Negligence Standard or Recklessness Standard – Which Standard of Care Applies to Injured Spectator of a Snowmobile Race?

By Doyice Cotten

Spectators Tory Baughan and Megan MacNeill were injured while watching a snowmobile “hillclimb” racing event. They were in the designated, but unprotected, spectator area when one of the racers became dismounted from his Polaris snowmobile on his way up the hill. The driverless snowmobile continued to travel back down the hill at a high rate of speed before colliding with plaintiffs. Baughan sued claiming negligence, premises liability, gross negligence, and willful and wanton misconduct (Baughan v.

Evaluating a Waiver

By Doyice Cotten

 

In waiver cases, a court has to determine if the liability waiver does, indeed, protect the defendant from liability for negligence. In this post, we will examine a recent waiver addressed in Garvine v. Maryland, (2018) to see how courts address this task and give the reader a little insight into the sometimes complicated process of evaluation.

 

Waiver in Question

Oxford Feed &

Risk Management Procedures Help Save Utah Snowmobile Operator from Liability

By Doyice Cotten

Matthew Rose rented a 2014 Polaris snowmobile from Summit Lodge. While approaching an opening in a wooden fence on the snowmobile, the throttle stuck on full-throttle and resulted in an injury to Rose.

The snowmobile has a thumb-operated throttle lever for acceleration; release of the lever is supposed to return the machine to idle. Normally, the machine has two methods of manual shut-off: a kill switch or by turning the key to off.

Risk Management at Two Popular Tourist Sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina

By Doyice Cotten

Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereafter referred to as Bosnia) is a beautiful country in southeastern Europe. There is much to see; but also much you need to watch for to avoid injury.

Mostar Bridge. The first popular site at which I saw a number of hazards was at and near the famous bridge at Mostar. The bridge was destroyed in the war in 1993, but has since been nicely restored (pictured here).

First,

Duration of a Waiver at Issue in a Pennsylvania ATV Case

By Doyice Cotten

This author has frequently written about the duration of liability waivers. In a three-part series in 2017, posts addressed a Virgin Islands waiver written intending a one-year duration where the injury occurred after the one-year period – the court ruled it to be unenforceable; another waiver case involved a waiver which did not specify a duration and the Pennsylvania court ruled such a waiver unenforceable; and a third waiver case examined a waiver which did not state a duration – the Massachusetts court held the duration of a contract does not extend forever but only for a reasonable time (which is up to the court to determine).

Failure to Properly Name Protected Parties Results in a Reversal in Favor of the Plaintiff

By Doyice Cotten

Bradford Jones and his son Forbes collided with each other while riding jet skis. Bradford was injured and subsequently sued both The Barge, LLC and its owner David Hubert. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants based on the liability waiver signed by Jones prior to the ride. It should be noted that the waiver listed The Barge, LLC as a protected party, but the ownership and legal status of the business had changed several times over the years and at the time of the accident,

Lack of Equipment Inspections and Concern for Client Safety Is a Shortcut to Lawsuits

By Doyice Cotten

Lawsuits against health clubs are abundant – with dozens each year. There are many allegations in such suits ranging from failure to supervise, to employing uncertified personnel, to bad judgment of personal trainers, and many more causes of injury. One of the most frequent causes of injury has two prongs: 1) failure to regularly (as in daily) inspect the premises  and equipment; and 2) failure to maintain and keep equipment in good repair.

The photos in this post illustrate a potential problem that could result in a client injury and in a possible negligence lawsuit.

Will My Waiver Protect Me When someone has an Ordinary “Slip and Fall?”

By Doyice Cotten

It is well-established that the common law imposes a duty of care on business owners to maintain safe premises for their business invitees (clients, customers, or potential clients).  Visitors to a place of business generally fall into one of three categories and in most states, the duty owed the visitor depends upon the “category” into which the visitor falls.

The three categories are, first, the invitee — one who has an express or implied invitation to enter the business (e.g.,

Most Waivers Are Adhesion Contracts – So What?

By Doyice Cotten

There is much confusion and misinformation about adhesion contracts as they relate to the enforceability of liability waivers in recreation, fitness, and sport activities. There is a common misconception that adhesion contracts are against public policy and subsequently unenforceable.

What is an Adhesion Contract?

An adhesion contract is a “standardized contract which is imposed and drafted by the party with superior bargaining power and which relegates the subscribing party only the option of signing the contract or rejecting it” (i.e.,

Yikes!! An Injury — Am I Liable?

By Doyice Cotten 

Sport and recreation managers are often confused about their liability in the event of an injury. This is understandable because the law is far from simple. The intent of this post and the included table is to reduce at least some of the confusion.

First, injuries result from one of three causes. The cause of injury may be a simple accident or an “inherent risk” of the activity. In this case the provider usually has no liability providing the injured party was aware of the inherent risks of the activity.