Posted on 05/04/2005 1:57:52 PM PDT by Abathar
SANTA CLAUS, Ind. -- The father of a woman who was killed when she fell off a southern Indiana roller coaster has sued the amusement park, claiming it was negligent.
Park officials said Tamar Fellner died after falling from a Holiday World roller coaster in May 2003. Officials concluded that she stood up while the ride was moving.
The federal lawsuit comes almost two years after officials concluded no criminal charges should be filed because Tamar Fellner fell out when she stood up while the ride was moving at Holiday World.
Fellner, 32, of New York City, was among a group of roller-coaster enthusiasts who visited the park in Santa Claus on May 31, 2003. She was seated in the last row of the six-car train on the wooden roller coaster, The Raven, at the park some 40 miles east of Evansville.
Park officials said she fell from the ride while it was in the midst of a 69-foot drop. Witnesses told investigators they saw Fellner standing up in the car as it neared the drop. They also found her seat belt unbuckled when the car returned to the station.
An investigation showed her seat belt and lap bar were buckled and locked when she started the ride. An independent company, LeisureTech Services of Wildwood, N.J., also concluded that Fellner standing during the ride was the only factor contributing to her fall.
But the lawsuit filed Monday on behalf of Fellner's father, Rabbi Azriel Fellner, alleges the amusement park failed to ensure the woman was properly restrained and that the manufacturer could have used a safer design.
"The cars on roller coasters should be designed in such a way that nobody should be able to fall from them," Azriel Fellner's attorney Keith Vonderahe said. "If they're designed that way, then the (staff) at the park have to make sure that people use them properly."
Named as defendants were Koch Development Corp. of Santa Claus, which does business as Holiday World & Splashin' Safari, and the roller coaster car's manufacturer, Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters Inc. It does not demand a specific amount in damages but says they exceed $75,000.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania because the car's manufacturer is based in Hatfield, Pa.
After her death, the coaster was inspected and no mechanical deficiencies were found, Holiday World president William Koch said.
"We continue to extend our heartfelt sympathy to the Fellner family," said Koch, whose family has operated the amusement park since 1946. "This was a tragedy."
Vonderahe said the fall was an accident, but a preventable one.
When the first lawyer was vomited up from Hell itself.
Man! The more I read, the more I begin to think Darwin was correct!
Unbelievable!
""When the first lawyer was vomited up from Hell itself.""
Is that where they come from? I always thought they came from unprotected anal sex myself.
This is a local, family owned amusement park. Some moron decides to do something suicidal and the family expects somebody to pay for it. I wish some judges would grow some ____ and start awarding damages to the defendants in these kinds of cases. In my opinion the park was financially damaged by the publicity from the death. The woman's estate should cover that cost.
We have a society that needs to blame someone (anyone) else and never admit personal responsibility. That is compounded in this case by the fact that her father suffered a terrible loss and doesn't want to see his daughter's fault so he's going to blame anyone he can.
A 32-year-old who stands up on amusement park rides?
It would be like someone that gets out of the driver's seat of a moving vehicle and get's on the roof and kills themselves, then mom and pop come along and sue the automaker claiming they should make a way so "stupid" people shouldn't be able to climb out of the car while it's moving LOL :) :) :)
Agree completely! - We need tort reform in the vein of....what you sue for...if you lose....you pay to the person you sued!
I fail to see what more they could have done to prevent this idiot from undoing her safety belt and standing up, short of chaining her to the seat and locking it.
But they couldn't do that, because being locked into your seat, unable to release it in case of a different kind of accident, would be a much worse safety hazard.
Ergo, there was nothing more they could possibly be expected to do in this case.
This was a local, family owned amusement park. Now it's a bloodsucking-attorney-owned amusement park.
Wonder what was going through her mind as she was sailing through the air? /Sarcasm
I beg to differ with you, Sir- I must significantly differ with you.
Lawyers pre-date Hell, you do you think drew up the contracts for its construction?
Sadly ironic name.
"Hey, watch this!"
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