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Steinke v. South Carolina Department of Labor9/7/1999
Steinke, et al., v. SC DLLR
Shearouse Adv. Sh. No. S.E. 2d
Appeal From Horry County A. Victor Rawl, Circuit Court Judge
Heard May 12, 1999
Mike and Mary Steinke, the parents and personal representatives of the estate of Zachary Steinke, and Linda Nash Given, the mother and personal representative of the estate of Michael Nash (Respondents), brought wrongful death actions against the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation (Department). The jury awarded the statutory beneficiaries of each teenager $1 million in actual damages. Nash's award was reduced to $900,000 because the jury concluded he was ten percent at fault.
The trial Judge denied Department's motions for a directed verdict, a judgment notwithstanding the verdict, and a new trial. Department appealed. The Court of Appeals certified this case to this Court because it involves issues of significant public interest and legal principles of major importance. See S.C. Code Ann. ยง 14-8-210(c) (Supp. 1998); Rule 204(b), SCACR (formerly contained in Rule 214(b), SCACR)). We affirm in part and reverse in part.
FACTS
Zachary Steinke, a 17-year-old bungee jumper, and Michael Nash, a 19-year-old bungee jump master, died August 10, 1993, when the steel cage in which they were riding fell 160 feet to the ground at Beach Bungee, an attraction near Myrtle Beach. Zachary's parents saw the accident happen. His mother, a registered nurse, and his father tried to save Zachary by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation upon him.
Beach Bungee's owners initially used a "crawlevator" to carry bungee jumpers and sightseers to the top of a 160-foot metal arch. The crawlevator was a chain-driven device that ran along the supports of the metal arch. A steel cage attached to the crawlevator carried jumpers and spectators. After a person jumped, the crawlevator lowered spectators and the suspended jumper to the ground by slowly descending the arch. Although bungee jumping was not regulated, Department considered the crawlevator a ride subject to regulation under the South Carolina Amusement Rides Safety Code because it carried spectators. Department issued a permit for the crawlevator in May 1993.
The crawlevator had persistent mechanical problems, sometimes stalling or violently shaking passengers as the chain jerked along the track. Beach Bungee owners took the crawlevator out of service in mid-July 1993. They hired Marshall Beam, a local shrimp boat mechanic, to install an electric winch and cable to lift the steel cage. Beam attached the winch to the base of the arch, fashioned three pulleys to guide a single metal cable through the structure of the metal arch, and connected the cable to the cage as it sat beneath the center of the arch. Two stabilizing cables were attached to a static line to prevent the cage from rotating or swaying, but they provided no actual support for the cage. The winch could not be controlled from inside the cage. The jump master used hand signals to tell the winch operator on the ground when the cage was properly positioned for a jump. Operators also painted a blue mark on the cable to identify the proper stopping point.
The accident occurred when the ride operator, owner Harold Morris, became distracted during the three minutes or so it took the cage to travel to the top of the arch. When Morris failed to stop the winch, it kept pulling the three-eighths-inch cable after the cage jammed into the arch. Someone -perhaps Zachary or Michael or spectators - cried, "Stop! Stop!" As horrified onlookers watched, the single lifting cable snapped and the cage plummeted to the ground. It was the sixth day th
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