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Torrance Personal Injury Lawyers
2916 W 164th St Second Floor, Torrance, CA 90504
Phone: (424) 622-0812
Call us at (855) 855-8910
Call us at (855) 855-8910
Hurt on a roller coaster, a water park slide, or another ride in the Los Angeles area? We look at which duty the operator owed you, who else may be responsible, and which deadline applies. Free case review. No fees or costs unless we win.
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Last updated October 1, 2026
Hurt on a roller coaster, a water park slide, or another ride at a theme park in the Los Angeles area? Before anyone can say whether the park is to blame, there’s one question to answer first. What kind of ride was it? In California, the type of ride changes the rules. The company running a roller coaster or a similar ride can owe riders “utmost care.” That’s the highest level of care, the same standard the law sets for businesses that carry paying passengers. A ride you steer yourself, like bumper cars, is treated differently. Knowing which rule applies is the first step in any amusement park injury claim. Deadlines matter too: most California injury lawsuits must be filed within two years, and a written claim against a government agency is usually due within six months.
The Simon Law Group’s amusement park injury lawyers help people across the Los Angeles metro from the firm’s main office in Torrance, California. The firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts for its clients. Below, we explain what the ride operator owed you and who else may be responsible. We also cover the records ride operators must keep, what a signed waiver can and can’t do, and your deadlines. Tell us what happened for a free case review. No fees or costs unless we win.
Every case is different. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
California law holds a business that carries paying passengers to “utmost care,” the highest level of care. The state Supreme Court has said a roller coaster operator can be one of these businesses. Rides you steer yourself, like bumper cars, are different. There, the park’s only duty is not to unreasonably increase the risks built into the ride. Either way, the park isn’t automatically responsible for every injury.
Many riders think that getting on a ride by choice means they gave up any claim. It doesn’t. The real first question is which rule applies, not whether the park was careful in general.
Start with the law itself. One California law (Civil Code section 2100) says a business that carries people for pay must use “the utmost care and diligence” to carry them safely [1]. The next section goes further. The business must provide vehicles that are safe and fit for their use. If a vehicle isn’t, no amount of care excuses that [1].
In a 2005 case, Gomez v. Superior Court, the California Supreme Court said the company running a roller coaster or a similar ride can be one of these passenger businesses under those two laws [2]. Note the words “can be.” The court didn’t say every ride operator is one. It only decided that the claim in that case could move forward. And it limited its ruling to roller coasters and similar rides.
Even this high standard has limits. The court said these businesses “are not insurers” of their passengers’ safety [2]. In other words, the park doesn’t guarantee you won’t get hurt. You still have to prove the operator fell short. Our guide to how negligence is proven covers what that takes.
Bumper cars fall on the other side of the line. In a 2012 case, the same court said bumper car riders aren’t just carried along, because they control their own steering and speed [3]. So bumper cars don’t get the passenger standard. A different rule applies, called “primary assumption of risk.” Under it, the park doesn’t have to protect you from risks that are a normal part of the ride. Its only duty is not to unreasonably increase the risk of injury beyond those built-in risks [3]. That 2012 case didn’t decide how this rule works on a roller coaster. That question is still open.
| The question | Roller coasters and similar rides | Rides you control yourself, like bumper cars |
|---|---|---|
| Can the highest level of care apply? | Yes, it can apply to the operator (2005 case) | No, for bumper cars (2012 case) |
| What the park has to do | Where that standard applies, use the highest level of care and provide ride vehicles that are safe and fit | Not unreasonably increase the risks built into the ride |
| Does “assumption of risk” apply? | Not decided yet for these rides | Yes, for bumper cars |
One more rule comes from a 1992 California case [4]. Sometimes a defendant (the party being sued) has no duty to protect you from a risk that’s a normal part of an activity. Then you can’t recover money for that risk. But if the defendant did break a duty it owed you, your own choices reduce what you recover. They don’t erase it.
After an amusement park injury in California, the company running the park is usually the one sued, but not always the only one. A ride maker can be strictly liable when a defect in the ride causes injury, even without proof of carelessness. If a government agency runs the ride or event, special rules apply, including a six-month deadline.
Here’s who to look at:
Insurance matters here too. California requires owners of permanent rides to carry at least $1 million per incident in liability insurance. It pays when the owner is legally responsible for an injury or death from using the ride. A bond of the same amount or approved self-insurance also works [7]. That’s the least the law requires. It isn’t a limit on what you can recover, and it says nothing about what any one case is worth.
Get medical care and keep everything from your visit. California also puts duties on companies that run permanent rides. If a ride accident causes a death or serious injury, the operator must call the state right away. It must also save the equipment for the state’s investigation when the ride’s failure, malfunction, or operation caused the injury. And it must keep records of ride accidents that needed more than first aid.
Your side of it comes first:
Now the operator’s side. Permanent rides in California are covered by a state safety inspection program set up by Labor Code section 7920 [8]. Cal/OSHA’s Amusement Ride and Tramway Unit runs it. That unit is part of the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health [9].
Here’s a detail most people miss. Each year, the owner of each permanent ride must send the state a signed certificate saying the ride was inspected. The inspector has to be certified by the state, but can be the park’s own employee [8]. So “the ride passed inspection” doesn’t always mean a state inspector looked at it.
If someone dies or is seriously hurt on a permanent ride, the operator must report it to the state right away by phone [8]. Injuries that need only basic first aid don’t count. If the ride’s failure, malfunction, or operation caused the death or serious injury, the operator must also save the equipment for the state’s investigation [8].
Operators must also keep records of ride accidents that needed more medical care than basic first aid. They have to show those records to a state inspector who asks [8]. The law doesn’t say the public can see them.
A signed waiver (also called a release) matters, but it has limits. The California Supreme Court has said a waiver for sports or recreation generally can’t excuse future gross negligence. That’s an extreme kind of carelessness. Waivers that cover ordinary carelessness are often enforced for fun activities, and a parent can generally sign one for a child. So the exact wording and the facts decide it.
That ruling came in a 2007 case [10]. The court said a waiver signed ahead of time for sports or recreation generally can’t be used to excuse future gross negligence. It described gross negligence as a lack of even slight care, or an extreme departure from normal standards of conduct.
Ordinary carelessness is a different story. The same court noted that lower courts have enforced waivers of ordinary carelessness for gyms, ski resorts, racing, horseback riding, and other recreation [10].
A waiver can also be invalid when the service affects the public interest, under a test from a 1963 case [11]. But California courts usually find that recreation isn’t a necessary service under that test [10].
Then there’s the part that works against families. In California, a parent can generally sign a waiver for a child [12]. But the gross negligence limit still applies when a parent signs. The 2007 case itself involved a waiver a parent signed for a child’s camp [10].
Keep a copy of anything you signed, including the fine print on a ticket or pass, and bring it to your free case review.
Most California injury lawsuits must be filed within two years. If a government agency runs the ride or event, you usually must file a written claim within six months. That deadline isn’t paused for children, though the law gives kids more room to ask to file late. Start early either way.
A California law (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1) sets a two-year limit for a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit [13]. That’s the general rule. When the clock starts, and the exceptions to it, can change the math.
Claims against a government body (a public entity) move much faster:
Kids get some protection, but not everywhere. For injured children, the two-year clock generally doesn’t run until they turn 18 [13]. That pause doesn’t apply to claims against a public entity. So a child hurt on a government-run ride still faces the six-month claim deadline. The law does give kids extra room. The law says a request to file late must be granted when the injured person was a minor for the whole six-month period [6]. But a child’s time still counts toward the one-year outer limit. Act fast, even for kids.
California lets an injured person recover for all the harm the careless conduct caused. That includes medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. When a rider dies, the family’s own claim is separate from the claim the person’s estate brings. For cases filed in 2026 or later, the estate’s claim does not include the person’s pain and suffering.
A California law (Civil Code section 3333) says damages should make up for all the harm the wrongdoing caused [14]. Damages are the money a court can award for your losses. Some losses are about money, like medical bills and lost pay. Others aren’t, like pain and suffering [16]. Each loss still has to be linked to what happened on the ride.
Ride injuries can include broken bones, neck or spinal injuries, head and brain injuries, and deep cuts. We don’t put dollar figures on a page like this. Every case turns on its own facts and proof. And the $1 million insurance minimum mentioned above is the least the law requires ride owners to carry. It isn’t a value for your claim [7].
If someone died, two separate claims come into play. The family has its own wrongful death claim. The estate, which a representative manages after the person’s death, has what’s called a survival claim. Under a California law (Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34), a survival claim filed on or after January 1, 2026 is generally limited to losses before death [15]. It doesn’t include pain, suffering, or disfigurement. It still includes punitive damages the person could have recovered. Those are extra damages meant to punish the wrongdoer.
If you were hurt on a ride anywhere in the Los Angeles area, start a free case evaluation and tell us what happened. Some of these deadlines are as short as six months, so it pays to reach out early. Our main office is in Torrance, and we help injured people across the Los Angeles metro. No fees or costs unless we win. If you’re looking into one particular ride incident, see our related ride-specific injury page.
Sources:
[1] California Civil Code sections 2100 and 2101, duties of a carrier of persons for reward (section 2101)
[2] Gomez v. Superior Court (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1125
[3] Nalwa (2012) 55 Cal.4th 1148, California Supreme Court
[4] Knight v. Jewett (1992) 3 Cal.4th 296
[5] Greenman v. Yuba Power Products (1963) 59 Cal.2d 57
[6] California Government Code sections 911.2, 911.4, 911.6, and 945.6, claims against public entities
[7] California Labor Code section 7926, ride owner insurance requirement
[8] California Labor Code sections 7920, 7924, and 7925, Permanent Amusement Ride Safety Inspection Program
[9] Cal/OSHA Amusement Ride and Tramway Unit, California Department of Industrial Relations
[10] City of Santa Barbara v. Superior Court (2007) 41 Cal.4th 747
[11] Tunkl v. Regents of University of California (1963) 60 Cal.2d 92
[12] Aaris v. Las Virgenes Unified School Dist. (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 1112
[13] California Code of Civil Procedure sections 335.1 and 352
[14] California Civil Code section 3333, measure of tort damages
[15] California Code of Civil Procedure section 377.34, damages in a decedent’s cause of action
[16] California Civil Code section 1431.2(b), economic and non-economic damages defined
Yes. In California, you can sue when the ride operator, a ride maker, or someone else failed a legal duty and that failure caused the injury. Which duty applies depends on the ride. The company running a roller coaster or similar ride can be held to the highest level of care. A ride you steer yourself, like bumper cars, comes with a narrower duty. Either way, the park isn’t automatically responsible for every injury, so you still have to prove it fell short.
It depends on the ride. The California Supreme Court has said the company running a roller coaster or similar ride can be held to the same standard as a business that carries paying passengers. That standard is utmost care, the highest level of care. On a ride you control yourself, like bumper cars, the park’s duty is narrower. It only has to avoid unreasonably increasing the risks built into the ride.
In California, there may be more than one company to look at. The company running the coaster can be held to the highest level of care. The company that built it can be strictly liable, meaning responsible even without proof of carelessness, if a defect in the ride caused your injury. Whether either one is responsible depends on what failed and why.
Call (424) 622-0812 or fill out our form. No fees or costs unless we win.
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