Assumption of Risk
If you participate in activities that you know are risky or dangerous, and are injured as a result, it may be determined that you “assumed the risk” of injury associated with that activity. For example, a skier who knowingly skis down a steep mountain containing large moguls assumes the risk of harm inherent in such an activity. His claim for damages would most likely fail, unless his injury resulted from a condition unrelated to those for which he was fully able to appreciate and assess the risk. For example, the skier may have realized that skiing can be hazardous and have a full understanding of the dangers. However, he would not have anticipated that a ski-lift cable would break and fall in his path, causing him to fall and get injured. Assumption of risk does not protect the defendant in this type of situation.
Open and Obvious Danger
Another defense which is similar to assumption of risk arises when you engage in an activity that poses an open and obvious danger. Whereas assumption of risk focuses on an array of dangers that are inherently possible, open and obvious conditions deal with one’s knowledge of a specific known threat. For example, suppose you enter your neighbor’s yard knowing that it contains an angry pit bull, and despite the posted warning, “Danger, attack dog! Do not enter.” Your neighbor could use the open and obvious danger defense to argue that you clearly understood the danger of being bitten by the dog but decided to enter the property nonetheless.