BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to defining the responsibilities and liabilities of skating center operators and persons who use skating centers; and adding a new chapter to Title 70 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act shall be known as the skating center safety and skater's responsibility act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Skating center operator" means a person or entity that owns, manages, or controls, or that has operational responsibility for, an ice or roller skating center. An operator may include the state, a political subdivision of the state, or other municipal entity.

(2) "Skating center" means a building, facility, or premises that provides an area specifically designed to be used by the public for ice or roller skating.

(3) "Skater" means a person wearing ice or roller skates while in a skating center for the purpose of ice or roller skating. It also includes a person in a skating center who is an invitee, whether or not the person pays consideration.

(4) "Spectator" means a person who is present in a skating center only for the purpose of observing skating activity.

(5) "Floor supervisor" means an employee of a skating center who observes and supervises skating within the rink.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. Each skating center operator shall do all of the following:

(1) Post in two or more conspicuous places in the skating center the duties of skaters and spectators and the inherent risks of skating as provided in this chapter;

(2) Maintain the stability and legibility of all signs, symbols, and posted notices required by this chapter;

(3) When the skating center is open for sessions, have at least one floor supervisor for every approximately two hundred skaters;

(4) Maintain the skating surface in reasonably safe condition and clean and inspect the skating surface before each session;

(5) Maintain the railings, kickboards, and wall surrounding the skating surface in reasonably good condition;

(6) Install fire extinguishers and inspect them at recommended intervals; and

(7) Check rental skates on a regular basis to ensure the skates are in reasonably good working order.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. While in a skating center, each skater shall do all of the following:

(1) Maintain control of his or her speed and course at all times;

(2) Read and obey all posted signs and warnings;

(3) Be alert and observant and maintain a proper lookout to avoid other skaters, spectators, and objects;

(4) When attempting to overtake another skater, a skater shall do so in a manner that will avoid collision with objects and other persons in that skater's field of vision and direction of travel;

(5) Accept the responsibility for knowing the range of his or her own ability to negotiate the intended direction of travel while on skates and to skate within the limits of that ability; and

(6) Refrain from acting in a manner that may cause or contribute to injury to himself or herself or to any other person.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Every skater, spectator, or other person who participates in skating activity, is deemed to know about and accept the inherent risks of skating, insofar as those risks are obvious and necessary. Those risks include, but are not limited to, injuries that result from contact with other skaters, spectators, or other persons; injuries that result from ordinary loss of balance and falls; and injuries that involve other objects or artificial structures visibly within the intended path of travel.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A skater, spectator, or skating center operator who violates this chapter may be liable in a civil action for damages, but only if and to the extent the loss or damage was proximately caused by the violation. Skating center operators shall not be liable to skaters or spectators for injuries that result from the inherent risks of skating. A skater's or spectator's violation of the duties and responsibilities in section 4 of this act or the assumption of risk set forth in section 5 of this act shall be a rebuttable defense in a lawsuit against a skating center operator by a skater or spectator for injuries sustained while engaged in skating activity and that result from either the violation of section 4 of this act or the assumption of risk in section 5 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Sections 1 through 6 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 70 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.