Bounce House with Child Gets Blown onto Freeway in San Bernardino County
Bounce House with Child Gets Blown onto Freeway in San Bernardino County
A bounce house with a 9-year-old child inside was blown onto Highway 395 in Adelanto. According to a KTLA news report, the bounce house struck a vehicle along the highway leaving the child with non-life-threatening injuries. San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials responded to an area of the highway near Bartlett Avenue the afternoon of May 13.
The bounce house had been blown away from a home near the 18200 block of Delicious Avenue by strong winds. The child reportedly fell out of the bounce house once it rolled onto the highway. While on the highway, it struck a vehicle going south. Once authorities arrived at the scene, the child was transported to an area hospital for treatment. The driver of the vehicle was not injured, but officials say he was “shook up from the ordeal.” The investigation is ongoing.
We are relieved to note that the child did not suffer life-threatening injuries in this horrific incident. This could’ve certainly been a lot worse not just for the child, but also the motorist who ended up striking the bounce house when it landed on the highway. We wish them both the very best for a speedy and complete recovery.
The Issue of Bounce House Safety
The safety of these bounce houses, which are a common sight at kids’ birthday parties and other family events and carnivals, has raised concern among safety advocates for quite some time. There have been a number of these scary incidents around the country. In 2014, two upstate New York boys were thrown from a bounce house from 20 feet in the air.
One of those boys, age 5, hit his head on a parked car when he landed in the parking lot of an apartment building and the other boy, 6, was dropped in the street and suffered broken bones. In another case last year, five children in Greenville, South Carolina, were injured after a gust of wind blew their bounce house into the air during a church carnival. Local fire officials described that sight as a “mini-tornado.”
Preventing Injuries
It is important for companies that rent out these inflatables to provide the necessary stakes to keep the structures secured and nailed down. Experts say these stakes should be at least 18 inches long and hammered at a 45-degree angle into the ground. If the bounce house is placed on concrete, sandbags should be used to weigh it down properly. If winds reach 15 to 20 mph, no one should be allowed into the structure as a precaution.
In such cases, the bounce house operators and the property owners (where the bounce house was located) may be held liable for any injuries, damages and losses caused. An experienced San Bernardino personal injury lawyer will be able to guide victims and their families through the legal process and help them secure the compensation they rightfully deserve.
