Short answer: Sometimes. In Utah, an adult’s signed release can bar a claim for a business’s ordinary negligence, but it does not reach everything. A release that is unclear, one that offends public policy, and claims based on gross negligence are treated differently, and a parent generally cannot sign away a child’s injury claim before it happens.
Trampoline parks, climbing gyms, ropes courses, go-kart tracks and similar businesses almost always ask for a signature before anyone goes in, often on a tablet at the front desk or online the night before. When someone gets hurt, the business points to that form. Whether it holds up depends on who signed it, what it says, and what actually went wrong.
Utah Generally Enforces Adult Releases for Ordinary Negligence
The Utah Supreme Court has said it is well settled that pre-injury releases of claims for ordinary negligence can be valid and enforceable. In Penunuri v. Sundance Partners, Ltd., 2013 UT 22, a woman hurt on a guided horseback ride had signed a release before the ride. The court held that the release was enforceable and barred her claims for the outfitter’s ordinary negligence.
That is the starting point for most adult injuries at recreation businesses. If you signed a clear release and the injury came from ordinary carelessness, the release is a serious obstacle.
Three Situations Where a Release Fails
The same decision repeated the limits Utah courts place on these documents. A release is unenforceable if:
- it offends public policy;
- it involves an activity that fits within the “public interest” exception, which looks at things like whether the business performs a service of great importance to the public and holds a decisive bargaining advantage; or
- it is unclear or ambiguous.
The third point is the one that comes up most often in practice. A release written in vague terms, one that never clearly says it covers the business’s own negligence, or one buried in unrelated text may not do what the business thinks it does. The exact words matter, so get a copy of what you signed or clicked through.
Gross Negligence Is Different
A release of ordinary negligence is not the same as a release of everything. In Penunuri, the trial court dismissed the ordinary negligence claims because of the release but let the gross negligence claim continue, and the Supreme Court noted that whether a release could bar gross negligence was not before it. That claim went forward separately and was later decided on its facts in Penunuri v. Sundance Partners, 2017 UT 54, where the court ruled for the business because the evidence did not show gross negligence.
The court defined gross negligence there as “the failure to observe even slight care; it is carelessness or recklessness to a degree that shows utter indifference to the consequences that may result.” That is a high bar. At a trampoline park, the kinds of facts people point to include no staff watching an area, known broken equipment left in use, or ignoring the business’s own rules about how many jumpers can share a trampoline. Whether any of that rises to gross negligence depends on the evidence.
Conduct outside the waiver can matter too. A release covers the activity and the risks it describes. An injury from something unrelated, such as a collapsing bench in the lobby, may fall outside it, depending on the wording.
When a Parent Signed for a Child
This is where Utah law differs most from what the form suggests. In Hawkins v. Peart, 2001 UT 94, an 11-year-old was hurt on a trail ride after her mother signed a release. The Utah Supreme Court held that a parent may not release a minor’s prospective claim for negligence, and it also held void the part of the form that required the parent to indemnify the business, because shifting the cost of the child’s injury onto the parent would undercut the rule. The Court described Hawkins the same way again in Penunuri in 2013.
For a family, that usually means the waiver a parent signed at the front desk does not by itself end the child’s claim. The business may still argue the injury was not caused by its negligence, or that the child or someone else was at fault, but “your parent signed a waiver” is not the answer it looks like.
A child’s claim also has its own timing. Under Utah law, the statute of limitations generally does not run while the injured person is under 18 (Utah Code 78B-2-108). Evidence does not wait, though, so the time to gather it is now. See our post on claims for injured children in Utah.
Ski Areas Are a Special Case
Skiing shows how much the answer can depend on the specific activity. In Rothstein v. Snowbird Corp., 2007 UT 96, the Supreme Court held that the releases a skier signed were contrary to the public policy expressed in Utah’s skiing statute and unenforceable. In 2020 the Legislature changed that by statute: a skier may now agree before an injury to waive or release a claim against a ski area operator, but a minor, or a parent on the minor’s behalf, may not enter into such a waiver (Utah Code 78B-4-405). That statute applies to ski areas, not to trampoline parks. More on resort injuries in ski resort injury claims in Utah.
Shared Fault Still Applies
Even without a release problem, Utah compares fault. If you were partly responsible, your recovery is reduced by your share, and you recover from a defendant only if the defendants’ combined fault is greater than yours (Utah Code 78B-5-818). For an adult, the general deadline to file most injury lawsuits is four years (Utah Code 78B-2-307(4)).
Preserve the Evidence Quickly
Recreation businesses control almost all of the evidence, and much of it disappears fast.
- Ask for a copy of the release you or your child signed, including the date and time it was signed. Take a screenshot of any online version.
- Report the injury to a manager and ask for a copy of the incident report, or at least its number.
- Ask in writing that the business keep its video footage of the area and time of the injury. Many systems record over footage within days.
- Photograph the equipment, padding, posted rules and the area where it happened.
- Get names and phone numbers of witnesses, including other parents.
- Keep wristbands, receipts and any confirmation emails.
- Get medical care, and tell the provider exactly how the injury happened.
The general points in what evidence helps an injury case apply here as well.
Talk to a Utah Injury Attorney
A signed waiver is a reason to look closely at a claim, not a reason to give up on it. We can review the release, the facts and the business’s insurance.
Hurt in Utah? Call (801) 921-5134 or send us your case for a free consultation. You pay nothing up front, and no attorney fees unless we win. Hablamos Español.