Table of Contents

HOW TRAMPOLINE PARK INJURIES HAPPEN

Landing wrong, including twisting an ankle or knee, was the most common way people got hurt at trampoline parks in a 2016 study of emergency room records published in Pediatrics. Collisions with other jumpers, flips, and hitting the frame, springs or other structures caused fewer injuries, but some of the most serious ones. The same data showed trampoline park injuries rising fast, from an estimated 581 ER visits in 2010 to 6,932 in 2014.

Park injuries were also more likely to put someone in the hospital. In the same study, 8.8% of park injuries led to a hospital admission, compared with 5.2% of injuries on home trampolines. Lower-leg fractures made up 59% of park admissions. Two patients had neck fractures with spinal cord injuries, and both involved flips: one jumper landed on a bar, the other went into a foam pit.

The situations we look at first:

• Double bouncing. A heavier jumper on the same or a connected bed launches a smaller one. Rules that limit one jumper per trampoline exist for this reason.
• Foam pits. A pit that is too shallow, under-filled, or built over a hard surface turns a soft landing into a fracture.
• Exposed frames and springs. Torn or shifted pads leave steel where a jumper lands.
• Dodgeball and ninja courses. Head-height throws and falls from obstacles onto thin mats.
• Mixed ages. Toddlers and teenagers on the same court, or a toddler zone with no staff watching.

SAN DIEGO TRAMPOLINE PARKS

San Diego County has trampoline parks from Miramar to Poway to Chula Vista. Sky Zone on Miralani Drive in Miramar runs freestyle jump courts, dodgeball, a ninja course and a toddler zone. Get Air on Community Road in Poway runs toddler sessions for kids 46 inches and under and evening “Club Air” sessions with music and lighting. We name them only as examples of the local parks families use. A park’s name on this page says nothing about how any of them operate.

WHAT LOCAL RECORDS SHOW

Injuries at trampoline parks in the county are documented. In 2019, NBC 7 San Diego reported that Vista Fire Department records showed 12 people suffered what firefighters labeled “traumatic injuries” at a North County trampoline park in about 20 months starting January 1, 2018. Fire department call records like these can often be requested under the California Public Records Act, and they are one of the first things we look for when a park says an injury was a freak accident.

NO STATE INSPECTOR CHECKS TRAMPOLINE PARKS IN CALIFORNIA

California’s amusement ride safety program does not cover trampoline parks. The Cal/OSHA regulation that governs permanent amusement rides lists “trampolines” among the things it excludes (Title 8, California Code of Regulations, section 344.5). A 2013 bill, SB 256, would have created a trampoline court inspection program. It died in committee in 2014.

Other states went the other way. Arizona has required annual inspections of trampoline courts since 2014. Michigan requires parks to follow ASTM F2970, the industry safety standard for trampoline courts.

What this means for your case: there is no state inspection report to pull. The proof comes from the park itself, so we ask for it quickly:

• The park’s own inspection and maintenance logs
• Incident reports for your injury and earlier ones
• Surveillance video, which many systems record over within days or weeks
• Staffing records showing whether a court monitor was assigned
• The park’s written rules, and whether staff enforced them

ASTM F2970 matters even in California. It covers how trampoline courts should be designed, built, operated, maintained and inspected, and its appendix includes sample foam pit rules. A park that didn’t follow its own industry’s standard will have to explain why.

DOES THE WAIVER STOP A CLAIM?

Sometimes, and it’s better to know that up front. Some people assume trampoline park waivers are worthless. In California that is not true.

California courts generally enforce waivers for recreational activities, and a parent can sign one that covers a child’s claim. A San Diego case, Hohe v. San Diego Unified School District (1990), is one of the decisions courts cite for that rule. In Hohe itself, though, the appeals court sent the case back because it was unclear what the release covered.

A waiver still has limits:

• It generally cannot release gross negligence. The California Supreme Court held in City of Santa Barbara v. Superior Court (2007) that a release generally cannot excuse “gross negligence,” meaning “either a ‘want of even scant care’ or ‘an extreme departure from the ordinary standard of conduct.'” A park that keeps a foam pit open after staff know it is too shallow, or keeps using a court with exposed springs, may cross that line.
• It has to cover what happened. Courts require a release to be clear and explicit, and unclear contract language is read against the business that wrote it (Civil Code section 1654).
• It cannot excuse a violation of law. California Civil Code section 1668 makes contracts that try to excuse a “violation of law” against public policy.
• It may not cover everyone. A release signed with the park does not automatically protect every other company involved, such as the maker of a defective trampoline bed or net. That depends on the wording.

