Snowboarder must pay $263K for crash on slopes
A Colorado jury this month ruled that a snowboarder must pay more than a quarter million dollars for being negligent on the slopes.
Casey Ferguson of Colorado was on a run at Keystone Resort at a high rate of speed when he crashed into a skier from behind. Tom Dubert of Chicago had to miss three months of work because of the injuries from the 2015 collision.
Ferguson was ordered to pay $263,454.44. That money should be forthcoming from his parents’ homeowners’ policy.
— Lake Tahoe News staff report
Wow ! Pay attention Tahoe snowboarders and skiers. Slow down, stay in control and look for others before you leap. And don’t stop in the middle of a run, get to the side, for your own protection.
Your thoughts are good Steven, but won’t do any good in the state of California. Unlike some states such as Colorado, the person causing the accident has no legal or monetary responsibility unless you can prove that they were overtly negligent above and beyond normal sports activity. I was hit from behind by a teenage snowboarder (and for the record I don’t think the snowboard had any part of it, it was the “teenager” portion), and the accident cost me over $15,000 (and that’s WITH good medical coverage) and greatly impacted my daily life. Having checked with a couple of lawyers just to get my money back, it has been clear that in some states person causing an accident has responsibility and in others such as California they have none. None as in zero, Nada, zip. Quite frustrating.
Isn’t it nice that homeowners insurance covers the gross negligence of the reckless skier or boarder. So we all pay for it.
The CA case involved two friends, one running into the other on the slopes. So one sued the other but our CA Supreme Court said that is the risk you take on the mountain.