Duty to Control Personal Body Movements

I’m David Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Not too long ago there was a news report of a person injured when a costumed character at an amusement park knocked him over. The injured party sued and alleged that while he was bent over, tying his child’s shoelaces, a park employee dressed in a costume knocked him to a concrete sidewalk leading to broken teeth and a neck injury.

This type of injury is not as unusual as it might seem.

A person has a legal duty to use reasonable care to control their body movements to avoid slamming into another person and knocking them down.

The duty is similar to the obligation to use reasonable care to control a motor vehicle to avoid colliding with someone.

A person moving about near other people as a pedestrian must use similar due care to avoid striking another person and knocking them to the ground or otherwise hurting them.

A person employed by an amusement park to walk around in a costume and entertain has no less of a duty to exercise reasonable care to avoid colliding with and harming others in their immediate vicinity.

Wearing a costume, especially one that might interfere with the wearer’s vision, is not an excuse to injure someone.

Quite likely in the case described in the news, the amusement park that employed the costumed character would have an equal duty to manage the person employed to wear a costume.

That duty would include the obligation to train the individual wearing the costume and to make sure that they can see their surroundings (or supply someone to act as a spotter for them) so that they do not inadvertently strike others, or bump into them, or knock them over accidentally.

Frequently amusement parks will have a non-costumed individual spot for a costumed individual. The spotter will be tasked with assisting the employee in the costume to keep aware of his or her surroundings and help them avoid hurting someone. If the spotter fails to prevent an injury, the spotter might also be held responsible for injuries caused by the person in the costume.

The obligation to use reasonable care would apply not only in the setting of an amusement park but also in cases where, for example, a restaurant chain might choose to have someone dress up as a chicken and walk around holding a sign suggesting that customers should eat more beef or fish.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”