Summer is the season for amusement parks, fireman's carnivals, and county fairs. Many children attend several such events each year. Parents may never stop to think about the safety of amusement rides until they hear about an accident where a child is injured.
On July 4th, a carnival accident in Virginia left 14 year old Dustin Young injured. At the Buchanan Volunteer Fire Department 4th of July Carnival, a ride dropped a car nearly 20 feet into a loading dock. The ride was just inspected the previous week. In a Roanoake Times story, the inspector stated that the part that broke was in a location that would make it impossible to see unless the ride was taken completely apart.
An inflatable slide ride became airborne at Goldman Park in Middletown, Ohio on June 27th. Somehow, the slide’s anchors came loose, and the ride, with several children inside, went tumbling end over end. (see Linda Tucker’s amazing photos of this accident here.) One child, 11 year old Tyler Maloney, was stuck inside, and was only able to be lowered to safety when a group of parents stopped the slide from rolling away, and deflated it with knives.
Though tales of such accidents are, thankfully, rare, it’s hard for parents to know how safe any indivudual carnival or ride really is. Especially in the case of travelling rides, the kinds that are set up for a few days as a local fair or carnival and then dismantled before they move on to another town, it can be up to the sponsor of the fair, in addition to the owner of the ride company, to ensure that things are up to code. Unfortunately, state regulations may differ regarding moveable amusement rides, and no centralized national database exists to track the safety records of individual rides. Some states don’t even require inspections.
Rideaccidents.com, which tracks amusement ride accident reports, lists over three dozen separate accidents (including five fatalities and numerous injuries) involving inflatable rides alone since 2000. Incidents include rides deflating, collapsing, tipping over, or blowing away, as in the recent Middletown accident. Problems with this type of ride may be especially surprising for parents, who generally regard these types of rides as more benign and safe than motorized rides.
Parents can’t control the safety of the rides at these types of parks, and freak accidents do happen. However, there are things parents can do to lower their child’s risk of getting hurt:
- Make sure kids are supervised at all times so they don’t wander into the path of a motorized ride. Make sure your child exits the ride quickly and is out of the path of the ride before it starts up again.
- Make sure you follow all age and height requirements, and obey all safety rules. Kids need to be strapped securely in cars, stay seated, and keep hands and feet inside cars at all times.
- Parents need to be vigilant: if you notice something off about a ride, it’s operator, or something else that doesn’t look quite right, don’t allow your child to ride, and notify event organizers.
- On inflatable rides, be sure small children are bouncing at a time set aside just for them. Jumping with bigger kids can cause accidents.
- Only attend events sponsored by organizations you trust with proven safety records.
Comments
thank you for publishing your article.
I am an amusement injury laweyer and crusader for regulation and inspection of carnival and amusement attractions.
jmreiff@reiffandbily.com
Too bad you can't spell laweyer correctly Jeff. It's lawyer. I'm a crusader for proper spelling.
Why don't you write a topic on the abuse of carnival rides by patrons. In my 25 years in the industry, I've seen more accidents caused by stupidity, than mechanical or operator error. But no one ever records that. You can placard the ride to death with warnings, run announcements and you would be surprised by how many disregard the warnings and do what they want. Putting both patrons, employees, and the ride itself in danger. But once again, no one records that. What about the parents who threaten employees, because that certain operator wouldn't allow their child on because they do not meet the height requirement. Where's the story? All that matters to lawyers and writers is the complete bashing of the industry. The outfit I worked for has been in business since 1943, and they have one of the best safety records in the country. Why not write something positive about the industry and not the constant negative. Oh, rider responsibility laws are currently being passed.
carny - I don't think the article is a "complete bashing of the industry." I did say that these accidents are rare. In fact, the recommendations all have to do with parents making sure their kids are riding rides as they are meant to be ridden. I would be more than happy to cover the angle you mention. If you have information you would like to share for such a piece, or would like to share your experience, please email me at childsafetyexaminer@comcast.net.
i agree with carny i also worked in the industry and have witnessed hundreds of idiots blatantly ignoring safety rules, they just don't care they know if something goes wrong the blame will fall on someone else, the ride operator or the structural integrity of the ride , but few realise it's just stupidity and ignorance on the part of the patron that actually causes the most accidents, and parents don't seem to care about thier childs safety either , i mean i have had hundreds of parents argue and threaten me becuase thier damn kid is so short , it's not my fault and it's for your kids own safety , so why argue ?
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