ASSEMBLY, No. 817

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblyman ARNONE and Assemblywoman FARRAGHER

An Act concerning the liability of individuals involved in equestrian activities and supplementing Title 2A.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. a. The Legislature finds and declares that equine activities are practiced by a large number of citizens of this State and that those activities attract to this State large numbers of nonresidents, significantly contributing to the economy of this State and, therefore, the allocation of the risks and costs of equine activities are an important matter of public policy.

    b. The purpose of this law is to make explicit a policy of this State which clearly defines the responsibility of all persons servicing equine activities and equestrians, recognizing that equine activities involve risks which must be borne by those who engage in such activities and which are essentially impractical or impossible for the operator to eliminate. It is, therefore, the purpose of this act to state those risks which the equestrian voluntarily assumes for which there can be no recovery.

    2. As used in this act:

    "Equestrian area" includes all of the real and personal property under the control of the operator or on the premises of the operator which are being occupied, by license, lease, fee simple or otherwise, including but not limited to, designated trail areas and other areas utilized for equine activities.

    "Equestrian" means any person, whether amateur or professional, engaging in an equine activity, whether or not a fee is paid to participate in the equine activity or any person utilizing any property for equestrian activities such as trail riding, riding lessons, training of horses, competition of horses, and includes anyone accompanying the person. Equestrian also includes any person who comes on the property of the provider of equine activities, whether or not said person pays consideration.

    "Equine activity" includes any activity that involves the use of the horse, pony, mule or donkey.

    "Inherent risk or risks of an equine activity" means those dangers which are an integral part of equine activity, including but not limited to:

    (1) The propensity of an equine animal to behave in ways that result in injury, harm or death to nearby persons;

    (2) The unpredictability of an equine animal's reaction to such phenomena as sounds, sudden movement, and unfamiliar objects, persons or other animals;

    (3) Certain natural hazards, such as surface or subsurface ground conditions;

    (4) Collisions with other equine animals or with objects; and

    (5) The potential of an equestrian to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to injury to the equestrian or others, including but not limited to, failing to maintain control over the animal or not acting within the equestrian's ability.

    "Operator" means a person or entity who owns, manages, controls or directs the operation of an area where individuals engage in equine activities whether boarding horses, receiving riding lessons, engaging in horse shows, training horses, trail riding, or using horse-drawn vehicles, and includes an agency of this State, political subdivisions thereof or instrumentality of said entities, or any individual or entity acting on behalf of an operator for all or part of such activities.

    3. An equestrian is deemed to assume the inherent risks of equine activities created by horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, weather conditions, conditions of trails, riding rings, training tracks, other equestrians, and all other inherent conditions. Each equestrian is assumed to know the range of his ability and it shall be the duty of each equestrian to conduct himself within the limits of such ability, to maintain control of his horse, pony, mule, or donkey, and to refrain from acting in a manner which may cause or contribute to the injury of himself or others.

    4. The assumption of risk set forth in section 3 of this act shall be a complete bar of suit and shall serve as a complete defense to a suit against an operator by an equestrian for injuries resulting from the assumed risks, notwithstanding the provisions of P.L.1973, c.146 (C.2A:15-5.1 et seq.), relating to comparative negligence. Failure of an equestrian to conduct himself within the limits of his abilities as provided in section 3 of this act shall bar suit against an operator to compensate for injuries resulting from equine activities, where such failure is found to be a contributory factor in the resulting injury.

    5. As a precondition to bringing any suit in connection with an equestrian injury against an operator, an equestrian shall report in writing to the operator all the details of any accident as soon as possible, but in no event longer than 180 days from the time of the incident giving rise to the suit.

    The report shall include at least the following: name, address, brief description of the accident or incident, location, alleged cause, others involved and witnesses, if any. If it is not practicable to give the report because of severe physical disability resulting from an equestrian accident or incident, the report shall be given as soon as practicable. This section is not applicable with respect to an equestrian area unless the operator conspicuously posts notice to equestrians of the requirements of the section.

    An equestrian who fails to give the report within 180 days from the time of the accident or incident may be permitted to give the report at any time within one year after the accident or incident, in the discretion of a judge of the Superior Court, if the operator is not substantially prejudiced thereby. Application to the court for permission to give a late report shall be made upon motion based upon affidavits showing sufficient reasons for the equestrian's failure to give the report within 180 days from the time of the accident or incident.

    6. Sections 2 and 3 of this act, and any other law notwithstanding, an action for injury or death against an operator, an equestrian area or its employees or owner, whether based upon tort or breach of contract or otherwise arising out of equestrian activities shall be commenced no later than two years after the occurrence of the incident or earliest of incidents giving rise to the cause of action.

    7. If an equestrian accident or incident, or an action based upon an equestrian accident or incident, involves a minor, the time limits set forth in sections 5 and 6 of this act shall not begin to run against the minor until the minor reaches the age of majority.

