http://www.courttv.com/news/2005/081...r-a-c_ctv.html

Does this mean a few years from now if i develope back or neck problems i can sue PKI for SOB

What a crock of...........

By Emanuella Grinberg

A Mississippi electrician who brought his family to singer Dolly Parton's namesake amusement park for a vacation says his Smoky Mountain adventure ended in severe brain damage.

Arthur Miller, who visited the Pigeon Forge, Tenn., theme park in 2000, is seeking $20 million in damages from Dollywood and Dolly Parton Productions stemming from his ill-fated jaunt on the Blazing Fury, an indoor roller coaster that takes passengers through an Old West town "with great speed," according to Dollywood's Web site.

A suit filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville last week alleges that the defendants took inadequate measures to warn riders that "the unexpected turns and drops occurred in the dark and with such severity that a rider's head or neck could be snapped or whipped in such a way as to cause brain damage or stroke."

"It's a complicated case because of the medical injuries involved," said Mark Gratz, the plaintiff's attorney. "It took some heavy hitters to analyze the medical records."

Miller's lawyers say the aggressive twists and turns caused his neck to pop and are to blame for the vertigo and nausea that he developed immediately following the ride.

Almost five years later, Miller claims he is devoid of all sensory perception and motor skills and regularly experiences "debilitating strokes."

Miller's wife, who is also a plaintiff in the suit, is seeking an extra $2 million for the loss of her husband's consortium and other "tangible benefits" including "love, affection, attention, caring and companionship."

Miller's lawyers say the oversight makes the suit a flashpoint for the largely unregulated nature of amusement park rides.

"It's not just about the failure to warn about the ride, but the failure to maintain the ride," said co-counsel George Dent. "The industry has ignored this risk and wants it to go away."

In fact, soon after Miller's injury occurred, U.S. Rep. Edward Mackey (D-Mass.) instigated a congressional hearing on amusement park ride safety.

In Tennessee, where tourist-attracting businesses such as Dollywood have revitalized local economies and where a former amusement park manager was recently convicted of homicide for a visitor's death, State Rep. Richard Montgomery has been pushing for new safety legislation for years.

"We needed to develop a board to provide oversight and make sure that the laws we passed were being enforced," Montgomery said.

New laws, which go into effect January, will require parks to prove they have $1 million insurance policies before an independent safety inspection of the specific ride can go forward, or else the ride may not operate.

A spokesperson for Dollywood said the park denies Miller's claims and remains proud of its role as an industry leader in terms of safety.

"Our rides are monitored continuously and meticulously throughout the year, whether the park is opened or closed," said spokesman Pete Owens.

Owens said he is unaware of any previous injury involving the Blazing Fury, which he said predates Dollywood's buyout of the amusement park property 20 years ago.

He also said Dollywood has been cited on numerous occasions for going beyond the industry standards set by American Society of Testing for Testing Materials, which provides independent testing of its rides each year.

"On the Smoky Mountain train ride, we make adults sit on the outside seat and the kids on the inside, even though we are not required to," Owens said.

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2009 Carolina Cobra Crew
Go Panthers! 4-6: Week 12 @ New York Jets

#6 North Carolina Tarheels 4-1

Wow...5 years later and he's suing. The ride is a little snappy, but I highly doubt enough to give him this. I mean the drop is like 25 feet high and the ride goes like maybe 30 mph for like less then 5 seconds. There are way more worse roller coasters out there than this one....geese. THis is just great press for the park.

If this mans claims were true then I shouldn't even be able to type!!! I have ridden Blazing Fury tons of times. If they call 20mph "fast" then I'd hate to see his reaction after riding Kingda Ka.

What a rediculous case. I hope the judge throws it out.

If it was true then he would have sued them that same year or soon after. They are just looking for money.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

Well, chalk up another one to greed!

I really don't mind all of the frivolous lawsuits, really. I just want there to be something to lose for the plaintiff and his attorneys when they're proven to be greedy gold-diggers.

Say, you file a dubious lawsuit, and if you lose- you're burned at the stake. And your lawyers, too.

What losers. Just a get rich quick scheme.

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator
My neighbor got a big new house, and all I got was his lousy payments

My mom actually did rupture a disk in her back on the Shockwave at SFGAm. Did we sue...? NO! Are we greedy b..tards...? NO!

She did get to avoid surgery because PC's Hurler popped something back in to place.

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^ Cephas, I love a happy ending!!

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ThrillNetwork Lead Moderator
My neighbor got a big new house, and all I got was his lousy payments

^^Yea, what a good example. If one coaster breaks it, the another will fix it.

People get hurt on other coatsers, and they don't always do something about it, especially on a ride like this. I would be embarassed to say I got severely hurt on a tiny coaster actually.

So if people over react at this rate, then someone will probably sue someone because they like the color blue for crying out loud!!!!

I bet this guy heard about the law suit over that flat ride in Pigeon Forge and said to himself "Hey, Dollywood is near there. Let's sue them!"

I just find it very hard to believe that someone would wait 5 years to sue over something like this.

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Intimidator Coming in 2010 to Carowinds!

^^ 2 words for the Mississippi people in this article. "WHITE TRASH"!!

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Thats really funny Cephas. Happy ending indeed; and people say Hurler is no good.

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2009 Carolina Cobra Crew
Go Panthers! 4-6: Week 12 @ New York Jets

#6 North Carolina Tarheels 4-1

The article also forgot to mention other damages, including: Inability to ride a tractor, chew tobacco, make love to his barnyard animals, shoot off fireworks in a drunken stupor or attend NASCAR races.

Can you tell I think this is crap and I hate people who do frivolous this?

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Bryan Wood Thrillnetwork Database Admin and review writer extraordinare

I fell off my scooter 3-5 years ago and I knocked out a tooth. I think Ill sue Razor for making them able to fall down easily... Thes stupid lawsuits are so dumb...

he wont get the money, period. he A) waited too long and B) is asking for too much money.

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