Jury awards $3.6 million in roller-coaster accident

Woman was hit in the head by object 6 years ago
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Karen Farkas
Plain Dealer Reporter

Ravenna -- A Wisconsin woman who suffered a fractured skull in 2000 when she was hit by something -- probably a rock -- while riding a roller coaster at Six Flags Ohio was awarded $3.6 million Friday.

Jurors determined that the company was negligent because it knew people had thrown rocks at the ride before the accident occurred but did not protect riders.

Terri Wang, 44, cried and thanked jurors after the verdict in Portage County Common Pleas Court, said her attorney, Daniel Volkema.

She still suffers headaches and numbness in her face, and she needs reconstructive surgery on her forehead.

Six Flags Inc. bought Geauga Lake Park in Aurora and built four rides in 2000, including a large wooden roller coaster called the Villain. Rocks, a few inches in size, covered the ground below the coaster, near a walkway to a picnic area.

According to testimony and court records, employees notified park officials four times in May and June 2000 that people were throwing rocks at riders. Rocks were found on the Villain's catwalk and tracks. A supervisor ordered the rocks replaced by mulch, but employees put mulch over the rocks and increased patrols.

On July 2, Wang, who lives near Milwaukee, visited the park with her family. She rode the Villain, sitting in the back seat of a car, next to her niece.

Her arms were raised and her eyes closed as the coaster went down the largest hill at 60 mph, and something slammed into her head.

Doctors had to remove a piece of her skull to relieve pressure on her brain. Bits of bone were removed from her brain. She also suffered a broken nose.

After the incident, Six Flags installed a high fence between the ride and walkway. Two years later, it closed the walkway and picnic area after a 12-year-old girl was struck by something while riding the Villain. She needed stitches to close the resulting cut on her forehead.

Six Flags maintained the park was not negligent because Wang assumed risks inherent in riding a roller coaster. Six Flags attorney Patrick McCaffrey said park officials believed Wang was struck by a cell phone carried by someone on the ride. The object that caused her injury was never recovered.

"The witnesses testified they did not see anyone throw a rock," McCaffrey told jurors in his closing argument. He said witnesses did not know what hit her.

Six Flags offered $200,000 to settle the lawsuit, Volkema said.

The jury awarded $1.1 million in compensatory damages and $2.5 million in punitive damages.

McCaffrey could not be reached for comment. Six Flags sold the park to Cedar Fair in 2004 and renamed it Geauga Lake.

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