Residents of New York may have heard about the roller coaster accident that occurred at an amusement park down in Daytona Beach. The incident is still under investigation, so the details are still few. On the night of Thursday, June 14, the Sand Blaster ride derailed and caused two of its 10 riders to fall about 34 feet to the ground. The riders suffered traumatic injuries.

The ride also left two riders dangling in midair. In a time-sensitive operation, the city’s fire department, which has a tech rescue team that specializes in high-rise rescues, successfully removed the eight riders before the roller coaster cars could fall. A total of nine patients were admitted to the hospital. The seriousness of their injuries is not known.

Despite the chaos, police were able to keep bystanders away from the firefighters and their equipment. The owner of the ride and the owner of the amusement park, the Daytona Beach Boardwalk, have yet to comment. Since no employees were injured, OSHA is not involved in the investigation.

The Sand Blaster is a 40-year-old ride that was part of an amusement park in Delaware before it was sold to Daytona Beach Boardwalk in 2013. Two inspections in May revealed deficiencies in structural integrity, but these were subsequently fixed. The ride was inspected the very morning of June 14, revealing no problems.

Victims of amusement park ride malfunctions are usually eligible for compensation under premises liability law. It all depends on showing who was at fault and how. Victims will want to have a lawyer assisting them while they focus on their physical recovery. An attorney could hire third-party experts to investigate the accident and determine the extent of a person’s injuries, which could require long-term treatment. A lawyer could then negotiate for a settlement with the responsible party.

Source: CNN, ‘Florida agency probing roller coaster derailment in Daytona Beach,” Jamiel Lynch, Holly Roberts and Joe Sutton, June 16, 2018