SB463: Bill Text

LRB-3949/1

PJH:ahe&cjs

2015 - 2016 LEGISLATURE

2015 Senate BILL 463

December 18, 2015 - Introduced by Senators Stroebel and Kapenga, cosponsored by Representatives Jarchow, Novak, Ballweg, E. Brooks, Czaja, Gannon, Horlacher, Kerkman, Krug, T. Larson, Tittl, Pope and Brandtjen. Referred to Committee on Agriculture, Small Business, and Tourism.

SB463,2,2 An Act to repeal 167.33 (1) (d), 167.33 (3) (g) 1. and 167.33 (3) (g) 2.; to renumber 167.33 (1) (a); to renumber and amend 167.33 (1) (c), 167.33 (1) (o), 167.33 (3) (b) and 167.33 (3) (g) (intro.); to amend 15.347 (20) (b) 6., 167.33 (title), 167.33 (1) (b), 167.33 (1) (f), 167.33 (1) (g), 167.33 (1) (h), 167.33 (1) (L), 167.33 (1) (m), 167.33 (2) (title), 167.33 (2) (b) 1., 167.33 (2) (f), 167.33 (2) (h), 167.33 (3) (a), 167.33 (3) (f) (intro.), 167.33 (3) (f) 5., 167.33 (3) (f) 6., 167.33 (3) (h), 167.33 (3) (j) 1., 167.33 (3) (j) 2., 167.33 (4) (a), 167.33 (4) (ag), 167.33 (4) (b) 2., 167.33 (5) (title), 167.33 (5) (a) 13., 167.33 (5) (b) 11., 895.525 (2) (b), 895.526 (title), 895.526 (2) (title), 895.526 (2) (a), 895.526 (2) (b), 895.526 (2) (c), 895.526 (2) (d), 895.526 (3) (intro.), 895.526 (3) (b) and 895.526 (4) (a); and to create 167.33 (1) (ar), 167.33 (1) (dm), 167.33 (3) (am), 167.33 (3) (b) 2., 167.33 (3) (em) and 167.33 (5) (c) of the statutes; relating to: duties of ski area operators and persons who bike in a ski area, and liability of ski area operators.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill establishes duties for persons who bike in ski areas and for the operators of ski areas.

Under current law, a participant in a recreational activity, including bicycling, on a premises that is open to the public for such purposes is deemed to accept the risks inherent in the activity of which an ordinary prudent person is or should be aware. Current law also imposes certain responsibilities on participants in a recreational activity, including the responsibility to act within the limits of his or her ability, heed all warnings regarding participation in the recreational activity, maintain control of himself or herself and the equipment he or she is using, and refrain from acting in any manner that may cause or contribute to the death of or injury to himself or herself or to other persons while participating in the recreational activity.

Under current law, if a participant in a recreational activity is injured or killed, his or her own actions may be considered contributory negligence in a civil suit brought against the owners of the premises if the participant failed to comply with any of the responsibilities set forth for participants in the activity.

Under current law, the same rules of liability and negligence apply to skiing, sledding, tubing, tobogganing, and other snow sports (snow sports) that take place outside of a ski area, but there is a different scheme for determining whether the operator of a ski area is liable for injuries sustained by a person who participates in a snow sport at a ski area. This bill applies much of the same analysis that is applied to a participant in a snow sport to a person who bikes in a ski area (biker).

Under the bill, a biker is deemed to know, and accept, certain risks inherent in biking in a ski area, such as changes in weather or visibility, the presence of certain conditions and difficulties with the terrain, and the risk of collisions and to accept that the operator of a ski area may not mitigate certain risks by padding items or obstacles within the ski area. Under the bill, a biker's responsibilities include knowing and complying with all safety rules established by the ski area operator, knowing the limits of his or her abilities, and being able to maintain control of himself or herself and his or her equipment while biking.

The bill also sets forth several safety requirements for ski area operators and requirements designed to inform participants of the dangers inherent in biking and of the responsibilities each participant has for his or her own safety. The requirements include placing warning signs and informational signs as to the level of difficulty of ski trails, and recommending the use of helmets.

Under the bill, the operator of a ski area is immune from liability for any injury sustained by a biker if the injury was a result of any of the risks accepted by the biker and the operator of the ski area has complied with the requirements.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

SB463,1 Section 1. 15.347 (20) (b) 6. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,3,2 15.347 (20) (b) 6. Persons who engage in snow alpine sports.

SB463,2 Section 2. 167.33 (title) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,3,4 167.33 (title) Snow Alpine sports.

SB463,3 Section 3. 167.33 (1) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 167.33 (1) (am).

SB463,4 Section 4. 167.33 (1) (ar) of the statutes is created to read:

SB463,3,7 167.33 (1) (ar) "Biking" means riding a bicycle within a ski area.

SB463,5 Section 5. 167.33 (1) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,3,12 167.33 (1) (b) "Competition" means any event authorized by a ski area operator, or by an agent of a ski area operator, that involves a comparison of skills used in one or more snow alpine sports. "Competition" includes training sessions for such an event.

