The parents of an 11-year-old girl who died after falling from a Ferris wheel last month have filed a wrongful death suit against the amusement park where the ride was located. The young girl’s untimely death and the tragic death of a 29-year-old veteran who suffered fatal injuries from a rollercoaster have put the safety of amusement park rides in the news.
The 11-year-old girl fell from the Great Wheel at Morey’s Mariner’s Landing Pier in New Jersey on June 3 at 12:30 p.m. The young girl died from her injuries at a local hospital a short time later.
The young girl was on a school field trip to the amusement park and boarded the Ferris wheel alone. According to the lawsuit the 11-year-old had never been on a Ferris wheel ride before and she was instructed to “get on the ride by herself.” The young girl was not told how to safely ride the Great Wheel and the amusement ride lacked proper safety restraints.
The New Jersey Department of Community Affairs oversees the safety of amusement park rides and according to the Department the cause of the fatal accident is unknown because there are not eye witnesses. In addition, a surveillance camera caught the image of the girl falling but failed to catch the young girl falling from the Ferris wheel gondola.
A report about the accident was issued by the state. The report said the 11-year-old was alone near the top of the 156-foot Ferris wheel close to the time she fell. The Ferris wheel does not have any lap bars or seat belts, but each gondola has steel bars that open inward and are secured on the outside.
Source: shorenewstoday.com, “Parents of girl killed in Ferris wheel accident sue Morey’s Piers,” Lauren Suit, 7/14/11
