A bright blue sky, a beautiful mountain or body of water – as Spring Break 2015 descends upon us, thoughts turn to an outdoor fun – such as zip lining – which is a fun outdoor activity that while mostly safe, has inherent dangers as well.
What is Zip Lining?
A zip-line is a pulley attached to a cable that is often constructed of stainless steel. The line is mounted on an incline and designed to have gravity move a participant from the top of the cable to the bottom by attaching to the free-moving pulley. While zip lines have been used historically for mountain transportation, most often they are now installed as a sort of thrill entertainment.
Zip lining companies often take root in tourist destinations such as Las Vegas or Lake Tahoe. Many operate out of the country, in areas that cater to American tourists, such as Cancun, Mexico. Many injuries have occurred out of the country, however, a fair number of American zip lining outfits have resulted in user injuries as well.
Common Zip Line Risk Injuries
Some of the more common zip line injuries occur when either the harness or the line itself fails, causing the user to plummet to the ground resulting in broken bones, head injuries, even death. Other injuries have occurred due to weather conditions – such as strong wind blowing a user into a nearby tree or other obstacles. Clearly, the zip line operator should be well trained in conditions and placement of the zip line to avoid such occurrences, but that is not always the case.
Here’s a well-operated zip line out of Nepal – looks fun, but you can see the potential for mishaps!
Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyers
I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer with the primary accident information site on the web, AutoAccident.com. If you or someone you love has been in a zip line accident, call me now at 916.921.6400 or 800.404.5400.
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Photo by Perry Grone on Unsplash