January 30, 2011 (Press-News.org) Like others around the country, some Colorado ski resorts are on the defensive before this year's winter sports season gets underway. There have been a spate of lawsuits against ski resorts in recent years by patrons who were injured on the slopes while skiing, snowboarding or snowmobiling in spite of the fact that boilerplate waivers appear on the back of nearly every single ski lift pass printed in the country.
The resorts argue that these fine-print waivers protect them from liability, but some courts have seen things differently. Several noteworthy personal injury cases against ski areas and winter sports lodges have been decided recently, and they show a common theme: a "one-size-fits-all" waiver is not sufficient to protect a ski resort from liability caused by when there is a lack of ordinary care. In short, a simple waiver is not a get out of jail free card - ski resort owners, like owners of all businesses, must still exercise care to keep their land safe and passable for customers.
Ski Safety Is Nothing New
Issues about the safety of guests at ski resorts and snow lodges have been on the legislative radar for years. In fact, 27 states have laws specifically addressing ski safety. These laws are aimed at protecting skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers, arctic walkers and snowshoers enjoying nature in the brisk winter air, making sure that resort owners maintain their property in a responsible manner. Even so, snowboarders typically have to sign waivers before they are allowed to hit the slopes, and those aforementioned ski lift pass liability disclaimers are used at nearly every resort or ski slope in the country.
Some things that ski resort owners and lodges should do to keep visitors safe:
- Clearly mark boundaries, especially on snowboarding areas -- failing to do so can result in a skier or boarder heading right off the edge of a cliff, a tragic scenario seen in several cases in the past few years
- Erect and maintain barriers to keep patrons separated from roadways, culverts, chasms and cliffs
- Make reasonable efforts to keep the slopes free from obstructions -- this rule arises from what most legal experts consider to be the precedent-setting ski safety case of James Sunday; Mr. Sunday was seriously injured when the tip of his ski got caught on a bush buried under the snow on a so-called "bunny hill" at a Vermont resort
- Post warning signs of natural dangers like falling ice, sliding snow or the possibility of avalanches
- Keep slopes, jumps, moguls and landing areas well-groomed and maintained to minimize the chance of catastrophic falls
In spite of your own best efforts to stay safe, it is still possible that you will be injured while enjoying a day on the slopes. If you or a loved one has been hurt because of the negligence of a ski resort or lodge owner, contact an experienced personal injury attorney in your area today to learn more about your legal rights.
Article provided by Gerash Steiner & Toray, P.C.
Visit us at www.gerashtoray.com
Boilerplate Waivers No Longer Enough to Keep Ski Resorts Safe From Injury Claims?
Several noteworthy personal injury cases against ski areas and winter sports lodges have shown that a "one-size-fits-all" waiver is not sufficient to protect a ski resort from liability.
2011-01-30
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Sleep Deprivation and Patient Safety
2011-01-30
According to the Society of Actuaries, medical mistakes cost the U.S. economy over $19.5 billion in 2008. During that year, the report estimates that medical mistakes caused over 1.5 million injuries, resulting in 2,500 estimated deaths. Though the causes for mistakes vary, doctor fatigue has often been cited as a major factor in medical errors.
In a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the authors cite studies which show an increased risk of complications for patients who undergo elective procedures performed by a sleep-deprived doctor. ...
Finding the Right Type of Consumer Bankruptcy for You
2011-01-30
In 2010, more than 1.5 million Americans filed for bankruptcy protection- a 9% increase over the previous year and the highest rate of filings since the new bankruptcy laws went into effect in 2005. While the states with the highest rates of bankruptcy remained in the Southwestern and Southeastern parts of the country, states in the Northeast still saw increases in the number of bankruptcy filings in 2010. For example, in Rhode Island more than 4,100 people filed for consumer bankruptcy protection last year and Massachusetts added another 17,700 filers.
High rates of ...
Preserving the Principles of Fair Trial in a 24/7 Video World
2011-01-30
Aldous Huxley spoke of a "brave new world," Marshall McLuhan said "the medium is the message," and Orwell of course warned of Big Brother. For all their insights, however, none of these twentieth-century thinkers -- not even Orwell -- remotely anticipated the advent of the 24/7 video technology that permeates our culture today. We are awash in images that, without the proper safeguards, threaten to undermine long-held principles at the foundation of the criminal justice system.
Courtroom Video Evidence and Avoiding Undue Prejudice
For decades, the courtroom has been ...
IRS Commissioner Warns of Additional Offshore-Account Investigations
2011-01-30
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner, Doug Shulman, said the IRS is further targeting offshore accounts. At an international tax symposium in December, Shulman also stated that the agency is "seriously considering" another amnesty period for people with undeclared offshore accounts to voluntarily come forward.
Targeting Offshore Accounts
Following the IRS's investigation of Swiss banking giant UBS, Shulman reported that the agency will continue to fight tax evasion by addressing instances of offshore tax evasion and "leveraging the data we receive to mount ...
