recreation – Overlawyered

“TripAdvisor Sued for Negligent Camel Supervision”

Walter Olson — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 11:01:33 +0000

“A woman is suing TripAdvisor after a runaway camel tossed her to the ground during a tour in Morocco.” [AP] One problem for the claim is the website terms of service, which “say right up front that defendants don’t actually operate the tours themselves, they just facilitate booking the tours. Interactions with the tour operators, or their camels, are ‘at your own risk.'” A further potential problem “is that camels are known to be stubborn and difficult animals… so there’s going to be a potential assumption-of-risk issue with any camel-ride-related injury claim, most likely. This may be why the camel’s alleged pregnancy is being emphasized.” There follows more on camel pregnancy, and what leads up to it, than you probably wanted to know [Lowering the Bar]

Tags: animals, assumption of risk, recreation

“TripAdvisor Sued for Negligent Camel Supervision” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Peter Cottontail’s paper trail

Walter Olson — Sat, 13 Apr 2019 15:57:41 +0000

Headline tells the story: “Parents at UC-Berkeley Easter Egg Hunt Must Sign Waivers Due to Risk of ‘Catastrophic Injuries and Death'” [Lenore Skenazy, Reason]

Tags: recreation, schools

Peter Cottontail’s paper trail is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Penn State cracks down on student outdoors clubs

Walter Olson — Thu, 26 Apr 2018 04:05:57 +0000

“Penn State recently decreed that three student-led outdoor adventure groups—the hiking club, the cave exploration club, and the scuba club—would have to disband due to safety liability concerns, even though none of the long-running clubs had ever reported a problem.” In the case of hiking, a “key issue for administrators was that the Outing Club frequently visit locations with poor cell phone coverage.” [Lenore Skenazy and Robby Soave, Reason]

Tags: colleges and universities, diving, Pennsylvania, recreation

Penn State cracks down on student outdoors clubs is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Judge in Ireland rules on playground fall

Walter Olson — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 19:48:49 +0000

A child hurt herself falling on a playground in Dublin, Ireland, and this is what Mr. Justice Raymond Groarke of the Circuit Civil Court wrote:

She was engaged in a game of chase pure and simple and, while it is most regrettable that she became unbalanced and fell, this was simply an old fashioned accident and I fail to see any liability on the part of the school for that accident.

Lenore Skenazy comments:

Score one for those of us who understand that there is NO activity, even climbing out of bed, that is always 100% safe. So if we start outlawing activities that are generally, but not 100% completely safe, we will end up outlawing any movement whatsoever.

The judge also seems to realize that something is LOST even if a modicum of safety could be gained. Are kids really safer if they do NOT run around, use their bodies, burn calories, learn to play, deal with disappointment, organize their friends, and create something out of nothing — a game?

Nope. Kids need to play.

Reports The Independent: “The school did not seek an order for costs against the girl’s mother.”

Tags: assumption of risk, Ireland, loser pays, recreation, schools

Judge in Ireland rules on playground fall is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Portland’s First Mountain-Bike Park Could Be Crippled by a Court Decision”

Walter Olson — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 05:05:23 +0000

“Parks where Oregonians pursue adventure sports—like East Portland’s Gateway Green—now have liability for visitors’ injuries. … Last March, the Oregon Supreme Court handed down a ruling that overturned a key premise of a 45-year-old law referred to as the Oregon Public Use of Lands Act.” [Nigel Jaquiss, Willamette Week]

Tags: Oregon, premises liability, recreation

“Portland’s First Mountain-Bike Park Could Be Crippled by a Court Decision” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Canada lawsuit: cheese-rolling competition injured child spectator

Walter Olson — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 04:05:12 +0000

“According to cheese-rolling historians, humans may have been chasing wheels of cheese down steep slopes since pagan times. Written accounts of cheese-rolling date back nearly 200 years.” But now lawyers are catching up with the hazardous pastime. The original Gloucester cheese-rolling festival in England was officially canceled in 2010 — an unofficial version continues — and now in British Columbia, Canada, a suit claims compensation for a child spectator said to have been knocked to the ground by the impact of a rolling cheese on the other side of a safety net. [CBC]

Tags: assumption of risk, Canada, recreation

Canada lawsuit: cheese-rolling competition injured child spectator is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“The Battle Over the Sea-Monkey Fortune”

Walter Olson — Mon, 18 Apr 2016 09:31:49 +0000

“A former 1960s bondage-film actress is waging legal combat with a toy
company for ownership of her husband’s mail-order aquatic-pet empire.” It’s a tale with just about everything: tiny floating brine shrimp, lawyers in combat, and tanks full of humbug. [Jack Hitt, New York Times Magazine]

Tags: recreation

“The Battle Over the Sea-Monkey Fortune” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Delaware: “Punkin Chunkin canceled for second year”

Walter Olson — Tue, 13 Oct 2015 10:03:45 +0000

Punkin Chunkin, a ballistic pumpkin-launching event, had developed into a beloved Delaware event until a 2013 accident where an ATV overturned on a farmer’s field, leading to an injury claim. “On Oct. 8…organizers pulled the plug for a second year, saying liability insurance for the event had proven unobtainable. Even supporters of Punkin Chunkin were left wondering: Is it over for good?” [Wilmington News-Journal, our coverage last year] More: Bob Dorigo Jones.

Tags: Christmas and other holidays, Delaware, recreation

Delaware: “Punkin Chunkin canceled for second year” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Florida: No more claw machines, redemption arcades at Disney hotels

Walter Olson — Sat, 17 Jan 2015 15:10:46 +0000

Big Mouse is apparently afraid of getting sued on charges of operating a gambling establishment. [Orlando Sentinel]

Tags: Disney, gambling, recreation

Florida: No more claw machines, redemption arcades at Disney hotels is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Schools roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 05:05:41 +0000

Many states have liberalized rules on family homeschooling, now comes the backlash from proponents of tighter regulation [NY Times]
Kansas Supreme Court decrees higher school spending, estimated taxpayer cost upwards of $500 million [Greg Weiner, Law and Liberty, Wichita Eagle; earlier] After all, judicially directed school munificence worked so well in nearby Kansas City, Missouri [via @David_Boaz]
Scaring ourselves to death: the insanity of school active shooter drills [Radley Balko]
University of Virginia’s resistance to assault hoax weaker than Duke’s, possibly because pressure on skeptics to shut up has intensified [KC Johnson/Stuart Taylor, Jr./Real Clear Politics] Hans Bader on curious provisions of feds’ settlement with Harvard [Examiner, earlier]
“Oklahoma court declines to order [high school] football game replayed for blown call” [Paul Cassell, more]
Ohio judge rules principals, superintendent open to being sued personally over school shooting [Insurance Journal]
“Wow. How fun is this? A merry go round welded stationary. So kids don’t get hurt. Way to go, New York!” [Lenore Skenazy]

Tags: football, Kansas, recreation, schools, sexual assault, third party liability for crime

Schools roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system