Bring us the waiver, or the confirmation email from the online check-in. Reading it is the first step.

INHERENT RISK VERSUS RISK THE PARK ADDED

California law draws a line between the risks that come with an activity and the risks a business adds to it. Under Knight v. Jewett (1992), a defendant has no duty to remove risks “inherent in the sport itself,” but does have a duty “not to increase the risks to a participant over and above those inherent in the sport.” The California Supreme Court applied that rule to recreational rides in Nalwa v. Cedar Fair (2012).

We call this the added-risk test. Landing awkwardly on a flat bounce is part of jumping. A pit filled too shallow, a gap in the frame pads, or a 200-pound adult bouncing on a child’s bed is something the park allowed. The question in most cases is which of those caused your injury.

INJURIES AND WHAT A CLAIM COVERS

Trampoline park injuries we see include broken legs and ankles, growth plate fractures in children, wrist and elbow fractures, neck and back injuries, concussions and brain injuries. A growth plate fracture can affect how a child’s bone grows for years, so the medical picture is not always clear at the first visit.

A claim can cover:

• Emergency care, surgery, physical therapy and future treatment
• Time a parent missed from work for appointments and recovery
• Lost earnings, for an adult who was hurt
• Pain, limits on activity, and long-term effects

For spinal injuries, see our page on spinal cord injury claims in San Diego.

WHAT TO DO AFTER A TRAMPOLINE PARK INJURY

1. Report the injury to staff before you leave, and ask for a copy of the incident report.
2. Photograph the spot where it happened: the pit, the pads, the bed, any signage.
3. Write down the names of staff on duty and any witnesses.
4. Keep your receipt, wristband and the waiver confirmation email.
5. Ask the park in writing to preserve video of the incident. Do this within days.
6. Follow up with a doctor, even if the first ER visit said “sprain.” Fractures in children are sometimes missed on day one.
7. Don’t post about the injury or the park on social media while a claim is open.

HOW LONG YOU HAVE TO FILE

The general deadline for an injury claim in California is two years (Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1). For a child, the deadline for the child’s own claim generally does not start running until they turn 18 (section 352). Don’t treat that as extra time. Claims you hold as a parent, such as for medical bills you paid, can follow the regular clock, and video and records disappear long before any deadline.

If the injury happened at a city or county facility, the rules change. A claim against a public entity usually must be filed within six months (Government Code section 911.2), and the minor’s extension in section 352 does not apply to those claims. See our page on government liability claims in San Diego.

WHY FAMILIES CALL GOMEZ TRIAL ATTORNEYS

Gomez Trial Attorneys has recovered more than $1 billion for clients over 20 years. Our premises cases include a $1,800,000 recovery for a client who fell through a skylight that was not up to code. You can see more on our case results page.

Results depend on the facts of each case. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

We also handle amusement park injuries, child injury claims and other premises liability cases across San Diego County.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CAN I SUE A TRAMPOLINE PARK IF I SIGNED A WAIVER?

Possibly. California courts generally enforce recreational waivers, including ones a parent signs for a child. A waiver generally cannot release gross negligence or a violation of law, and it only covers what its wording clearly covers. We read the waiver before telling you where you stand.

MY CHILD WAS HURT BY ANOTHER JUMPER. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

It depends on what the park allowed. If staff let much larger jumpers share a bed with small children, or didn’t enforce one-jumper-per-trampoline rules, the park may be responsible. The other jumper’s family can also be responsible in some cases.

DOES CALIFORNIA INSPECT TRAMPOLINE PARKS?

No. Cal/OSHA’s amusement ride rules exclude trampolines, and a 2013 bill to create an inspection program did not pass. Parks are expected to follow the industry standard, ASTM F2970, but no state agency checks.

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO FILE A CLAIM?

Generally two years from the injury in California. A child’s own claim usually waits until age 18 to start running, but a parent’s claims for medical bills may not. Claims against a city or county facility usually require a written claim within six months.

WHAT DOES IT COST TO HIRE GOMEZ TRIAL ATTORNEYS?

Nothing up front. We work on contingency, so our fee comes from what we recover, and there is no attorney’s fee unless we win.

TALK TO A SAN DIEGO TRAMPOLINE PARK INJURY LAWYER

Call 833-GET-GOMEZ or contact us online for a free case review. Our San Diego office is at 755 Front Street, San Diego, CA 92101. Hablamos español.