Disney aims to overturn higher safety standard
Posted on Fri, Apr. 08, 2005
By Joyzelle Davis
Bloomberg News
Walt Disney Co., the world's largest theme park operator, is seeking to overturn a court ruling that the company says would apply public transportation safety standards to its roller coasters.
The case would also affect Six Flags' parks in California. Six Flags, which operates Magic Mountain and Marine World in California, and industry groups filed court papers supporting Disney's position.
California's Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Disney, and other theme park companies, should be held to the same heightened safety standards as train and bus operators. The case involves a 23-year-old woman who died after riding on the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland.
If Disney loses, lawyers for injured riders may have an easier time getting their cases before a jury or negotiating settlements.
Richard Derevan, a lawyer for Disney, told the justices during the hearing that under the higher standard of care, "something could always be safer. The ride could be slower, the curves less sharp, the hills less steep. The ride may lose its purpose for being."
The case involves a claim filed by the estate of Cristina Moreno, a tourist from Spain who visited Disneyland in Anaheim on her honeymoon in 2000.
Her family says she suffered a brain hemorrhage after riding the Indiana Jones Adventure, which simulates an off-road jeep ride. She died a few months later.
Barry Novack, a lawyer for Moreno's family, says passengers lack control over the rides, just like public transportation passengers, and they must rely on the operators to ensure their safety.
California law requires that a "common carrier" operator "use the utmost care and diligence" rather than "reasonable care," the standard that previously applied to Disneyland.
A Los Angeles trial judge initially dismissed the Moreno family's claim, ruling that the Legislature didn't intend for the common carrier standard to apply to amusement parks. A state appeals court in 2003 overturned that ruling.
Posted on Fri, Apr. 08, 2005
By Joyzelle Davis
Bloomberg News
Walt Disney Co., the world's largest theme park operator, is seeking to overturn a court ruling that the company says would apply public transportation safety standards to its roller coasters.
The case would also affect Six Flags' parks in California. Six Flags, which operates Magic Mountain and Marine World in California, and industry groups filed court papers supporting Disney's position.
California's Supreme Court heard arguments on whether Disney, and other theme park companies, should be held to the same heightened safety standards as train and bus operators. The case involves a 23-year-old woman who died after riding on the Indiana Jones Adventure at Disneyland.
If Disney loses, lawyers for injured riders may have an easier time getting their cases before a jury or negotiating settlements.
Richard Derevan, a lawyer for Disney, told the justices during the hearing that under the higher standard of care, "something could always be safer. The ride could be slower, the curves less sharp, the hills less steep. The ride may lose its purpose for being."
The case involves a claim filed by the estate of Cristina Moreno, a tourist from Spain who visited Disneyland in Anaheim on her honeymoon in 2000.
Her family says she suffered a brain hemorrhage after riding the Indiana Jones Adventure, which simulates an off-road jeep ride. She died a few months later.
Barry Novack, a lawyer for Moreno's family, says passengers lack control over the rides, just like public transportation passengers, and they must rely on the operators to ensure their safety.
California law requires that a "common carrier" operator "use the utmost care and diligence" rather than "reasonable care," the standard that previously applied to Disneyland.
A Los Angeles trial judge initially dismissed the Moreno family's claim, ruling that the Legislature didn't intend for the common carrier standard to apply to amusement parks. A state appeals court in 2003 overturned that ruling.
