Trampoline parks have grown in popularity in recent years, as fun places for kids and families to spend an afternoon or, perhaps, host a birthday party. However, these attractions can be dangerous if they are not properly designed, supervised, or maintained. As experienced personal injury attorneys, we have seen children and adults alike suffer catastrophic, life-changing injuries due to trampoline park negligence.  Many parents are often unaware of the dangers present when the trampoline park or equipment manufacturer(s) providing the jump equipment are negligent. This blog series will discuss the following different types of trampoline park negligence:

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1. Trampoline Park Injury Caused by Improperly Trained Staff
2. Trampoline Park Injury Caused by Defective or Improperly Installed/Maintained Equipment
3. Trampoline Park Injury Caused by Insufficient Staff Supervision
4. Trampoline Park Injury Caused by Failure to Warn or Enforce Safety Rules

Ways in Which a Trampoline Park Can Be Negligent:

Although jumping at a trampoline park comes with its own known risks, trampoline parks can be held liable for an injury you or your family suffers at the park if the park, or its staff, were negligent.  As we have explained previously, when a person or corporation is negligent, it means they had a duty to you—to provide a safe jump environment, for example—that they breached, and their failure to fulfill that duty caused your injury.  It is also important to understand how Florida's new comparative negligence law works. In the context of a trampoline park injury, if the park or its staff fails to meet certain standards of care and safety, and that negligence causes injuries or accidents, they can be found liable.  Here are some ways in which we have found a trampoline park might be considered negligent:

1.    Inadequate Staff Training: If the trampoline park fails to provide its staff with proper training, instructions, drills, or rules to enable them to adequately supervise and instruct jumpers how to use the equipment safely and/or respond to a dangerous or emergency situation, the trampoline park could be considered negligent.

2.    Defective or Improperly Installed/Maintained Equipment: If the equipment provided to the trampoline park is defective—meaning, it is not properly designed, or does not perform properly, to prevent injuries—the equipment manufacturer/distributor may be held liable.  However, even if equipment is defective, the trampoline park can still be found jointly liable if equipment such as trampoline beds, springs, or safety netting is not properly installed, inspected, or maintained as trampoline parks have a responsibility to regularly inspect and maintain their equipment.

3.    Insufficient Staff Supervision: Trampoline parks are responsible for ensuring that an adequate number of trained staff members are present at all times to supervise jumpers and enforce safety rules. Inadequate supervision can lead to unsafe behavior or delayed response to accidents.

4.     Failure to Warn or Enforce Safety Rules: Trampoline parks typically have rules and guidelines in place to ensure the safety of participants (e.g., limits on the number of jumpers per trampoline, restrictions on certain maneuvers). Negligence can occur if these warnings/rules are not enforced or communicated clearly to patrons.

How Can a Park Fail to Warn or Enforce Safety Rules and Who Makes That Determination?

Like other recreational facilities, trampoline parks have a duty to provide warnings and information to help ensure the safety of their patrons.  At a very minimum, this duty generally requires the park to provide:

1.     Clear Signage: Trampoline parks should post clear, visible signs that outline potential risks and safety rules. This includes warnings about the risks of jumping, potential injuries, and instructions for safe use of equipment; and

2.     Safety Instructions: Parks should also provide verbal or written safety instructions either upon entry or before using the facilities. This might include rules about the appropriate way to use trampolines, how many jumpers are permitted on an apparatus at a time, prohibited behaviors, and guidance on how to avoid common injuries.

Many trampoline parks also require patrons to sign liability waivers before using the facilities. Although these waivers often include information about the inherent risks of trampoline use and serve as a formal acknowledgment of those risks, they are not bulletproof and may not be enforceable depending on the circumstances.  We have discussed the enforceability of waivers involving a child here.  If a trampoline park fails to act reasonably in creating the safety rules necessary to allow jumpers to play safely, posting the rules in a manner that is conspicuous to all patrons and easy to understand, training staff on enforcing the safety rules, and ensuring patrons are adequately warned about the safety rules, it can be considered negligent if any of these failures causes an injury. 

Whether a party is negligent in certain circumstances is always a tedious fact-intensive inquiry, but the beauty of our civil justice system is that the answer to that question is determined by people and parents just like you.  And people expect a trampoline park that is accepting payment to invite members of the public in to safely use their trampolines and other apparatuses, to act reasonably when informing patrons about their safety rules and enforcing them to ensure all jumpers are conducting themselves safely and avoiding dangerous behavior.

How a Trampoline Park's Failure to Warn or Enforce Safety Rules Can Cause Injury

Here is one example.  Let's assume Bethany, an eleven-year-old girl and first-time jumper at the trampoline park, has decided to join a line for the “Slam Dunk” apparatus, where jumpers bounce on a trampoline and shoot a basketball into a hoop before landing in a foam pit.  Jumpers are allowed to flip into the pit while attempting to make their shot and even grab the hoop after dunking if they are able.  However, no one is allowed to jump into the pit until the last jumper has cleared the pit.  Neither Bethany nor any jumper in the line were told this rule before stepping up to slam their ball and jump into the pit.  Although there is a sign advising jumpers not to jump into the pit until the last jumper has exited the pit, it was covered up that morning by an employee who stacked some landing pads in front of it, blocking it from view. 

The trampoline park employee supervising Slam Dunk was not enforcing the rule requiring the previous jumper to clear the pit before the next jumper enters, and she instructed the jumper after Bethany to jump.  When he did, he landed on top of Bethany in the pit, causing her to suffer a broken tibia.  In this scenario, we would ask the jury to find the trampoline park was negligent in many ways: 1) failing to verbally instruct Bethany and the other jumpers about the “one jumper at a time” on the Slam Dunk apparatus; 2) covering up the sign informing patrons of this rule; 3) failing to notice the sign was covered up for hours and remove the pads blocking the sign; and 4) failing to enforce the safety rule by prohibiting the jumper after Bethany from jumping into the foam pit while she was still in it and, therefore, in danger.   As we have explained previously, like any other corporation, trampoline parks can be held “vicariously liable” for the negligent actions of their employees, a concept we have defined and explained in our Glossary of Personal Injury Terms.

If You've Been Injured at a Trampoline Park – Know Your Rights

Trampoline parks can appear to be fun, adventurous places to spend a few hours, particularly on rainy or bad weather days.  However, the dangers are quite real, and the injuries can be expensive and potentially life-changing.  If you or your child has sustained a trampoline park injury, you may be able to seek compensation.  You should contact an experienced personal injury attorney like our attorneys at Taylor, Warren, Weidner, Hancock & Barnes, to discuss your case, your rights, and understand what steps you should take to preserve your claim.  We never require any fee, cost, or obligation to talk about your case and answer your questions.  Contact us.