Busch Gardens is one of the main attractions in Tampa, Florida, and is a popular theme park that offers fun for people of all ages. When people visit theme parks, they place their faith in the employees and maintenance regulations of the park to ensure they have a safe and enjoyable time. Unfortunately, while Busch Gardens most likely goes to great lengths to ensure the safety of its guests, accidents and serious injuries happen. Many accidents that happen at theme parks can be attributed to negligence on behalf of the park or the park’s employees.
What Is Busch Gardens?
Busch Gardens is a theme park that is owned and operated by SeaWorld Entertainment. There are two Busch Gardens locations: Tampa, Florida, and Williamsburg, Virginia. This theme park originally opened its doors March of 1959 and got its name from the gardens created by Adolphus Busch in Pasadena, California.
Originally created to market Anheuser-Busch products and to house the Anheuser-Busch Clydesdale horses, Busch Gardens eventually evolved into a well-known theme park with a number of rides and entertainment options for people of all ages.
The Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, features an African theme and boasts one of the nation’s largest zoological institutions that houses more than 2,700 animal species. In addition to a robust zoological experience, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay also has several exciting attractions, with some of the most popular being:
- Sand Serpent
- Congo River Rapids
- Falcon’s Fury
- Cobra’s Curse
- Montu
- Scorpion
- Jungala
- Kumba
- Edge of Africa
- Saga
- Stanley Falls
- Tanganyiki Tidal Wave
- Phoenix
- SheiKra
- Stanley Falls
The park also offers its award-winning Serengeti Safari, which spans 65 acres and features an open-air touring vehicle that guests ride on. Other animal adventures at Busch Gardens include the Hippo Insider Tour, the private VIP rhino safari, the sloth encounter, and keeper for a day tours.
Causes Of Injuries At Busch Gardens Tampa Bay
While visitors of Busch Gardens typically enjoy an exciting and pleasurable time while at the park, some fall victim to accidents or injuries. Common causes of injuries and accidents at Busch Gardens include:
- Lack of proper training for ride operators and employees
- Slip and fall accidents caused by hazards, wet surfaces, or other hazardous conditions
- Improper maintenance on rides
- Inadequate ride inspections
- Mechanical failures
- Passenger negligence
- Operation errors
Notable Busch Gardens Tampa Bay Accidents
The following are a few of the most notable injuries and accidents that have occurred at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay:
- 1976: A 39-year-old man died after riding the Python roller coaster.
- December 1996: Several passengers on the Kumba ride were stuck 100 feet in the air. After the ride returned and the passengers were evacuated, five were taken to the hospital with complaints of back pain.
- June 2001: A ride vehicle on the Rhino Rally attraction overturned while full of passengers. Several passengers were injured and two were escorted to the hospital for their injuries.
- May 2002: In the Edge of Africa attraction, a zookeeper’s arm was bitten off by one of Busch Garden’s lions.
- July 2009: An employee fell 35 feet from the Skyride attraction after attempting to ensure the gondola door was properly closed. He was taken to the hospital for his injuries.
- February 2014: Sixteen passengers were stranded 60 feet in the air for more than hour after the Cheetah Hunt ride malfunctioned.
- May 2016: Twenty-four passengers were stranded 200 feet in the air for an estimated two hours on the SheiKra ride after a malfunction.
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Common Injuries Suffered At Busch Gardens
Guests can suffer a variety of injuries while visiting a theme park like Busch Gardens. As with all injuries, the type and severity of the injury will depend on the circumstances surrounding it. Not all injuries require the guest to seek medical treatment, but those that do can be traumatic and even deadly. Examples of injuries that could occur while visiting Busch Gardens include:
- Head injuries
- Back injuries
- Whiplash
- Neck injuries
- Brain damage or trauma
- Broken bones
- Cuts, lacerations, and/or bruises
- Injury to the joints
- Sprains and strains
- Twisted ankles
- Coma
- Death
Regardless of how serious your injury it is, if it was caused by negligence on behalf of the park or its employees or by a malfunction on an attraction, you’re entitled to file a personal injury case against from Busch Gardens.
How Do You Prove Negligence?
Negligence is a term used to describe when a person or entity does not do something that it should have done to protect others or acted in a way that was harmful to others. An example of negligence would be a ride mechanic who did not complete a full inspection on a ride and failed to notice a malfunction in the ride’s mechanical operations. This type of negligence can cause a significant amount of harm to a large group of people depending on the ride, how fast it was going at the time of the malfunction, and how many people were on the attraction at the time of the malfunction.
Negligence is important because this is a major component of the case you would bring against Busch Gardens in the event that you or a loved one is injured while on Busch Gardens properties. The Busch Gardens insurance companies and attorneys will often work hard to deny negligence by acting in manipulative ways that can trick those who have been injured into saying or doing something that discredits them or takes the responsibility off of the park. Unfortunately, many victims of accidents and injuries at theme parks are unaware of these tactics and fall victim to them, resulting in an inability to get the compensation they need and deserve.
There are several components of negligence, with the most important being:
- Duty: The park or park’s employees have a legal duty to visitors to ensure their safety as much as possible by adhering to proper protocols and safety procedures.
- Breach: The park or park’s employees break this legal duty by failing to act or acting in a way that is harmful to visitors.
- Causation: The actions of the park or park’s staff directly resulted in the visitor’s injury.
- Damages: The visitor was injured or harmed as a direct result of the park or park’s staff’s actions.
All of these components must be taken into account when seeking compensation or filing a lawsuit against Busch Gardens following an injury. There are several things you can do to support your claim against Busch Gardens following an accident or injury, including:
- Seeking medical attention: Seeking medical treatment for any injuries as soon as they happen is important because it not only allows you to get the help you need but also provides you with valuable medical documentation of your injuries that can be used in your case against the park. In addition, records of all medical expenses should be kept.
- Taking pictures or videos: If the cause of the accident or injury is blatantly obvious and can be documented using a picture or video, be sure to capture it if possible. For example, if there is a large gap in the sidewalk and you fell and twisted your ankle as a result, be sure to take a photo of the gap to prove the cause of your injury.
- Report the incident to the park: Another important step is to report the incident to the park. This also provides important documentation and ensures that your injury is on the park’s records.
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Contact A Theme Park Injury Lawyer
Another important step in getting the compensation you deserve is to work with an experienced and dedicated personal injury attorney, such as those at the law offices of Florin|Roebig. We will work tirelessly to make sure your rights are respected and protected and that you receive the compensation for your injuries and hardships that you need following your theme park injury. Don’t let costly medical bills, loss of wages, and other issues take over your life. Call us today at (800) 226-6581 for a 100% confidential and free case evaluation.
