© Clint Novak
Back to the courtroom:This recent trial is but one of many legal actions taken against Kings Island in the past few years. |
A seemingly lengthy chapter in the problems with Son of Beast are coming to light as two trials involving people filing lawsuits, with fiscal claims involving the accident involving Son of Beast in the summer of 2006. One of these trials occured this past weekend starting on Thursday, October 15th and ending on Monday, October 19th.
The victim, a woman formerly of Springboro, Ohio, was one of 27 riders on Son of Beast, when a section of the track's support structure was damaged, and part of the track separated, and thus, gave guests a jolt, sending a majority of them to the hospital. The woman in question apparently suffered hip injuries, and has had may replacement and reconstructive surgeries to repair the damage sustained.
The prosecution attested that the woman has paid in excess of $50,000 in medical bills for all said surgeries and may end up paying over $100,000 for future proceedures. However, the attourneys representing Kings Island claimed that the woman may have suffered these injuries at her job as many dates didn't add up, and presented video evidence showing she could walk and do other physical ordeals without much problems.
In the end, the eight jury members voted 7-1 to have Kings Island pay off the suit, but it seems the evidence presented by the prosecution was effective, as the Ohio park only has to pay $76,364, $56,000 for pain and suffering and $26,364 for previous medical expenses.
As the future of Son of Beast remains uncertain until the off season, as Kings Island has claimed to announce such future in the upcoming off season, another trial involving the same accident is set for early November. Also in progress is the ongoing situation involving a woman injured this past summer, allegedly with burst blood vessels, however, the outcome of that remains uncertain.
Most of these have many speculating that this may be the end of Son of Beast. The park has claimed during this trial that Son of Beast was in now way closed for being unsave, as the State of Ohio Department of Agriculture inspected it after the accident and found it good as is. The park closed it from the results of recent surveys with the general public, as the popularity and view of Son of Beast has diminished.
