TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - A paraplegic says he was injured on a ride at a Six Flags theme park in New Jersey and is suing for compensation.
Lester Davis filed a federal complaint on August 5 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against Six Flags Entertainment Corporation and other companies for negligence, strict liability - design defect, strict liability - manufacturing defect, strict liability - failure to warn, breach of expressed warranty, breach of implied warranty and violation of the New Jersey Carnival-Amusement Rides Safety Act.
According to the complaint, on August 10, 2019, Davis and four of his friends presented to Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, with pre-purchased tickets. Davis is a frequent and well known patron of the park and always begins his visits by going to the Guest Relations office and advising that he is a paraplegic and wheelchair-bound, the suit says.
He says he requests information pertaining to rides that are safe for him. Guest Relations advised Davis that the ride known as "The Joker" was safe for him to ride, but the Great Adventure Accessibility Guide states that riders of “The Joker” must “have two (2) functioning legs that include the knee absent of prosthetic devices," the suit says.
Davis and his friends proceeded to the ride and Davis asked the ride attendant/operator advised Davis that “The Joker” was safe for an individual with paraplegia to ride, the suit says. During the ride, Davis' legs hung freely as they were not secured by a harness or by the ride attendee, he says.
During the ride, Davis' unsecured and unrestrained legs flailed wildly about the outside of the coaster and, at times, hit the restraint bar, resulting in several severe lower extremity fractures, including femur fractures, the suit says. Davis alleges that at theme parks owned and operated by Six Flags, paraplegic patrons sustained substantially similar injuries as a result of riding substantially similar, fourth-dimension roller coasters without leg restraints including in 2005 and in 2010.
Davis is represented by Alaina A. Gregorio.
U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey case number 3:21-cv-14650-PGS-DEA