When it comes to events, there is no better place in the world to be than New York.
However, concerts, festivals, and sporting events all present risks of serious injuries. After sustaining an injury at a large public event, it can be challenging to determine who is at fault. The venue’s owner? Its management? The person who harmed you? Or some combination of these?
Working with a New York personal injury attorney can help you answer these questions and ensure that your legal rights are upheld.
At Buttafuoco & Associates, we often handle complex cases where multiple parties are at fault. If you have questions about whether you can file a lawsuit after an event injury, get in touch for a free consultation at 1-800-NOW-HURT.
What Types of Injuries are Common at Events?
Events in New York often involve large gatherings of people, which–when combined with alcohol, heated emotions, or even excitement–naturally result in safety issues.
Crowd Crushing
When thousands of people are packed into a small space, whether that’s at a World Cup soccer match, a Beyonce concert, or a widely-attended festival, crowd crushing injuries such as suffocation, trampling, or other serious harms often occur. When a huge crowd pushes toward the stage, even strong security sometimes cannot prevent people from becoming injured.
Unfortunately, large events are often understaffed, and even if that is not the case, staff can make mistakes. Management must also be clear-headed enough to stop a show or take action when a crowd becomes dangerous.
Slips and Falls
Slips and falls are among the most common types of accidents at events.
In a crowd, refreshments are frequently bumped and spilled, resulting in slippery floors. If a slick spot is not quickly cleaned up and someone slips, it can lead to sprains, broken limbs, concussions, and worse.
At outdoor festivals, muddy spots can also quickly become slippery hazards–and in this case, they cannot be easily cleaned up. Other surfaces can also be dangerous: cracked asphalt in parking lots, uneven flooring, and potholes can all be dangerous, especially if they are paired with insufficient lighting.
Proving fault in situations like these can be challenging, so working with a New York slip and fall attorney can be helpful.
Parking Lot Crashes
From pedestrians walking to a festival venue to hordes of cars backing out or rushing to leave at the end of a concert, parking lots are danger zones. Car accidents themselves often happen due to intoxicated attendees–whether they are drivers or pedestrians.
Equipment Collapses
Stages and other temporary constructions often erected at events are prone to collapse, especially in bad weather accompanied by high winds. Venue equipment is heavy, and a crash can result in various types of falling debris, leaving many people injured at once.
Event organizers, managers, and workers must recognize the impact that shifting weather can have on safety and work to prevent it. Otherwise they may be liable for your injuries.
Heat-Related Illnesses
A variety of heat-related illnesses can make an appearance at a concert, festival, or sporting event. At hot outdoor venues or crowded indoor events, temperatures can skyrocket quickly, resulting in dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Large crowds can also prevent medical attention from being quickly received, causing life-threatening illnesses.
Who is Liable for Events Injuries?
Who is liable for an event injury in any situation depends on the specific incident at hand, and often involves multiple people. Keeping events safe requires multiple trained parties, carefully considered logistics, and organized team work. If any one party fails, safety can swiftly become an issue.
Much of the responsibility for any event’s safety falls on event organizers. These are the people who are tasked with hiring sufficient security, providing venue inspections, selling appropriate numbers of tickets for the venue size, and ensuring that venues have emergency procedures in place.
Venue owners also must ensure that their premises are reasonably safe, warn attendees about dangers, and ensure that all structures are up to safety code. If a hazardous condition occurs, owners must take care of it in a timely manner. If they fail to do this, they can be held liable for an accident.
It is also the job of security personnel to prevent accidents, fights, and other injuries as much as possible, and respond appropriately if an accident does happen. If security fails to do their job and someone is harmed in a fight or other preventable accident, the security personnel may be considered liable.
Likewise, security companies themselves must hire experienced workers and provide proper training or risk facing legal responsibility for accidents.
Event attendees also owe each other a duty of care and must avoid causing injuries due to negligence. Drunk, reckless, or other bad behavior that results in injuries can result in lawsuits.
Performers themselves–as well as their crews–owe a duty of care to their audiences to keep them safe from accidents, and they must behave safely and responsibly. Finally, anyone who erects stages, booths, or tents can be held responsible if their equipment or structure breaks and causes injuries.
As you can see, there are many moving parts to large events, so the responsible party in the case of an accident can sometimes be challenging to pinpoint. If you believe you have been injured due to another’s negligence, a New York personal injury attorney may be worth speaking to.
What About Waivers?
When you buy a ticket to an event, there is usually fine print in the form of a waiver that states that when you purchase a ticket, you are aware that there are inherent risks associated with attending the event. Waivers also include clauses that victims will not pursue legal action against organizers for injuries, even if someone else is at fault.
It makes sense that many people who are harmed at a ticketed event assume that they cannot possibly sue because they have agreed to a waiver.
However, this is not necessarily the case. While minor negligence that results in minor injuries may be covered by a waiver, these documents do not protect organizers from serious recklessness, intentional harm, or gross negligence that causes injuries.
Waivers can always be challenged, and depending on the circumstances of your situation, you may still be able to file a lawsuit and claim damages.
When Should I Contact an Attorney?
If you have been injured due to someone else’s negligence at a concert, festival, or sporting event, it may be useful to get in touch with a New York personal injury attorney for a consultation. At Buttafuoco & Associates, we fight for the rights of injured parties who have been harmed by another’s negligence. Consultations are always free.
To learn more about your rights, call 1-800-NOW-HURT.
