In what must be bad news for Disneyland, a jury on a wrongful death case will be allowed to hear how Disney changed an attraction after a Brazilian woman suffered a brain anueyrism and died after riding. The attraction, in this case is the Indiana Jones Adventure. A motion simulator attraction that jars people around as it travels through space in a giant show building. Disney has not admitted to making the changes for safety reasons, but now that will be up to the jury to decide.
This case is a test on Disney’s standards of care for negligence. A recent court ruling stated that Disney attractions had to maintain the same standards of care as a public bus. If that’s upheld in this case, I have to wonder how long Disney will be able to maintain any of its e-Ticket type attractions. (Read)
Interesting. Being a former attorney in New Jersey, I know the laws of our state do not allow subsequent remedial measures (i.e. “fixing” something after someone allegedly gets hurt by/on/because of it) to be considered by a jury as to any negligence which may have caused the injury in the first place.
Simply stated, a juror can’t say that just because something was modified or repaired after an accident, that it was definitely the cause of the accident/injury int he first place.
I’m assuming by this ruling that the laws of California may be different, but wonder how much weight a Judge will instruct jurors to place on this evidence.
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