    8. Notwithstanding any provisions of sections 3 and 4 of this act to the contrary, the following actions or lack thereof, on the part of operators shall be exceptions to the limitation on liability for operators:

    a. Knowingly providing equipment or tack that is faulty to the extent that it causes or contributes to injury;

    b. Failure to make reasonable and prudent efforts to determine the equestrian's ability to safely manage the particular horse, based on the equestrian's representation of his ability;

    c. A case in which the equestrian is injured or killed by a known dangerous latent condition on property owned or controlled by the equine activity operator and for which warning signs have not been conspicuously posted;

    d. An act or omission on the part of the operator that constitutes negligent disregard for the equestrians's safety, which act or omission causes the injury; and

    e. Intentional injuries to the equestrian caused by the operator.

    9. All operators shall post and maintain signs on all lands owned or leased thereby and used for equine activities, which signs shall be posted in a manner that makes them visible to all equestrians and which shall contain the following notice in large, capitalized print:

    "WARNING: UNDER NEW JERSEY LAW, AN EQUINE OPERATOR IS NOT LIABLE FOR AN INJURY TO OR THE DEATH OF AN EQUESTRIAN IN EQUINE ACTIVITIES RESULTING FROM THE INHERENT RISKS OF EQUINE ACTIVITIES, PURSUANT TO P.L. , c. (C. ).

    Individuals or entities providing equine activities on behalf of an operator, and not the operator, shall be required to post and maintain the signs required by this section.

    10. a. Every written contract entered into by an operator for the provision of professional services, instruction, or the rental of equipment or tack or an equine animal to an equestrian, whether or not the contract involves equine activities on or off the equestrian area, shall contain, in clear and conspicuous print, the warning notice specified in section 9 of this act, and shall contain, in clear and conspicuous print, a notice that no equestrian, or parent or guardian of an equestrian who is a minor, who knowingly executes a waiver of the right to sue or who agrees to assume the inherent risks of equine activity may maintain an action against or recover from the operator for an injury to or death of an equestrian resulting from the inherent risks of equine activities.

    As used in this section, "clear and conspicuous print" means capitalizing the words when the rest of the contract is printed in lower case, putting the words in bold print and printing the words in a type size that is substantially larger than the print in the other parts of the contract.

    The waiver shall give notice to an equestrian of the risks inherent in equine activities, including:

    (1) The propensity of an equine animal to behave in ways that result in injury, harm or death to nearby persons;

    (2) The unpredictability of an equine animal's reaction to such phenomena as sounds, sudden movement, and unfamiliar objects, persons or other animals;

    (3) Certain natural hazards, such as surface or subsurface ground conditions;

    (4) Collisions with other equine animals or with objects; and

    (5) The potential of other equestrians to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to injury to an equestrian or others, including but not limited to, failing to maintain control over the animal or not acting within an equestrian's ability.

    b. The waiver shall remain valid unless expressly revoked by an equestrian or by the parent or guardian of an equestrian who is a minor. In the case of school and college-sponsored classes and programs, waivers executed by an equestrian, or parent or guardian of an equestrian who is a minor, shall apply to all equine activities in which the equestrian is involved in the next succeeding twelve month period unless expressly revoked in writing prior to the expiration of the twelve month period.

    11. The provisions of this act are cumulative with the defenses available to a public entity or public employee under the "New Jersey Tort Claims Act," N.J.S.59:1-1 et seq..

    12. This act shall not apply to the horse racing industry.

    13. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill would establish by statute the responsibilities and liabilities of those individuals who engage in equine activities. Equine activities include any activities that involves the use of horses and ponies such as riding lessons, trail riding, horse training, or engaging in horse shows.

    This bill provides that one who engages in equine activities assumes the risks involved in those activities. Under the provisions of this bill, notwithstanding the provisions of New Jersey's law with regard to comparative negligence, an equestrian would be completely barred from suing an operator for injuries to which the equestrian contributed to by failing to conduct himself within the limits of his abilities.

    The bill also provides that every written contract entered into for the provision of professional services to an equestrian shall contain a warning notice concerning the liabilities and responsibilities of persons engaging in equine activities, and shall also contain a notice that an equestrian who executes a waiver or agrees to assume the inherent risks of equine activities gives up the right to sue an operator for injuries resulting from inherent risks of equine activities.

    In addition, the bill provides that any waiver executed by an equestrian remains valid unless expressly revoked. In the case of minors involved in school-sponsored programs, the bill provides that waivers remain valid for 12 months unless revoked earlier in writing.

    The bill also establishes certain preconditions which must be met prior to instituting an action against an operator. The equestrian must file a report with the operator, in writing, outlining the details of the injury. This report must be filed no later that 180 days after the time of the accident. If the equestrian fails to file the report within the prescribed time, a Superior Court judge may allow him to file any time within one year after the accident provided that the operator is not substantially prejudiced by the late report.

    In addition, this bill provides that when an equestrian accident involves a minor the time limits for the report and the statute of limitations would not begin to run until the minor reaches the age of majority.

    The bill also requires that written contracts between an operator and equestrian notify equestrians of their legal responsibilities and liabilities established by statute and also notify equestrians that by executing a waiver or agreeing to assume the inherent risks of equine activities, they give up their right to sue an operator for injuries resulting from the inherent risks of equine activities.

    The bill also provides that an executed waiver remains valid unless expressly revoked and, in the case of minors participating in school-sponsored programs, executed waivers remain valid for 12 months unless revoked in writing.

Establishes the responsibilities and liabilities of equestrians.