Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Sea recently added a new attraction – The Sky Pad. The Sky Pad is advertised as an “out-of-this-world bungee trampoline experience.” Unfortunately, the Sky Pad has had its share of problems. Most recently, a 26-year-old man suffered severe injuries when his bungee snapped, causing him to fall 20 feet to the hard cruise ship deck below him.
The man is disabled and confined to a wheelchair for the immediate future thanks to a nasty hip injury. He’s filed a $10 million personal injury lawsuit against the popular cruise ship company. The lawsuit claims that the cruise ship’s staff weren’t properly trained to operate the new attraction. Their negligence, his attorneys argue, may have cost him his life as he knew it.
Cruise Ships Can Be Liable for Injuries On Board
Cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean, have an obligation to make sure that your stay aboard their ship is a safe one. In recent years, many ships have added new attractions to make time at sea more enjoyable for guests. Some liners have pools and water slides, and others have virtual reality trampoline bungee courses.
You wouldn’t go to an amusement park and trust anyone to operate a rollercoaster or ride. You’d only trust a staff member who’s received training and knows how to run the ride safely. The same is true when you’re on board a cruise ship. The staff on board a cruise ship has to know how to maintain and operate these attractions correctly. They have to know how the attraction works and what to do if something goes wrong. If a company doesn’t train its staff members, cruise ship accidents can happen.
A cruise line may be considered negligent if a guest is injured while using an attraction if:
- The attraction was not installed, inspected, or maintained properly; or
- Cruise ship staff didn’t know how to operate the attraction safely.
Negligence means that the cruise ship had a duty to protect guests but failed. Here, the 26-year-old man claims that the staff members on board the Mariner of the Sea weren’t adequately trained to run the trampoline bungee course. As a result, his bungee snapped and he sustained a life-changing injury. He wants the cruise line to take responsibility for their lack of care and failure to train their employees correctly. He asserts that this failure was a substantial factor in his injury.
Cruise Ship Victims Entitled to Compensation For Present, Future Damages
When you’re injured on board a cruise ship in Miami, you might be entitled to monetary damages from the cruise line. In most cases, two types of damages are typically available: economic and non-economic.
Economic Damages
Economic damages help to compensate for verifiable and projected financial costs related to an injury. These include things like medical bills, rehabilitation costs, and lost wages. Economic damages can be paid to cover expenses and losses incurred today, as well as reasonably calculated future losses.
Here, let’s say the 26-year-old cruise ship victim is never able to return to work in the same capacity because of his hip injury. As a result, his ability to generate an income and earn a living will be compromised. He can ask to have the cruise line compensate him for his reduced earning capacity. They can be forced to pay him the difference in what he would have been able to earn without the injury and what he’ll be able to earn while disabled.
Non-Economic Damages
Non-economic damages help to compensate for injuries that are intimate, personal, and hard to put in terms of dollars and cents. These include things like pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. Valuing non-economic damages can be tough. It often depends on the severity of an injury and how that injury impacts each particular victim.
Here, the 26-year-old was described as a “super athletic, active individual.” He loved sports and recreation and spent his spare time enjoying the outdoors. Thanks to his injury, he may never be able to enjoy those things in the same capacity ever again. That may leave him depressed and upset with life. He can demand compensation for these non-financial losses. His attorneys will work with experts to calculate precisely how much these non-economic losses are worth. For assistance, if you’ve been injured on a cruise ship, contact Lavent Law, P.A. today for immediate help. Our Miami cruise ship accident lawyers are available 24/7 to assist you.
Contact Our Boat Accident Law Firm in Miami, FL
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Miami, FL and need legal help, contact our Miami boat accident lawyers at Lavent Law Personal Injury Lawyer to schedule a free consultation.
Lavent Law Personal Injury Lawyer
17295 NE 19th Ave
North Miami Beach, FL 33162
(305) 257-9464