Pretoria - A former Centurion resident who tailgated a mechanical gate at a gym, causing her to trip and fall, has lost her R600 000 damages claim against the gym. It was found she was the author of her own misery.
Suzette Deacon, 54, now living in the Western Cape, instituted the damages claim in the Gauteng Provincial Division of the High Court, sitting in Pretoria, against Planet Fitness Holdings.
She signed up for gym membership at a branch in Centurion in January 2009. She fell and severely injured her leg barely two months later as she exited the gym.
Deacon told the court that she was caught when the barrier installed at the exit gate dropped and closed in on her. It hit her in the middle of her lower leg and she tripped and fell as a result.
The operating manual of the barrier had a notice stating “only one person at a time should pass through the barrier – no tailgating allowed”. This notice was, however, not placed in a public spot.
Deacon said the accident happened on her eighth visit to the gym and she was not aware that only one person could exit at a time. She also never checked behind her how long it took for the barrier to close.
Deacon said she always exercised at quiet times and had not seen how the barrier operated when a person exited the gym in front of her. She testified that she had “the feeling” that there would be enough time for her to exit behind her son.
The gym denied any liability, arguing that Deacon had signed a contract which had a lengthy clause that the gym was excluded from liability and that members used the facilities at their own risk.
Deacon blamed the gym for the accident, saying it was negligent in not warning people that only one person could exit at a time. There should have been warnings that the mechanical arm would close if more than one person tried to exit.
Judge André Louw said the barrier was comparable to the doors of a lift. “We are all familiar with barriers and turnstiles in shops, at sports grounds and stations, which are designed to grant access to only one person at a time. These are regular features of modern society. I cannot see why the plaintiff would have to be warned about the barrier.”
While the gym did not put up notices to warn patrons about tailgating, there was no legal obligation to do so, Judge Louw said. The gym could not have foreseen that Deacon would exit in such a “careless manner”, while on her own evidence, she didn’t know how the barrier operated.
Deacon told the judge she “just had a feeling” she and her son could exit together and had assumed the arm would not bar her from doing so.
The judge said he did not need to delve into the complex issues of the contract, as he had already found the gym was not negligent.
Pretoria News