Assumption of the Risk – Dangerous Activities

Some activities are inherently dangerous.  Participating in such activities means that the participant (you) assume the risk of being injured and solely responsible for your own injuries.  Because of the unique and dangerousness of the activity, a person generally owes no duty to the participant to protect the participant from the particular risks involved in the activity.  Assumption of the risk can apply in various settings, including sports activities (skiing, baseball, waterskiing, figure skating, cheerleading, etc.), watercraft, motorcycles, or horseback riding.  Certain occupations carry inherent risks as well such that a duty is not owed to an injured worker in various situations, such as veterinarian, package delivery, elderly, firefighters, and law enforcement.

Despite the assumed risks, there are situations within inherently dangerous activities or certain occupational injuries in which a person may be responsible to an injured person if the inherent risks are increased.  This means that certain basic precautions should be used.  Known dangerous conditions must be disclosed.  Accordingly, it is important to evaluate every activity/condition individually to determine if assumption of the risk applies or not.  Attorneys should be well versed in assumption of the risk if they practice in accident injury law.