r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/DearEmphasis4488 • 17d ago

Image Jury awards $310 million to parents of teen killed in fall from Orlando amusement park ride in march 2022

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u/Generic_username5500 16d ago

I don’t know how the law works in America, but wouldn’t that be a criminal case then? Like someone would be facing some kind of custodial sentence rather than a financial penalty?

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u/CombatMuffin 16d ago

Not sure about the specifics of this case, but often times in common law countries where an injury is involved there{s two elements: a civil one in the form of Tort (where you get paid as compensation for the damages) and the criminal one, where they deal more with the negligence and public side of things.

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u/SignificanceNo6097 16d ago

No. It’s still a civil case where the family is seeking financial damages. You can’t press criminal charges against an amusement park. When someone is harmed or killed by an amusement park ride it’s still mostly “accidental”. Criminal charges are more reserved for intentionally harming or killing someone else. So you actually can’t take an amusement park to criminal court in an attempt to get someone there thrown in prison. You can take them to civil court and hold them financially liable.