Injuries at events, venues and amusement rides

This page is for guests: people attending a concert, game, festival, fair, water park, fun center or other attraction in Riverside County.

The venue's duty to guests

Whoever owns, leases, occupies or controls the venue must use reasonable care to discover unsafe conditions and to repair them or adequately warn of them (CACI No. 1001). At events that can mean bleachers and stairs, temporary flooring and cables, lighting in parking areas, spilled drinks, and crowd flow at entrances and exits. A business open to the public must also use reasonable care to protect patrons from another person's criminal conduct if it can reasonably anticipate that conduct (CACI No. 1005).

Amusement rides: state inspection rules

California runs a Permanent Amusement Ride Safety Inspection Program (Labor Code § 7920), carried out by Cal/OSHA's Amusement Ride and Tramway (ART) Unit. Key rules for guests:

• Annual certificate. The owner of a permanent ride must submit a certificate of compliance each year that includes a qualified safety inspector's declaration that the ride was inspected within the past 12 months. A ride found unsafe may not operate until repairs are completed and certified (Labor Code § 7924).
• Accident reporting and preserving evidence. Operators must immediately report by telephone each known accident on a permanent ride that causes death or serious injury, and must preserve the equipment or conditions that caused it for the Division's investigation. The Division may order the ride shut down if it is hazardous (Labor Code § 7925).
• Carnival and fair rides. Operators of temporary rides must immediately report deaths, injuries needing more than first aid, major mechanical failures and falls from rides, and send a written report within 24 hours (Labor Code § 7914).
• What is not a "permanent ride". The statutory definition excludes slides, playground equipment and coin-operated devices (Labor Code § 7921).

What the ART Unit publishes about its role:

Even where a device falls outside the ride program, such as an inflatable or a trampoline, the operator's general duty of care still applies.

Free recreation on private land

California limits a landowner's duty to people who enter for recreation, such as hiking or sightseeing (Civil Code § 846). The limit does not apply to a willful or malicious failure to guard or warn, when permission to enter was granted for a consideration (for example, a paid admission), or to people who were expressly invited rather than merely permitted. At a ticketed event or paid attraction, the ordinary duty of care is the usual starting point.

Public venues

If the venue, fairground or park belongs to a city, the County or another public entity, a written claim is usually due within six months (Gov. Code § 911.2); see our claims guide. Otherwise, most injury lawsuits must be filed within two years (CCP § 335.1).

What to do after an injury at an event or on a ride

1. Report it to staff or security and ask for an incident report number.
2. Keep your ticket, wristband, receipt or confirmation email.
3. Photograph the hazard or the ride, the seat or restraint, and any signs.
4. Get names of staff, the ride operator and witnesses.
5. For a ride injury, ask whether it was reported to the ART Unit; the operator must preserve the equipment involved.
6. Get medical care promptly and keep every record.

Every fact on this page links to the official source it came from. We checked each one in September 2026. Agencies change fees and procedures, so confirm with the agency before you go. How we research.

Common questions

Who investigates an amusement ride accident in California?

Cal/OSHA's Amusement Ride and Tramway Unit. Operators must report serious ride injuries to the Division immediately and preserve the equipment involved, and a Division inspector may inspect the ride (Labor Code § 7925).

Are trampoline parks and inflatables covered by the ride inspection program?

According to the ART Unit, its permanent ride regulations do not apply to inflatable rides, trampolines and several other attractions. The operator still owes guests ordinary care.

I was hurt at a free outdoor event on private land. Does that change anything?

Possibly. Civil Code § 846 limits a landowner's duty to people entering for recreation, but not for willful or malicious failures to warn or for people who were expressly invited (Civil Code § 846). The facts of the invitation matter.

What if the fair or venue is run by a public agency?

A written claim is usually due within six months of the injury (Gov. Code § 911.2). Check who owns and operates the venue early.

Related pages

• Premises liabilityFalls and injuries on unsafe stores, apartments and public property.
• Slip and fall in stores and restaurantsSpills, notice and evidence when a customer falls at a business.
• Wrongful deathClaims by families after a fatal crash or unsafe property.
• Claims against governmentThe six-month rule and where to file for each city.
• Civil Code § 1714The general duty of care

Sources

1. Cal. Civ. Code § 1714: General duty of ordinary care
2. Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI), 2026 edition
3. Cal. Labor Code § 7920: Permanent Amusement Ride Safety Inspection Program
4. Cal. Labor Code § 7921: Definition of permanent amusement ride
5. Cal. Labor Code § 7924: Annual certificate of compliance for permanent rides
6. Cal. Labor Code § 7925: Reporting permanent ride accidents; preserving evidence
7. Cal. Labor Code § 7914: Reporting temporary ride incidents
8. Cal. Civ. Code § 846: Recreational use immunity and its exceptions
9. Cal. Gov. Code § 911.2: Time for presentation of claims against public entities
10. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 335.1: Two-year limitations period for assault, battery, personal injury, or wrongful death
11. Cal/OSHA: The Amusement Ride and Tramway Unit
12. Cal/OSHA: Public Safety (elevators, amusement rides, pressure vessels)
13. Cal/OSHA: Permanent Amusement Ride Certificate of Compliance (PAR Form 5)