Ticket evasion by tourists does not affect the safety and security obligations of amusement park operators

A few days ago, the Hetang District People's Court of Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, tried a dispute over the right to life, the right to health, and the right to body, and a man in Zhuzhou evaded a ticket to enter a scenic amusement park without permission, and because he was accidentally injured in riding the "Mount Vesuvius" roller coaster, he claimed compensation from the scenic amusement park. The court ruled in the first instance that the scenic amusement park should bear the main responsibility, and the scenic amusement park would pay Li a total of 98,567.36 yuan for medical expenses, transportation expenses, nursing expenses, medical assistive devices, lost work expenses and other expenses after deducting the fare evasion expenses of Li and others.

In May 2021, plaintiff Li and his friends and others evaded tickets to enter a scenic amusement park without purchasing tickets. When riding the "Mount Vesuvius" roller coaster, he was injured due to a violent collision between the body and protective equipment and seats, and was diagnosed by doctors as a T5 vertebral compression fracture, and the two operations cost a lot of medical expenses. Li then sued the scenic amusement park to the court, demanding compensation. During the trial, the defendant Scenic Amusement Park replied that Li and others entered the scenic amusement park without purchasing tickets, and there was no tourism service contract relationship between them and the scenic amusement park. Scenic amusement equipment in line with national safety standards, regular inspection, has clearly informed tourists of the matters that need attention, fulfilled the corresponding safety protection obligations, Li mou injury is caused by his own major fault, so should not bear the corresponding compensation liability, request the court to reject the plaintiff's litigation claim according to law.

After trial, the court held that although Li did not purchase tickets to enter the scenic amusement park, the scenic amusement park, as a public place, had the obligation to ensure the personal and property safety of tourists in the scenic amusement park. In this case, the scenic amusement park did not timely discover and prevent Li and others who did not purchase tickets from entering, and before the "Mount Vesuvius" roller coaster project was launched, the staff did not check whether Li and other tourists were wearing relevant protective measures correctly, so that Li's body was injured due to a violent collision with protective equipment and seats, and there was a fault. In view of the fact that Li Mou himself was also at fault, the court made the above judgment in accordance with the law.

Source: People's Court Daily