An amusement park operator is not subject to the heightened standard of care of a common carrier under Civ. Code 2168 when the plaintiff was injured before she passed the final inspection by amusement park employees for ride eligibility and while she was still able to exit from the platform and bypass the ride itself. When a passenger has not surrendered control of their safety to another, there is no common carrier relationship—even while the passenger is in transit. However, a passenger may surrender control of safety “for brief windows of time immediately before and after” transit as long as (1) the person has “show[n] an intent . . . to become a passenger,” (2) the carrier takes “some action . . . indicat[ing] acceptance of the [person] as a traveler,” and (3) the person has “placed [themselves] under the control of the carrier. Merely waiting in line at a station for transportation is not enough, however. Here, plaintiff hadn’t yet placed herself in the park’s control, and the park had not accepted her as a traveler. So no heightened duty of care was owed.