CASE SETTLED IN '01 FAIR INJURY CHILD FLUNG FROM RIDE TO GET UNDISCLOSED SUM.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer LANCASTER - An undisclosed settlement has been reached in a lawsuit filed by the parents of a boy who was injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. when flung from a carnival ride called the Wipeout at the 2001 Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Fair. The ride operator, Helm & Sons Inc. of Colton, agreed to settle the case but the terms of agreement were confidential, attorneys said. ``The settlement is with Helm & Sons, who operated the ride. They failed to properly secure the child in the ride and failed to make sure that the lap-belt restraint was properly engaged and that the child was not seated alone,'' said Thomas Peters The name Thomas Peters could refer to:
The settlement was reached last month. The lawsuit, filed last year, also named as defendants the ride manufacturer and the Antelope Valley Fair District. The manufacturer went bankrupt, and the fair will be dismissed from the lawsuit, Peters said. Piguet Johnson was flung off the spinning ride from a height of about 20 feet, and he suffered fractures of his right leg, nose and right hand. Piguet spent three days in the hospital, Peters said. The boy was ejected from the highest point of the ride, which spins passengers sitting in gondolas, tilting tilt 1 v. tilt·ed, tilt·ing, tilts v.tr. 1. To cause to slope, as by raising one end; incline: tilt a soup bowl; tilt a chair backward. 2. and lifting at the same time. Piguet, at the fair with his grandmother, got onto the ride with a friend about the same age. The children were placed in seats facing each other, Peters said. ``It was Helm & Sons policy and custom in the industry to have a nonsingle-rider policy where you don't put kids in a ride by themselves. You put them next to someone else who will prevent the child from pivoting pivoting said of the exercise demanded of a horse when testing a limb for weakness or lameness; the horse is forced to turn very tightly so that it actually pivots on the limb being examined. in the seat and (being) subject to being ejected,'' Peters said. ``Because it's a vigorous ride, the centrifugal force centrifugal force Fictitious force, peculiar to circular motion, that is equal but opposite to the centripetal force that keeps a particle on a circular path (see centripetal acceleration). and undulating motion of the ride caused him to pivot and his legs to come out from underneath the bar. This meant he was subject to ejection ejection /ejec·tion/ (e-jek´shun) 1. the act of casting out or the state of being cast out, as of excretions, secretions, or other bodily fluids. 2. something cast out. 3. ,'' Peters said. Karen Maeshiro, (661) 267-5744 karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion