Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

J.T., a minor, is a motocross competitor. At Monster Mountain MX Park, he signed

ID: 340518 • Letter: J

Question

J.T., a minor, is a motocross competitor. At Monster Mountain MX Park, he signed a waiver of liability to “hold harmless the park for any loss due to negligence.” Riding around the Monster Mountain track, J.T. rode over a blind jump, became airborne, and crashed into a tractor that he had not seen until he was in the air. To recover for his injuries, J.T. filed a suit against Monster Mountain, alleging negligence for its failure to remove the tractor from the track. Does the liability waiver bar this claim?

Explanation / Answer

In this case, the waiver of liability clause signed by J.T., the racer, will not help themountain park in avoiding the suit filed by the racer. This is because J.T. is a minor at thetime of signing the contracts and contracts signed by minors are not valid.Also, the liability waiver cannot hold good because the parking of the tractor on therace track indicates gross negligence on the part of the mountain park management and courtsnormally do not enforce exculpatory clauses unless they have a very strong reason. Thus, theliability waiver clause cannot hold the race driver from filing a suit or claiming damages fromthe company.