Governor Rendell Vetoes Popular Firefighter Bill
2011-01-30
On November 27, Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell put an end to the hopes of firefighters across the state when he vetoed HB 1231, a bill that would have expanded the types of cancer considered occupational diseases for firefighters under the state's workers' compensation programs. The Governor's veto was made despite the popularity of the bill - it passed through the House unanimously and through the Senate just as overwhelmingly with a 45-4 vote.
The potentially high costs to the municipalities paying for workers' compensation coverage for professional and volunteer firefighters ...
Utah Statewide Spice Ban Expected to Pass 2011 Legislative Session
2011-01-30
The Utah state legislative session will soon commence for the 2011 session. One of the items on the agenda -- addressing a statewide ban on spice.
The bill, sponsored by Representative Gage Froere (R-Hundsville), plans to limit the manufacture, distribution and possession of the increasingly popular herbal substance known as spice.
Made of dried weeds and flowers and marketed for use as incense, the public started taking note when teens began smoking the herbal blend. Some say the need for regulation is vital because of the dangers associated with smoking spice. Because ...
A New Spin on Blended Families
2011-01-30
The scenario of two families harmoniously melding into one new entity, just like the Brady Bunch, usually differs from the reality most step and non-traditional families experience.
Family therapists have long recognized the unrealistic idea the term "blended family" puts forward and the term has mostly fallen out of favor. It conjures up the vision of unrelated children seamlessly coming together into a family headed by two parents, one of whom is often largely unknown to the children.
The reality is that life in a blended family is not always rosy. Demographers ...
Study Exposes Ongoing Hospital Safety Risks
2011-01-30
Hospitals are facilities where ill and injured people should feel they are receiving the best possible care for their conditions. Unfortunately, a 1999 study found that medical mistakes were responsible for 98,000 deaths and more than 1 million injuries per year. This shocked the public and led many to perceive hospitals as hazardous to your health.
Since 1999, states, hospitals and patient advocates have been more involved in efforts to reduce medical errors and improve patient safety and health. Despite these efforts, the movement for patient safety has not produced ...
Disability Discrimination in the Workplace on the Rise
2011-01-30
2010 saw a drastic increase in the number of workplace disability discrimination claims. According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency received a record 100,000 complaints of disability discrimination in 2010, a 17% increase over the previous year.
The rise in claims was attributed in part to amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that went into effect in 2009. Under the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, Congress increased the scope of qualifying disabilities to make it easier for individuals to receive protection under the important ...
Land of the Free, Home of the Surveilled?
2011-01-30
Government investigations always demand a balancing of interests. While we want investigators to monitor those who seek to harm others, we expect that we have certain privacy protections. We want the reassurances that our government is doing everything possible to prevent terrorist attacks, but we don't want the government to invade the privacy of law-abiding citizens.
Over the past decade, our government has assembled the most technologically sophisticated system for collecting information about Americans in the country's history, according to the Washington Post. Combining ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Medigap protection and plan switching among Medicare advantage enrollees with cancer
Bubbles are key to new surface coating method for lightweight magnesium alloys
Carbon stable isotope values yield different dietary associations with added sugars in children compared to adults
Scientists discover 230 new giant viruses that shape ocean life and health
Hurricanes create powerful changes deep in the ocean, study reveals
Genetic link found between iron deficiency and Crohn’s disease
Biologists target lifecycle of deadly parasite
nTIDE June 2025 Jobs Report: Employment of people with disabilities holds steady in the face of uncertainty
Throughput computing enables astronomers to use AI to decode iconic black holes
Why some kids respond better to myopia lenses? Genes might hold the answer
Kelp forest collapse alters food web and energy dynamics in the Gulf of Maine
Improving T cell responses to vaccines
Nurses speak out: fixing care for disadvantaged patients
Fecal transplants: Promising treatment or potential health risk?
US workers’ self-reported mental health outcomes by industry and occupation
Support for care economy policies by political affiliation and caregiving responsibilities
Mailed self-collection HPV tests boost cervical cancer screening rates
AMS announces 1,000 broadcast meteorologists certified
Many Americans unaware high blood pressure usually has no noticeable symptoms
IEEE study describes polymer waveguides for reliable, high-capacity optical communication
Motor protein myosin XI is crucial for active boron uptake in plants
Ultra-selective aptamers give viruses a taste of their own medicine
How the brain distinguishes between ambiguous hypotheses
New AI reimagines infectious disease forecasting
Scientific community urges greater action against the silent rise of liver diseases
Tiny but mighty: sophisticated next-gen transistors hold great promise
World's first practical surface-emitting laser for optical fiber communications developed: advancing miniaturization, energy efficiency, and cost reduction of light sources
Statins may reduce risk of death by 39% for patients with life-threatening sepsis
Paradigm shift: Chinese scientists transform "dispensable" spleen into universal regenerative hub
Medieval murder: Records suggest vengeful noblewoman had priest assassinated in 688-year-old cold case
[Press-News.org] Boilerplate Waivers No Longer Enough to Keep Ski Resorts Safe From Injury Claims?Several noteworthy personal injury cases against ski areas and winter sports lodges have shown that a "one-size-fits-all" waiver is not sufficient to protect a ski resort from liability.