SB463,6 Section 6. 167.33 (1) (c) of the statutes is renumbered 167.33 (1) (om) and amended to read:

SB463,3,17 167.33 (1) (om) "Freestyle Terrain features" means man-made features that include boxes, jumps, hits, jibs, tabletops, spikes, take-off ramps, landings, banks, rails, rollers, half pipes, picnic tables, logs, and pipes.

SB463,7 Section 7. 167.33 (1) (d) of the statutes is repealed.

SB463,8 Section 8. 167.33 (1) (dm) of the statutes is created to read:

SB463,4,4 167.33 (1) (dm) "Freestyle terrain" means an area that includes half-pipes, terrain parks, terrain gardens, freestyle courses, or other terrain features. Freestyle terrain does not include an area groomed with natural and man-made surface variations to aid new skiers in learning to ski or natural or man-made mogul fields.

SB463,9 Section 9. 167.33 (1) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,4,8 167.33 (1) (f) "Lift" means any aerial tramway or lift, a surface lift, a tow, or a conveyor used by a ski area operator to transport participants in snow alpine sports at a ski area.

SB463,10 Section 10. 167.33 (1) (g) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,4,17 167.33 (1) (g) "Participant in a snow an alpine sport" means an individual who has a pass or ticket to engage in an alpine sport and who is engaged in a snow an alpine sport or who is walking or otherwise traveling within a ski area for purposes of engaging in the sport. "Participant in a snow an alpine sport" also means an individual who is present at a ski area to observe others engaged in a snow an alpine sport or who is a passenger on a lift. "Participant in a snow an alpine sport" includes an individual that is an employee of a ski area operator when he or she is acting outside the scope of his or her employment.

SB463,11 Section 11. 167.33 (1) (h) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,4,21 167.33 (1) (h) "Ski area" means trails, terrains, and other outdoor areas that are used by individuals engaged in snow alpine sports and that is administered as a single enterprise by a ski area operator.

SB463,12 Section 12. 167.33 (1) (L) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,4,24 167.33 (1) (L) "Skiing" means downhill skiing, alpine skiing, nordic skiing, cross-country skiing, ski biking, telemarking, snowshoeing, or snowboarding.

SB463,13 Section 13. 167.33 (1) (m) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,5,2 167.33 (1) (m) "Sledding" means sliding down a prepared course on sleds, toboggans, ski bikes, or comparable devices. "Sledding" excludes tubing.

SB463,14 Section 14. 167.33 (1) (o) of the statutes is renumbered 167.33 (1) (ag) and amended to read:

SB463,5,6 167.33 (1) (ag) "Snow Alpine sport" means skiing, sledding, biking, or tubing , or freestyling.

SB463,15 Section 15. 167.33 (2) (title) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,5,8 167.33 (2) (title) Conditions and risks of snow alpine sports.

SB463,16 Section 16. 167.33 (2) (b) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,5,12 167.33 (2) (b) 1. Snow, ice, crust, slush, soft spots, holes, grooves, bare spots, mud, loose dirt, cuts, rocks, boulders, water, puddles, creeks, streams, cliffs, drop-offs, or tracks from foot traffic or ski area vehicles.

SB463,17 Section 17. 167.33 (2) (f) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,5,15 167.33 (2) (f) The risk of collision with other participants in snow alpine sports, employees of a ski area operator, or ski area infrastructure.

SB463,18 Section 18. 167.33 (2) (h) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,5,19 167.33 (2) (h) The greater risk of collision, injury, or death in treed areas, in areas where competitions are held, and in areas where freestyling is allowed of freestyle terrain.

SB463,19 Section 19. 167.33 (3) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

SB463,5,23 167.33 (3) (a) Notice on tickets required. Each Except as provided in par. (am), each ski area operator shall print on each ticket or season pass that it issues to participants in snow alpine sports the following warning:

SB463,6,5 "WARNING: Under Wisconsin law, each participant in a snow an alpine sport assumes the risk of injury or death to person or injury to property resulting from the conditions and risks that are considered to be inherent in a snow an alpine sport, has a number of duties that must be met while engaging in a snow an alpine sport, and is subject to limitations on the ability to recover damages from a ski area operator for injuries or death to a person or to property. A complete copy of this law is available for review at the main site where tickets to this ski area are sold."

SB463,20 Section 20. 167.33 (3) (am) of the statutes is created to read:

SB463,6,15 167.33 (3) (am) A ski area operator may sell, distribute, and use tickets or season passes printed before the effective date of this paragraph .... [LRB inserts date], until its stock of those tickets or passes are exhausted. A ski area operator that sells, distributes, or uses such tickets or passes shall post a notice at each location where the tickets or passes are sold, distributed, or used that informs each recipient of the ticket or pass that he or she is engaging in an alpine sport, as defined in s. 167.33 (1) (ag), and that the definition for snow sport, as used on the ticket or pass, has been amended. The notice shall indicate that a complete copy of s. 167.33 is available for review at the main site where the ski area operator sells tickets.

SB463,21 Section 21. 167.33 (3) (b) of the statutes is renumbered 167.33 (3) (b) (intro.) and amended to read:

SB463,6,19 167.33 (3) (b) Signs required; generally. (intro.) Each ski area operator shall post and maintain a sign the following signs: