South Orange Activity Waiver

We signed up for our pool cards a couple of days ago and I noticed today that we needed to sign the following waiver. The scope of the rights for redress that we are surrendering seems, to me, to be a bit concerning.

General Waiver

As a condition of use of any Township of South Orange Village facility or participation in any program, sports league, class, recreation or fitness activity, you agree as a participant or parent/guardian of a participant in the program, to assume all risks and hazards of engaging in or spectating at any city activity or facility, including assuming all risks for personal injury, death and property damage.

You further agree to hold harmless the Township of South Orange Village, the Department of Recreation & Cultural Affairs, its staff, instructors, volunteers, officials, volunteers, sponsors, partners or representatives from liability for any losses, damages or injuries that may occur in any way as a result of these activities or facility uses – regardless of cause.

You further certify that you are properly prepared to engage in any activities you have selected and that you have recently consulted a physician to establish that it is safe and appropriate for you to engage in these activities.

Participants (or the parents/guardians of minor children) may also be required to complete a medical health history and/or sign an additional waiver of liability prior to participation in any programs or classes. Anyone recovering from an injury or illness must first discuss

Therefore, having read and understood this waiver and in consideration of your accepting my entry into a Township of South Orange Village facility or program, I, for myself and anyone entitled to act on my behalf, waive and release the Township of South Orange Village, all staff, volunteers, sponsors, and representatives from all claims or liabilities of any kind arising out of my participation in (or as a spectator of) any program or use of any facility.

NOTE: If a facility user or program participant is under 18 years of age, you as a parent or legal guardian, agrees to the same terms, conditions and waiver of liability set forth in this agreement.

As my wife pointed out, this would seem to absolve the Village of any responsibility if the pool staff were to fill the deep end with rebar and then drive a herd of toddlers off the High Dive.  Can this possibly be correct?

Klinker said:
As my wife pointed out, this would seem to absolve the Village of any responsibility if the pool staff were to fill the deep end with rebar and then drive a herd of toddlers off the High Dive.  Can this possibly be correct?

 No. There's no high dive any more.

Carry on.

mrincredible said:
 No. There's no high dive any more.
Carry on.

 When and why did that happen?

between the 2017 and 2018 pool seasons the high dive had to be removed. I think it was becoming structurally unsound.

The high dive had been grandfathered And exempt from current safety regulations ... now they can't put a high dive back where that one was. So now there's just the regular diving board.

I love having the $30 pool badge but I would pay more for some capital improvements.

i have heard that these waivers are not enforceable when the injury/illness is due to negligence of the facility/staff....they are only enforceable for actual accidents that happened despite the facility being properly maintained and the staff doing their jobs appropriately ...

a lot of places have these waivers, yet get successfully sued

jmitw said:
i have heard that these waivers are not enforceable when the injury/illness is due to negligence of the facility/staff....they are only enforceable for actual accidents that happened despite the facility being properly maintained and the staff doing their jobs appropriately ...


a lot of places have these waivers, yet get successfully sued

 This is absolutely true in regards to waivers signed when participating in equestrian activities, so I would expect the liability law to be the same for other public facilities.