Consumer Law, Warranties Liability Waiver

My family is taking a vacation to Nevada soon where we were planning on doing some rail biking. There is a liability waiver that we have to sign with the provider and the state of Nevada. Most of it seems pretty standard, but there was one section that seemed odd to me. Is the language below too broad? I thought it would say that we would indemnify them from all liabilities we incur not all liabilities in general. I know the intent is to cover all liabilities we incur or cause, and I am fine with that. However, we will not be the only people on the transport to and from the site. Is there anything we need to be concerned about here? Am I taking on any risk to a third party that I would not have caused?


I INDEMNIFY, HOLD HARMLESS, AND PROMISE NOT TO SUE THE RELEASED PARTIES from any and all liabilities or claims made wherever occurring resulting from or related to the Activities, whether caused by the negligence of the Released Parties or otherwise.

There's two parts of that to be worried about.

1 - If your negligence injures somebody while riding the rail bike the people who provide the bikes are likely to be named in the same lawsuit. You are basically agreeing to pay for whatever legal assistance they need to get out from under and you're also agreeing to pay whatever judgement or settlement goes against them. That was the hold harmless and indemnify part.

Make sure you have high liability limits on your homeowners or renters insurance.

2 - You are also agreeing not to sue them if their negligence causes you injury. Like if they provided a rail bike that was faulty.

A waiver like that has had difficulty holding up in court. But no guarantees there. Juries can make strange decisions.

adjusterjack said:

A waiver like that has had difficulty holding up in court. But no guarantees there. Juries can make strange decisions.

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You keep making that statement Jack as though these kinds of waivers are routinely tossed out. They are not. Moreover, the validity of a waiver is generally decided by the judge. A jury would decide the facts of the case and apply the law supplied by the judge to the facts it determines to reach its decision on the case. That may involve deciding whether the particular act in question falls within the waiver, which is different than a decision on the validity of the waiver itself. Certainly some waivers fail to hold up in court, but it's far better to assume that the waiver will hold up when deciding whether to sign it.

Philip said:

we were planning on doing some rail biking.

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Were planning or are planning? Also, out of curiosity, what is rail biking? Did you mean "trail biking"?

Philip said:

There is a liability waiver that we have to sign with the provider and the state of Nevada.

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Provider of what? Are you talking about a bike rental company? And what does the State of Nevada have to do with this?

Philip said:

Is the language below too broad?

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Too broad for what? In a nutshell, this says that, if you get injured as a result of "the Activities," you will not sue and will pay the "Released Parties" for any losses they suffer as a result. It's very standard release language.

Philip said:

I thought it would say that we would indemnify them from all liabilities we incur not all liabilities in general.

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It doesn't say "all liabilities in general." It says "liabilities . . . resulting from or related to the Activities." Of course, the capitalized word "Activities" is presumably defined somewhere, but you didn't share that info with us.

Philip said:

However, we will not be the only people on the transport to and from the site. Is there anything we need to be concerned about here? Am I taking on any risk to a third party that I would not have caused?

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As with activities, the term "Released Parties" is also presumably defined somewhere, but we don't have that info either.

The reality is that, if you want to do this, you'll have to sign.

zddoodah said:

Did you mean "trail biking"?

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I think "rail biking" means this:



The Best Rail Bike Tours and Where to Find Them | The Manual

Looks like fun. Much better than this:

Yes, it is rail biking that we are considering. Thanks everyone for your input.