Trampoline Park Accidents and Waivers in Michigan

Trampoline parks are a birthday-party favorite across Michigan — and an emergency-room regular. Between the dodgeball courts, foam pits, and wall-to-wall trampolines, kids and adults get hurt every weekend. Then comes the question every parent asks us: "But I signed that waiver. Is my case dead?"

Not necessarily. Trampoline parks make everyone sign a broad release before they jump, and those waivers are real obstacles. But under Michigan law they have hard limits — especially when the injury involves a child, gross negligence, or a defective condition the park should have fixed. Here's the honest picture.

Why Trampoline Parks Are So Dangerous

The trampoline-park business model packs many jumpers into a small space at high energy, and injuries follow predictable patterns:

• Awkward landings causing ankle, knee, and leg fractures — the classic trampoline injury
• Collisions between jumpers, especially large and small jumpers on the same court
• Falls into or onto foam pits that are shallow, poorly maintained, or hide hard surfaces
• Neck and spinal injuries from failed flips and double-bounces
• Gaps and exposed springs or frames between trampoline beds
• Slip and falls in walkways and party areas
• Understaffing and poor "court monitor" supervision that lets dangerous behavior go unchecked

Pediatric orthopedic groups have warned for years about trampoline-park injuries to children, whose growing bones are especially vulnerable.

The Waiver: What It Does and Doesn't Cover

Michigan courts will generally enforce a clearly written liability waiver for ordinary negligence — the inherent risk that you might land wrong while jumping. That's the part parks count on. But a waiver is not a blank check, and several important exceptions can keep a claim alive.

1. Gross Negligence and Reckless Conduct

In Michigan, a pre-injury release generally cannot waive gross negligence, willful and wanton misconduct, or recklessness. If a park grossly understaffed the floor, ignored a known broken pad, or let obviously unsafe conditions persist, the waiver may not save it.

2. Injuries to Children

This is the big one for families. A waiver a parent signs on a child's behalf does not automatically bar the child's own claim in Michigan. A minor generally cannot be bound to give up their legal rights, and courts scrutinize parental releases carefully. So a signed birthday-party waiver is far weaker against a child's injury than parents fear.

3. Defective or Dangerous Conditions

If a hidden defect — a shallow foam pit, an exposed frame, a torn pad, a defective trampoline bed — caused the injury, that can support a premises liability or product liability claim that an activity waiver may not reach.

4. Vague or Overbroad Language

Waivers that are ambiguous, hidden in fine print, or try to release more than the law allows may not be enforced as written.

Premises Liability and Duty to Supervise

A paying customer at a trampoline park is an invitee, so the park must inspect for and address dangerous conditions and provide reasonable supervision. Parks advertise trained "court monitors" for a reason — when they fail to separate big and small jumpers, allow overcrowding, or ignore rule-breaking, that's evidence of negligence. Michigan's open-and-obvious doctrine was reshaped in Kandil-Elsayed v. F & E Oil (2023), so an obvious hazard now feeds into comparative fault rather than automatically ending the case.

Michigan Comparative Fault and the Deadline

Michigan follows modified comparative negligence. Expect the park to argue the jumper attempted a flip or ignored a rule; that fault reduces recovery, and more than 50% fault bars non-economic damages like pain and suffering. For adults this matters a lot; for young children, fault arguments are much weaker because kids can't be expected to appreciate the risk.

The statute of limitations for personal injury in Michigan is generally three years under MCL 600.5805. Importantly, a minor's deadline is often extended — a child generally has until a period after turning 18 to bring their own claim — but you should never rely on that without confirming the specifics with a lawyer.

What to Do After a Trampoline-Park Injury — A Checklist

1. Get medical care immediately. Growth-plate and spinal injuries need prompt evaluation.
2. Report it to management and insist on a written incident report; get a copy or number.
3. Photograph the exact court, foam pit, pad, or hazard before the park adjusts it.
4. Note staffing — how many monitors were on the floor and how crowded it was.
5. Get witness names and numbers, including other parents.
6. Ask whether the park has security or ceiling cameras and request the footage be preserved.
7. Keep a copy of the waiver you signed and your wristband and receipt.
8. Don't give a recorded statement or accept a quick offer before a lawyer reviews the waiver.

Bottom Line

A trampoline-park waiver is written to make you give up before you even ask — but in Michigan it doesn't cover gross negligence, it doesn't reliably bar a child's claim, and it doesn't excuse dangerous conditions the park should have fixed. If your child or you were hurt at a jump park, don't let a clipboard signature end the conversation. Have a lawyer read the waiver against the facts.

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