The loss of a young life is tragic no matter what the circumstances. When a Calgary family loses two of its sons in one accident, and when other teenagers are injured in the same incident, the situation is all the more distressing.
According to a report produced by CBC, a group of teenagers including two twin brothers entered the Olympic Park facility at 1:30am on the morning of Saturday, February 6, and used a personal tobbogan to travel down the bobsled run. The group crashed into a gate dividing the bobsled track from the luge track, resulting in the two brothers’ death and serious injuries to the other six young men involved.
The other injury victims are still being treated in Calgary-area hospitals.
WinSport, the company that now owns and operates the Olympic Park, confirmed that the two brothers killed in the accident were previous employees, leading to speculation that the pair knew how to get into the park after hours, evading security and other measures. Others have said that enterting the park for after-hours bobsledding was a common nighttime Calgary activity among employees and former employees of the park—a fact that WinSport Canada CEO of Site Operations Brian Heck says he has no knowledge of:
“I have heard of incidents of people coming into the park,” Heck said. “I do not personally know of any incidents of anyone being on the sliding track. Today is the most tragic day in WinSport history.”
Calgary Accidents, Injuries, and the Law
All personal injury and wrongful death cases must contain an element of negligence—if the case is to be successful in the Calgary courts, someone or some organization must be shown to have acted negligently, and that negligence has to be shown to be the reason behind the injuries. If someone is injured because they inadvertently wander into a construction site that isn’t properly secured, for example, they may be able to hold the construction company responsible for the injuries.
Typically, when someone knowingly enters a facility illegally, the owner’s duty of care is diminished—they don’t owe the same care to someone on their premises illegally as they do to a normal customer or visitor. Injuries that occur in such a scenario may present a cause of action before the Calgary courts, but that determination is made on a case by case basis.
Right now, the lesson all of Calgary can take from this accident is to be careful, especially when engaging in potentially dangerous activities, and to remember that laws and safety procedures are there to keep us all protected—and when we put our lives at risk, we’re also putting our family and friends at risk for enormous grief.
If you or a family member has been seriously injured in an accident in the Greater Calgary Area and you would like a free consultation with one of Calgary’s leading personal injury law firms, please contact Cuming & Gillespie LLP today.