simulator injuries, and missing the deadline would bar them from recovering any damages. It would not matter if you previously thought that the waiver was enforceable and, therefore, did not think you could legally file a lawsuit; if the statute of limitations has passed, the skydiving simulator business would not have to pay you any damages. So, even if, after the accident, the business reminds you that you signed a waiver and cannot sue, do not assume that that is the case before confirming it with our attorneys.
Call Us Today to Talk About Your Injury Case
Call our Russellville, AR personal injury lawyers at (479) 316-0438 for a free and confidential case review.