Assumption Of Risk While Traveling
The world, with some restrictions has mostly opened back up and various countries that are hurting for tourists dollars are welcoming travelers again with open arms. People around the world who’ve spent several months to a year being cooped up are ready to get out and travel and enjoy what the world has to offer.
As it is with any vacation, people only plan for and envision relaxing and enjoying themselves, which is natural. However, being on vacation doesn’t make one invincible. As it is with any place, there’s always a degree of risk you assume when traversing any given space at any given time. But when traveling, things can get tricky as one man found out. This is why a travel lawyer could aid in assisting, with ensuring that needs to take various precautions, when it comes to taking trips.
In an example showing the dangers of traveling, a man had traveled to Saint Lucia and stayed at a Sandals Resort where on his second night there, the man returned to his private villa with his wife where he slipped on the exterior’s staircase leading to the villa’s plunge pool. The man was injured and upon returning home he was diagnosed with a left quadriceps tendon rupture, he underwent surgery to repair it, but it ruptured a second time later that year. By that time, he accepted that his leg will never be the same, but he eventually went back to the same resort to investigate where he fell. That’s when he concluded that the resort was at fault for his injury, being that the steps were different depths, shapes, and had no rails to hold onto.
He sued Sandals Resorts, but encountered a problem. Since the injury happened in Saint Lucia, the case was subject to the country’s laws. He had no idea that in Saint Lucia, the plaintiff is liable for 25% of everything. That regardless of whether he won or lost, he was still 25% responsible. After the 25% reduction in settlement he was awarded $790,000 in damages, but Sandals decided to appeal, making things even more difficult. Given that the case is out of the country there were few lawyers willing to take on the case for a country whose laws they were no doubt unfamiliar with. Furthermore, cases like these are lengthy and expensive. This is why when it comes to legal businesses, such as assumption of risk work , there are not only strong focuses on different types of cases, but there are also assessments, pertaining to how much each case would cost and what options should be considered. This is the standard that should be held for legal businesses as a whole.
In closing, when traveling, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. It’s better to make sure you have some kind of traveler’s insurance in case things go south for you so you can make a claim if it does. Otherwise you just assume the risk of falling into the same situation this man did.