Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2010
Abstract
Prominent jurists and legal scholars have long been critical of the doctrine of the assumption of risk, arguing that it is logically flawed and has sown confusion in the courts. This article takes a fresh look at the assumption of risk by focusing on legal conflicts over ski accidents in three ski-intensive states—Vermont, Colorado, and California. It argues that the tort doctrine of the assumption of risk remains vital, and highlights the way in which powerful political and economic actors with links to the ski industry have lobbied aggressively for state laws that codify the assumption of risk. The result has been state legislation that protects ski resort owners and operators from tort liability. By pointing to politics and economics as critical factors in the persistence of the doctrine of assumed risks, and exploring the social values implicated in the assumption of risk debate, the article deepens what has been an overly technical debate among tort law scholars and offers a way forward for future tort law scholarship on the idea of assumed risks.
Keywords
torts, accident and injury law, assumption of the risk, risks, risky activities, ski accidents, insurance, ski safety statutes, political and economic interests, individual freedom, duty of care to act reasonably
Publication Title
DePaul Law Review
Repository Citation
Feldman, Eric and Stein, Alison I., "Assuming the Risk: Tort Law, Policy, and Politics on the Slippery Slopes" (2010). All Faculty Scholarship. 296.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/296
Included in
Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons, Economic Policy Commons, Growth and Development Commons, Law and Politics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Public Law and Legal Theory Commons, Public Policy Commons, Risk Analysis Commons, Torts Commons
Publication Citation
59 Depaul L. Rev. 259 (2010)