A number of months ago, we received an inquiry through our website’s contact form from a passenger who had suffered a debilitating injury – a broken pelvis that was caused by a fall that occurred when an automatic sliding door malfunctioned.
Sadly, this is not an uncommon injury.
Cruise ship doors…a potential hazard
It’s not unusual to be contacted by passengers who were injured by sliding doors, automatic doors and cabin doors (both the front door to the room and the bathroom doors).
Automatic doors, when not functioning properly, can become a hazard to the fingers and arms of adults and children (as these are the body parts most often caught between the door and door frame or wall as the door closes).
In the inquiry above, the sliding door closed with such force that it caught the passenger unaware, breaking their pelvis (in two places).
Hurt – should you contact an attorney?
If you experienced an injury related to a malfunctioning door (or any other piece of furniture or equipment) on your cruise vacation, you may have a reason for filing an injury claim against the cruise line. Speaking with an attorney will help you better understand if your specific injury has the basis for a lawsuit and if so, how you should proceed.
Quite often, we find that hurt passengers will quickly accept whatever offer is given to them by the cruise line after they complain. These “offers” generally fall short of helping passengers who were severely hurt and wound up paying out a lot of money for medical treatment, doctor visits, rehab and more after they arrived home after their cruise.
An “offer” of a discounted cruise for your next vacation pales in comparison to finger and arm damage that may have occurred due to an injury – especially those injuries that are life altering – meaning that pain may always be present and effects of the injury may impact the ability to work comfortably or enjoy life as you did prior to the injury.
We help hurt passengers (and crew members)
It’s important to know that legal help is available to both passengers and crew members who were hurt on a cruise ship. For free information from a cruise injury law firm, please contact us using the Contact Form on the right hand side of this page or by calling 1-800-905-2891.