Municipality is liable after tragic loss of finger on Carinthian playground!

Municipality is liable after tragic loss of finger on Carinthian playground!

In the summer of 2022, a serious accident occurred at a playground in Carinthia, which now has legal consequences. A boy lost his finger due to a faulty revolving carousel, which led to a complex court case. How Gailtal Journal reported, the mother of the injured child filed a lawsuit against the market town of Seeboden, which runs the playground. The mother argued that the playground was unsafe due to lack of maintenance.

The market town denied these allegations and referred to regular inspections and maintenance. However, it turned out that the rotating carousel had been defective since the end of May 2022, which happened several weeks before the accident. The defect was not noticed by municipal employees and those responsible, which raised questions about the seriousness of the maintenance measures. A key finding of the court was that there were no regular functional checks of the playground equipment, although the playground was subject to a general inspection every year.

Judgment and responsibility

Judge Andreas Spiess-Knafl ruled that the municipality had violated its duty to ensure traffic safety. Regular functional checks are essential, especially for heavily frequented playgrounds, in order to avoid such accidents. Historically, there have been problems with playground equipment maintenance; Locking bolts were already missing from other devices, which indicated neglect of maintenance. The judgment of the Klagenfurt Regional Court is now legally binding and the municipality's liability is beyond question. However, the amount of damages the mother is entitled to has not yet been determined.

The case highlights the responsibility of municipalities and operators when it comes to the safety of playgrounds. Loud RA Kotz Playground operators have a duty to ensure the safety of their facilities by maintaining them regularly and thoroughly. This includes carrying out functional checks in order to identify dangers such as defective or unsafe play equipment at an early stage.

Future outlook

The incident and the court ruling illustrate the need for a serious examination of traffic safety obligations. Especially in times when there is increasing attention to public safety, municipalities and operators must ensure that playgrounds are not only regularly inspected, but also adequately maintained. The course of legal disputes, as shown in cases like this or in the judgment of February 13, 2020 before the Wiesbaden Regional Court, which dismissed a lawsuit for a breach of traffic safety obligations, continues to be highly relevant for the legal assessment of accidents in playgrounds.