An autistic adult visiting a Northern Virginia amusement park was severely injured when the go-kart she was driving accelerated “suddenly and without warning,” smashing head-on into a retaining wall as her horrified mother looked on, according to a $1 million personal injury lawsuit obtained by The Independent.
Chloe Elizabeth Smith, who is considered legally incapacitated and has been under the guardianship of her parents since 2023, slid out from beneath her seatbelt during the collision – a process known as “submarining,” which can turn an otherwise unexceptional crash into a catastrophic one, the suit contends.
It says the force of the collision thrust Smith’s body forward violently, slamming her lower extremities into the steering column and leaving her with “multiple pelvic and hip fractures,” as well as “labial injuries.” This caused Smith “extreme pain and suffering,” and required “extensive medical treatment,” according to the suit.
The suit was filed November 14 in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Smith’s behalf by her 59-year-old mom, Ellen, and 64-year-old dad, Michael, who, according to public records, is a retired U.S. Navy rear admiral who advised the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents George W. Bush and Obama.
Executives at Five Star Parks & Attractions, the company that owns the park at which the incident occurred, did not respond on Monday to requests for comment.
On February 16, 2024, Smith, who lives with her parents in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Annandale, Virginia, went with her mom on an outing to Fun Land of Fairfax, according to the family’s complaint.
Five Star operates amusement parks in 13 U.S. states, and has owned Fun Land of Fairfax since 2022, the complaint says.
On its website, the company says it “prioritize[s] the well-being of every guest and team member, ensuring that our facilities are secure and adhere to the highest industry standards. From meticulously maintained equipment to comprehensive training protocols, we leave no stone unturned in creating a secure environment where fun and excitement thrive hand in hand with peace of mind.”
After watching the go-karts at Fun Land of Fairfax operate “at what Ellen believed to be safe speeds, [she] and [Smith] entered the line for the go-kart track and were ultimately directed into separate go-karts,” the complaint goes on.
It says a young park attendant buckled Smith into go-kart number 11, but “did not check or tighten the shoulder harness and lap belt to ensure adequate and safe restraint, and failed to verify that the seat was properly secured to the chassis.” Further, the complaint continues, go-kart number 11 also lacked sufficient padding or “speed-control mechanisms,” unbeknownst to Smith and her mother.
“During the ride, Chloe’s Go-Kart No. 11 was not going as fast as the others,” the complaint states. “Chloe complained that Go-Kart No. 11 was not moving very fast, despite the fact that Chloe had her foot depressing the accelerator all the way. Suddenly and without warning, Chloe’s Go-Kart No. 11 accelerated in an unsafe and rapid manner; and, thereafter, crashed head-on into a retaining wall.”
The collision, and Smith’s injuries, “were foreseeable events given the… defective nature of Go-Kart No. 11,” according to the complaint, which argues the park and its employees “knew or should have known” that the go-kart was not safe to use.
Smith and her mom were never given any written waivers or safety disclosures to sign before being admitted to Fun Land, according to the complaint. It says there were also no signs posted anywhere with “adequate instructions” on how to operate the go-karts, nor were there any warnings of the potential danger involved with driving them.
“[B]oth Ellen and Chloe relied on Amusement Park employees to ensure that they would be able to enjoy the go-kart amusement device in a safe manner consistent with the use for which Defendants operated the amusement device,” the complaint states.
Taken together, it says each of these missed steps “led to the accident at issue.”
While go-kart fatalities are rare, they do happen.
Last year, a 17-year-old amusement park employee in South Carolina was killed when the go-kart he was driving collided with a forklift. Kamel Seveion Sewell died of blunt force injuries to the head, according to the Greenville coroner’s office.
In 2013, a 45-year-old Iowa man died at a Wisconsin amusement park after he lost control of a go-kart and smacked into a wooden post.
Five years later, a Michigan woman’s scarf got tangled in the axle of a go-kart and snapped her windpipe, depriving her brain of oxygen for 10 minutes and leaving the mother-of-two in a permanent vegetative state.
Smith’s parents say she has already received extensive medical treatment and hospital care, which she will continue to require going forward, according to their lawsuit.
The suit names Five Star Parks and Attractions as a defendant, as well as subsidiaries Fun Land Opco, LLC and The Track Intermediate Opco, LLC, accusing all three of negligence, negligence per se, failure to warn, and breach of implied warranty.
As Smith’s co-guardians, her parents are demanding compensatory damages of $1 million, plus prejudgment interest from the date of the accident, post-judgment interest and court costs.
