Judge sinks teeth into lack of safety at park

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Here's one to chew over... an 11-year-old girl whose tooth was broken when she was pushed into a railing while waiting to get on a ride at Tel Aviv's Luna Park, has been awarded NIS 20,000 in compensation and will have all dental work on that tooth paid for by the park until she reaches the age of 73, reports www.mynet.co.il. A judge in the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court ruled that with the amount of profits earned by the amusement park, the least it could have done was to hire more ushers to keep order and ensure the safety of those in line for rides. According to the report, the girl was waiting in a queue to embark on one of the rides when she was pushed into a railing, breaking one of her teeth. Her parents sued the park's owners, Ir Hasha'ashuim Ltd., alleging that other children cramming into the line behind their daughter had crushed her into the railing. The company responded that there were ushers at the head and at the tail of the line, but Judge Shlomo Friedlander said that "life experience" proved that children and youths were likely to push and crowd each other, and the company should have done more to prevent this. "A situation of squashing and pushing at crowded events is a dangerous situation," the judge said before handing down his ruling.