Broward man wins damages in go-kart mishap
A jury has awarded a Broward County man almost $306,000 for spinal injuries he suffered in a go-kart accident at the Boomers! amusement park in Dania Beach, although he will not collect the total amount.
Geoffrey Gooch, 28, was driving a go-kart in April 2000 when he was rear-ended by another go-kart on the park's curving track. He suffered two fractured vertebrae and now has chronic pain, said his attorney, Russell S. Adler of Fort Lauderdale.A Broward Circuit Court jury decided Friday that Festival Fun Parks LLC, the company that owns and operates the popular Boomers! at 1801 NW First St., off Interstate 95, was negligent for failing to adequately warn Gooch that he could be seriously injured.
''They have signs up all over the place, but only one that says you could be injured,'' Adler said Saturday in a telephone interview. ``My client had never been on a go-kart before. To him, they just looked like harmless little cars.''Still, the jury found that Gooch was 35 percent comparatively negligent in the incident, meaning he can collect only 65 percent of the awarded damages -- about $199,000.
Jeff W. Johnson, the attorney who represented Boomers!, was unavailable for comment Saturday, a woman in his office said.Gooch, who Adler said works for a Broward brokerage firm, did not return a phone message left by Adler Saturday.
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