An American version of the running of the bulls, which was modeled after the famous Pamplona, Spain tradition, is expected to draw hundreds of participants, while also bringing about millions of dollars in insurance protection.
Though each of the runners taking part in the quarter-mile run from dozens of rodeo bulls weighing approximately 1,500 pounds each, will be required to sign a solid and exceptionally comprehensive liability waiver, there have been several additional insurance policies taken out to protect the organizers from any form of liability that they can imagine.
The first of the American runs occurred ten years ago, when three runs were held in Arizona and Nevada. Though highly popular, the man behind the event, Phil Immordino, had to halt any further bull runs as the cost of insurance had risen so significantly that he couldn’t make any profit. However, this month, in a town north of Phoenix called Cave Creek, the bull runs have returned.
Immordino explained that there is a seven-page waiver which must be signed by every participant and each paragraph and page of the waiver must be initialed. He added that “It says you, your neighbor, your cousin and your cousin’s brother can’t sue anybody about any of this.”
Tort law expert from the Arizona State University Sandra Day O’Connor School of Law, Betsy Grey, said that a 100 percent ironclad liability waiver doesn’t exist, but in this particular case, the document would make it very difficult for a participant to win a case.
Immordino has also taken out $1 million in insurance coverage, as has the individual who owns the private land on which the bull runs will be held, who also has liability insurance on the property. The owner of the bulls has purchased his own liability insurance. Furthermore, as a precaution, rodeo clowns and paramedics will be on scene and ready to assist anyone who needs it, and escape routes have been designed along the run to give participants somewhere to go if the bulls manage to get too close.