Lawyer has reacted

Serious tobogganing accident raises many questions

The 17-year-old from Burgenland had to receive intensive medical care in hospital for three days.(Bild: P. Huber)

A family from Burgenland endured anxious hours after their daughter (17) was admitted to hospital with internal bleeding following a tobogganing accident. A law firm has responded to inquiries from the family of the seriously injured victim.

"Fortunately, our daughter survived, but we want the risk of further accidents to be reduced as much as possible." This was emphasized by the parents from the district of Mattersburg, whose daughter suffered serious injuries on the toboggan run at Semmering in Lower Austria on 1 February.

Great concern for daughter
The 17-year-old had crashed into a barrier on the night run with her toboggan. A ruptured liver and internal bleeding were the result. Happened at around 7.30 pm, admitted to Wiener Neustadt Hospital at 9.20 pm, according to the family. "That's a terribly long time considering the injury. Our daughter needed intensive medical care," explains the mother, who works in a hospital herself.

Letter from a lawyer
A law firm from St. Pölten has now replied to her inquiry to the operators of the toboggan run. "My client regrets this accident, but the problem is that users of the toboggan run make driving errors and the purpose of the barrier wall is to prevent people from falling into the forest," it says.

It is noted that "there are repeated accidents, a number of proceedings have already been conducted and the experts have repeatedly stated that the safety of the toboggan run complies with the regulations, even if it is possible that improvements can still be made".

As a result of the accident, our daughter could hardly breathe. After hospital, she had to take it easy for two months and was not allowed to exert herself. It can take up to five months before she is fully recovered.

Die Mutter der 17-Jährigen

Difference in frequency
Incidentally, according to the lawyer, it is also not true that there were "high-frequency operations" that evening. However, the balance sheet of the emergency services looks somewhat different: Four out of five accidents had happened on the toboggan run - in a very dense ten-minute alert cycle. "After the second and third operations started, the first one wasn't even over yet," they say.

Safety first
"Blame or no blame, safety should take priority," the mother clarifies. She is surprised that the lawyer for Bergbahnen GmbH now wants to know whether her daughter "can also ski, for example". The answer is clear: "Yes, very well!"