Kid Play Places-Are These Waivers for Real??

I've heard several times from several people over several years that these sort of waivers aren't "worth the paper they're written on." If you're concerned I suggest that you ask an attorney. If you do so, perhaps you could tell us what you learn.

I makes sense to me that if they're negligent that you could sue in spite of the waiver. It sounds like they're also saying that they won't be responsible which means to me that they won't pay medical bills even. I don't remember seeing this part of the waiver in any other wavers.

Whether or not I signed and used the facility would probably depend on their reputation.

Those liability waivers aren't worth the paper they're printed on!
Gray areas include: parents right to dign away another persons liability benefits, gross negligence on behalf of the facility, etc.
If, God forbid, a tragic accident impacts a child, those mass waivers are easily attacked by a competent attorney.
There have been cases where a parent didn't sue, but the child, later at age 18, did.
I think what they really accomplish is making parents think teice about risks, age appropriateness of a venue, etc.

Yep...no loop holes, they paid their lawyers good and well to make sure you can't sue should any child get hurt while on their premises...sucks.

each and every parent must sign the waiver before the child is allowed to participate...

for a Paint Ball Party we attended - they were REALLY strict in age and such...

I have a friend who is the legal counsel for a large (very large) insurance underwriter. He's one of those who ought to know, because his company pays out when disaster strikes. He says that no waiver that you sign will actually release the company from complying with applicable federal, state, or local laws. If they were negligent, you can sue them and win, says he. Apparently the main reason insurance underwriters require this type of waiver is so that if the child is injured through no fault of the play place, you'll think twice before suing them, and you'll have a harder time winning. (Like if the child lands funny and sprains an ankle... that kind of stuff happens, but people would sue over it if they thought it would be an easy win.) We just had my daughter's birthday party a month ago at one of those places where they have wall-to-wall trampolines, and a surfing tank... same kind of crazy waiver. It's just keeping the honest people honest, is all.

If the waiver doesn't sit well with you, you'll have to find another place. Everywhere that DD might possibly get hurt has had a waiver for themselves. Now, I will say that that one is longer than some. I've never signed permission for DD to be photographed and used in promos. It was just participation.

1) ALL sports, camps, field trips, drama productions, ETC. have what I call (as a life long athlete)

"The Standard Injury, Maiming, & Death forms".

They're idiot clauses. A legal thing so that places can ONLY be sued for negligence, and not "But I didn't know that painting myself with blood and wrestling crocodiles in shark infested water was DANGEROUS!!! I'd never have let little Billy do that if Id known!!!" Thing is... Some people honestly don't think that falling off a horse, down a climbing wall, etc. can actually hurt kids. These forms tend to highlight common injuries (and then have a -may include but not limited to- part on the front).

S'why I just lump it all together and say "Injury, maiming, & death." Covers all bases.

They serve as "Informed Consent".

2) Its not legal to sign away your rights. You ALWAYS have the rights the state grants you.

3) Does NOT mean its illegal for them to ask you to sign, proving informed consent of the risks involved. You ARR required to sign if you want to play.

4) HOWEVER, to a degree, it protects the business... If you stub your toe or get a blister (dislocate a finger or sprain an ankle, pull your groin or spread leg a beam), something totally normal (for the sport, think the twisted ankle in soccer, finger in basketball, beam in gymnastics) /minor... No court is going to hold the company/league/etc. responsible. Minor & Normal = Informed Consent.

5) Where informed consent = jack all is
- improperly maintained equipment
- badly or untrained staff
- other gross negligence

Ex) Child gets teeth knocked out on school bus

- Parents responsible if child was out of seat, horsing around, or in any other way breaking the rules

- Parent responsible if kid pulled a R. and trips over own feet.

- Debateable responsibility if bus hits pothole, stops short to avoid collision, etc. / other standard road hazards where driver is being responsible, but injury still occurs.

- School responsible driver drunk/impaired/reckless/negligent

- School responsible if bus in disrepair.

- School MAY be responsible if another kid does it (only if there's history the driver or school knows about)

- Other driver responsible if another driver hits the school bus

WITHOUT THE FORM GIVING PERMISSION / INFORMED CONSENT the school would be liable in all cases.

______

And here's a noodle baker: Registering for K, I had to list a Nuclear Holocaust & Natural Disaster Guardian. Someone, out of state or country, that I named as legally able to collect my child if somehow the school survived nuclear attack, but no one else (local) survived or was reachable.

The principal had transferred from a hurricane zone, so this was HALFWAY reasonable. Sometimes no one in state can be reached. Having a guardian who can be called in is actually useful in hurricane, tornado, earthquake zones. That it was titled Nuclear Holocaust etc. though was ALMOST funny. Almost, because I was a new K parent, and overly paranoid!!! Lol.

I know that anybody can sue anybody. I asked a lawyer friend about this once. Especially if something goes before a jury and you have an injured child...well. Doesn't mean the person suing always wins, just that anybody can do it. Waiver or no waiver.

You can S. anyone for anything, no matter what you've signed. The form is an added defense for them to say "we told them so". Their negligence is not forgiven by you signing a form. I never read those things because they just don't matter.

These waviers are a result of accidents or incident that have happened in the past. The more they have had the longer the waiver.

My suggestion would be to find a different place or wait till he is older to go a place climber. No trying to find loopholes to get around anything. This is America the sue happy capital of the world.

The other S.

Depends on whether they just took one off the "rack" or if they actually had one drawn up by a lawyer. Loopholes in the "off the rack" but really it's a parent decision to sign or not to sign. I would personally rather be told up front..."there is going to be a waiver you must sign before entry"...at least then I can decline the invite or accept.

Doesn't bother me to sign it...if it's their negligence then they are out of guidelines, safety rules in the first place and probably not too reputable. Most of those places don't want to go out of business so they keep up to date on safety standards. At least the one near our house does. I had to read the rules one by one to my kids before they could even go into the bounce room.

I think...yes and no. They show you a 15 minute safety video, make you remove your shoes, and keep an attendant in the room with the party. I think they do what they can to keep everyone playing safe to reduce the number of accidents.

It all depends on the situation.

If the equipment was broken, unsafe and caused an accident, they could deny your claim all they want, but your insurance would likely challenge that.

On the other hand, if your child was climbing to the top of the equipment on the outside and was asked to get down and dad was standing there cheering him on and he falls and cracks his head. It is likely all claims would be denied.

Much like valet parking. If you hand the valet your keys and he hands you a claim ticket and then your car is stolen, the valet is likely responsible and I would challenge every one of their "not responsible" signs!

You'd better believe they're for real. If you don't want to sign change your plans. Oh, and these companies pay big bucks to their attorneys to make sure there's no loopholes, my attorney nephew will testify to that.

It's akin to the waivers of responsibility we sign in hospitals, businesses protecting themselves.