| Can You Recover Damages for a Fireworks Injury?
Many of us look forward to celebrating the 4th of July Independence Day holiday by enjoying the day off, barbecuing and spending time with family. Some of us may even attend a fireworks show or shoot off a few fireworks ourselves. We get it – fireworks are fun. Unfortunately, they are also extremely dangerous, sending hundreds of people to the emergency room every year from burns, loss/amputation of an appendage or limb, eye injuries and more. The Division of Fire Safety has some great tips for safety when shooting off fireworks, such as only purchasing fireworks from licensed vendors, only lighting one firework at a time and not saving fireworks from season to season. If observing a fireworks show, opt for seating further away and keep an eye on any embers that fall nearby, ensuring they do not start a fire or injury to a spectator.
But what happens if you or someone you know is injured as a result of fireworks? It depends on the circumstances but, generally speaking, recovering damages for fireworks injuries can be tricky. Fireworks are an attractive nuisance for children. In laymen’s terms, this means they are a dangerous condition on a person’s property that may particularly attract children and pose a risk to their safety. Especially when children are involved, homeowners’ insurance policies tend to pay out because juries tend to be much more sympathetic to children getting hurt, even when engaged in an inherently dangerous activity. For adults, this can be an uphill battle because many juries will blame the person for their own actions and assess comparative negligence (meaning they are partly at-fault).
Where the injury occurred also matters. If it is a professional fireworks display or at a venue (such as a casino or sporting event), injuries from negligence are typically recoverable under premises liability (basically, they created a dangerous condition and, through negligence, a person was injured).
If it is a private residence, possible negligent parties can include the homeowner, the purchaser of the fireworks or the person who stored the fireworks (especially if they were “saved” from season to season).
Besides negligence, products liability is another theory of liability an injured person can pursue. A firework can be defective for any number of reasons, including use of improper ingredients (too little or too much, typically when a manufacturer wants to produce as much of the product as possible), use of illegal ingredients, firing in the wrong direction, getting overcharged, detonating prematurely or being sold without warnings that are clear and legible. While there are typically deeper pockets if you can find a responsible party, the issue can be finding the actual responsible party, some of which could be overseas and tougher to obtain jurisdiction over.
We hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July! |
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