Woman sues Universal Orlando over injuries from same roller coaster in which man died after ride

Guests ride on the Stardust Racers roller coaster at Epic Universe Theme Park at Universal Resort Orlando, April 10, 2025, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

ORLANDO, Fla. — A woman has sued Universal Orlando Resort, claiming she was injured on a roller coaster at its newest theme park. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday, comes a week after a man died from blunt impact injuries after going on the same ride.

Sandi Streets filed the negligence lawsuit in state court in Orlando, days after the death of 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala in a separate incident.

Streets said she was invited to Universal’s Epic Universe theme park just a few weeks before it officially opened to the public in May and went on the dual-launch coaster, which reaches speeds up to 62 mph (100 kph). On the ride, her head shook violently and slammed into her seat’s headrest, giving her permanent injuries, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit says Streets has suffered disability, medical care expenses, loss of the ability to work and an exacerbation of a preexisting condition since going on the ride. Her attorney, Nicholas Spetsas, didn’t immediately respond Thursday to an email seeking further details on her injuries.

The ride failed to properly restrain her head, and the theme park failed to adequately warn her of “the unsafe and unreasonably dangerous condition” of the roller coaster, the lawsuit says.

Universal didn’t respond Thursday to an email seeking comment about the lawsuit.

In Zavala’s case, the medical examiner for the Orlando area ruled the cause of death as multiple blunt impact injuries and said the manner of death was an accident.

Karen Irwin, Universal Orlando Resort’s president, said in a note to workers last weekend, after Zavala’s death, that internal findings showed ride systems functioned normally, equipment was intact and Universal workers followed the proper procedures. Investigators with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said last Friday that their initial findings align with that of the theme park.

Lawyers for Zavala’s family took issue with that conclusion at a news conference Wednesday. Zavala had a spinal disability from birth and used a wheelchair, but they said his disability didn’t cause his death. His family hasn’t filed a lawsuit, as of yet, and said they want to understand how he died.

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Mike Schneider, The Associated Press