2021 Georgia Code
Title 51 - Torts
Chapter 1 - General Provisions
§ 51-1-43. "Roller Skating Safety Act of 1993."

1. This Code section shall be known and may be cited as the "Roller Skating Safety Act of 1993."
2. As used in this Code section, the term:
   1. "Operator" means a person or entity who owns or controls or who has operational responsibility for a roller skating center.
   2. "Roller skater" means a person wearing roller skates while that person is in a roller skating center for the purpose of roller skating.
   3. "Roller skating center" means a building, facility, or premises which provides an area specifically designed to be used for roller skating by the public.
   4. "Spectator" means a person who is present in a roller skating center only for the purpose of observing skating activity, whether recreational or competitive.
3. Each operator of a roller skating center shall be required to:
   1. Post the duties of roller skaters and spectators as prescribed in this Code section in conspicuous places;
   2. Comply with the safety standards ordinarily accepted in the roller skating rink industry;
   3. Maintain roller skating equipment and roller skating surfaces according to the safety standards cited in paragraph (2) of this subsection; and
   4. Maintain the stability and legibility of all required signs, symbols, and posted notices.
4. While in a roller skating center, each roller skater shall do all of the following:
   1. Maintain reasonable control of his or her speed and course at all times;
   2. Read all posted signs and warnings;
   3. Maintain a proper lookout to avoid other roller skaters and objects;
   4. Accept the responsibility for knowing the range of his or her own ability to negotiate the intended direction of travel while on roller skates and to skate within the limits of that ability; and
   5. Refrain from acting in a manner which may cause injury to others.
5. Each person who participates in roller skating in a roller skating center accepts the risks that are inherent in that activity insofar as the risks are obvious and necessary.
6. A roller skater, spectator, or operator who violates the provisions of this Code section shall be liable in a civil action for damages for that portion of the loss or damage resulting from the violation.
7. Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to relieve an operator from exercising ordinary diligence in his or her operational responsibility.

(Code 1981, §51-1-43, enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 719, § 1.)

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 1993, Code Section 51-1-43, as enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 1051, § 1, was redesignated as Code Section 51-1-44 and Code Section 51-1-43, as enacted by Ga. L. 1993, p. 1278, § 1, was redesignated as Code Section 51-1-45.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Owners of skating rink entitled to summary judgment.

- Because a skating rink patron failed to present sufficient evidence showing that the rink owners breached a duty by failing to have identifiable floor guards on duty at the time of the patron's fall, and that the breach proximately caused the patron's injuries, but instead, the unequivocal evidence showed that a floor guard was on duty at the time of the fall, the trial court properly granted summary judgment to the owners as to the issue of their liability. Moreover, testimony from other management personnel, who were not at the rink at the time of the fall, did not contradict the assistant manager's positive assertions or written report and did not create a material issue of fact. Evans v. Sparkles Mgmt., LLC, 290 Ga. App. 458, 659 S.E.2d 860 (2008).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

C.J.S.

- 65A C.J.S., Negligence, § 133 et seq.