Nebraska Trampoline Accident Lawyer

How Nebraska Law Looks at a Trampoline Injury

If you were hurt, the facts of your accident decide which of three legal theories fits, and that in turn shapes who may be responsible and what a claim has to show.

Premises liability is the responsibility a person or business that controls property has for unsafe conditions on it. The care owed often depends on why the injured person was there: a paying guest at a trampoline park is usually an invitee, a social guest may be a licensee, and a person who enters without permission a trespasser. Each status can carry a different duty. Nebraska's statute on recreational land uses these same terms, "invitee or licensee to whom a duty of care is owed."

Negligent supervision asks whether the people responsible for watching jumpers, such as park staff, used reasonable care. It matters most when a collision, a crowded court or a stunt was allowed to happen.

Product liability is the responsibility of those who make or sell a product for injuries a defect in it causes. In Nebraska, these claims carry their own time limits under section 25-224 of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska, covered below.

Nebraska also has a Recreation Liability Act. Section 37-732 of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska provides that, subject to section 37-734, an owner of land who invites or permits "without charge" any person to use the property for recreational purposes does not promise the premises are safe, does not give that person invitee or licensee status, and does not take on liability for injuries caused by that person's acts. A court annotation on the same page, Gallagher v. Omaha Public Power Dist. (1987), states that governmental subdivisions are "owners" under this section. A trampoline park that charges admission does not fit the "without charge" wording on its face. Whether the act reaches a particular backyard or free public space depends on the facts and on section 37-734.

For someone weighing a claim, the practical point is that the theory and the setting together frame the rest of the case, which is often the first thing a conversation with an attorney sorts out.

Where the Accident Happened and Why It Matters

At a commercial trampoline park, injuries can come from falls off a trampoline or through gaps between pads, collisions between jumpers of different sizes, padding that does not cover springs and frames, and staff who are not enforcing limits on how many people jump at once. Dodgeball courts and foam pit injuries raise their own design and supervision questions. These cases usually involve premises liability, negligent supervision and often a signed release.

A backyard trampoline brings in a homeowner instead of a business. The questions are what duty the owner owed a guest, and what happens when an uninvited child climbs on. Some courts recognize an attractive nuisance doctrine: the idea that a property owner may owe extra care to children drawn onto property by something appealing and dangerous, because children may not understand the risk. Whether and how that applies to a trampoline in Nebraska depends on the state's current law and the facts.

Equipment failures, such as a broken spring, torn mat, buckled frame or failed enclosure net, bring in product liability and its separate deadlines.

Schools, gyms and recreation centers are a fourth setting. If a public body runs the facility, Nebraska's rules for claims against political subdivisions may apply.

If your accident fits one of these settings, that setting points to which deadline may be running and who may need to be identified early.

Who May Be Responsible for a Trampoline Injury in Nebraska

Whoever may be at fault in your case, a negligence claim would need to show four things: that the defendant owed a duty, breached it, caused the injury by that breach, and that damages resulted. An injury alone does not prove anyone was at fault.

A trampoline park operator or owner may be responsible for keeping the premises reasonably safe and supervising guests. Where the operator and building owner are different businesses, who controlled the equipment and rules can matter. The site's page on trampoline park injury claims explains these roles.

A homeowner with a backyard trampoline owes duties to guests that depend on their status, and possibly more care toward children.

If a broken part or failed net caused your injury, the maker, distributor or seller may be responsible under product liability, but only if a defect existed and caused the harm; an accident does not by itself prove a defect.

A government body that runs a park, school or recreation center may be a defendant. Claims against a political subdivision, such as a city, county or school district, follow the written-claim and suit rules in section 13-919 of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska. The State of Nebraska itself is a separate matter under the state's current law.

Identifying each possible party matters for a reader because each one can carry a different deadline, and more than one party may share fault under Nebraska's comparison rule.

What a Waiver or Release Does and Does Not Decide

A waiver or release is a document in which a person agrees to give up, or limit, the right to bring certain claims against a business. Some also require disputes to go to arbitration instead of court. They usually describe trampolining as risky and say the guest accepts those risks and releases the park. Some are signed on paper, others on a tablet or online, sometimes by a parent for a child.

A signature does not answer every question. Whether a release is enforced depends on its exact wording, the circumstances of signing, the kind of conduct involved, and Nebraska's current law. That is why this page does not say that a release does, or does not, bar a claim.

Whether a parent's signature binds a child's own claim depends on the specific document, the facts, and Nebraska's current law. The site's page on trampoline park waivers explains how these documents are structured and why courts in different states have treated them differently.

If you signed a release and are unsure what it means, the document itself is part of what a conversation with an attorney can cover.

Nebraska's Comparative Fault Rule and What It Means for Your Claim

Comparative fault is the rule for what happens when the injured person is found partly responsible too. Nebraska's version is in section 25-21,185.09 of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska, which reads:

"Any contributory negligence chargeable to the claimant shall diminish proportionately the amount awarded as damages for an injury attributable to the claimant's contributory negligence but shall not bar recovery, except that if the contributory negligence of the claimant is equal to or greater than the total negligence of all persons against whom recovery is sought, the claimant shall be totally barred from recovery. The jury shall be instructed on the effects of the allocation of negligence."

In plain terms, if a jury found an injured jumper one-quarter responsible, any damages would be reduced by that quarter. If the jumper's share equals or exceeds the combined share of everyone sued, the claim recovers nothing. A court annotation on the same page, Traphagan v. Mid-America Traffic Marking (1996), states that where reasonable minds could find the plaintiff's negligence less than 50 percent of the total, the apportionment must go to the jury.

Facts that may come up include whether posted rules were followed, whether a safety briefing or staff instructions were given, and whether a flip or double bounce was involved. When the injured person is a child, how a child's conduct is measured depends on Nebraska's current law and the child's age and understanding. For a parent, this is often the hardest part to hear: a child's own actions can become part of the case. Whether that changes anything depends on what actually happened.

Filing Deadlines Under Nebraska Law

A statute of limitations is the time limit for filing a lawsuit; once it runs out, a claim can be lost. Several Nebraska limits may apply.

Section 25-207 of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska provides that "an action for an injury to the rights of the plaintiff, not arising on contract," can only be brought within four years. The statute does not say when that period starts for this kind of claim; court annotations on the page address it. Susman v. Kearney Towing & Repair Ctr. (2022) states that a negligence claim does not accrue until the plaintiff becomes an aggrieved party with a right to sue. Konecne v. Abram, LLC (2025) states that the period under this subdivision is tolled until the discovery of the cause of action.

Product liability claims fall under section 25-224. Subject to exceptions for subsection (5) and for section 2-725 of the Uniform Commercial Code, they must be brought within four years after the death, injury or damage occurs. For products manufactured in Nebraska, the claim must also be brought within ten years after the product was first sold or leased for use. For products made elsewhere, the period is the place of manufacture's statute of repose, if any, but never less than ten years; if there is no such statute, only the four-year period applies. Gillam v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co. (1992), annotated on the page, states that the ten-year period begins when the product is first relinquished for use, and that an injury after the ten years ends leaves no cause of action at all.

For minors, section 25-213 of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska provides that a person who was "within the age of twenty years," had a mental disorder, or was imprisoned when the claim accrued may bring the action within the usual Chapter 25 times "after such disability is removed." "Disability" here means the legal status of being under that age, not a physical condition. The section also reaches the Political Subdivisions Tort Claims Act. Macku v. Drackett Products Co. (1984), annotated there, states that this extension benefits only the child and not the parent.

Claims against a political subdivision under section 13-919 are "forever barred" unless a written claim is made to the governing body within one year after the claim accrued, and suits must begin within two years after accrual. If the time to sue would otherwise run out first, it is extended six months from the date the governing body mails notice of its final decision, or from the date the claim is withdrawn under section 13-906. Brothers v. Kimball Cty. Hosp. (2015) states that a claim filed with the wrong person, and refiled with the right one after the year had passed, was time-barred.

Which period applies, and when it started, often turns on who made the equipment, who ran the facility, and the injured person's age. Those questions can be part of a case evaluation with our attorney.

Wrongful Death After a Fatal Trampoline Accident in Nebraska

When a trampoline accident takes a life, the family is left with grief and questions they never expected to ask. Wrongful death is a claim for the loss a family suffers when a person dies because of another's wrongful act. Section 30-810 of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska sets the rules.

The action must be commenced within two years after the death and brought by and in the name of the deceased person's personal representative, the person a court appoints to act for the estate. The claim is "for the exclusive benefit of the widow or widower and next of kin," so family members do not each file their own suit.

The verdict should be for the damages the surviving family members have sustained. Any recovery is divided among them in proportion to each person's pecuniary, or financial, loss compared with the total. A personal representative cannot settle the claim until the appointing court approves the terms.

The comparative fault rule in section 25-21,185.09 also applies. Curtis v. States Family Practice (2012), annotated on both pages, states that in a wrongful-death case for a six-year-old child, the child's father, as next of kin, was properly included in the jury's allocation of contributory negligence.

For a family, the first practical questions are often who will serve as personal representative and how the two-year period fits with the estate process.

Records That Can Help Show What Happened

Records connect the facts to what Nebraska law asks: duty, breach, causation and damages. If you were hurt, these are the materials that often show whether a claim holds together.

Medical records show the injury, diagnosis, treatment and costs. For concussions, explained on the site's page about trampoline head injuries, follow-up records can show how the injury developed.

Photos and video of the trampoline, court, padding, enclosure and injury, including footage others took at the event, can show conditions at the time.

In a possible product case, the trampoline or part itself, its model and serial number, and the receipt or order history bear on the defect question and on the dates under section 25-224.

A facility incident report shows what staff recorded at the time, not necessarily what caused the injury.

Witness names and contact details, including other parents, jumpers and staff, help reconstruct what happened.

The release and any confirmation email or app record show exactly what was signed, by whom and when.

Which of these exist in a given case is often what an attorney reviews first in judging how the duty, fault and deadline questions above may come out.