What If the Mommies and Enthusiasts Are Both Right?

Judging by my recent e-mails, amusement ride enthusiasts are passionate, outspoken advocates for the extreme rides they love.  "Everyone loves a good thrill," writes one enthusiast.  "The amusement park industry does a great job of regulating itself," writes another.  "Before we know it the federal government will be controlling everything and overseeing everything."

Most of the enthusiasts who e-mail me are simply voicing disagreement with my opinions.  There are a few, however, who disagree with me personally.  "You, ma'am, are a moron," writes an enthusiast from Texas.  "If the government wants to step in, let congress pass a rider responsibility law.  How would you like to receive a fine, jail time, or even a lawsuit, because your child got hurt trying to exit a moving ride?"  

Underneath all the anger and insults, the ride enthusiasts are just trying to protect what they love.  Mandatory jail terms for parents of injured preschoolers sounds like an easier solution than mandatory accident reporting for owners of amusement rides.   

The parents who e-mail me are every bit as passionate and outspoken as the enthusiasts.  They are also trying to protect what they love.  

• "I looked at your website with a sense of relief that this serious issue is being publicly acknowledged."
• "It would be nice to be able to see accident reports and what caused them but I guess we will just have to wait ... Being a mother myself, I can only hope that the industry will come around."  
• "I just had to write to you to thank you for the work you've put into your website.  I appreciated so much what you said on your site about not putting a child on a ride that scares them."

The parents who wrote those messages understand that child safety is a complex problem.  Whether you're talking about water safety, traffic safety, or amusement ride safety, prevention depends upon a clear understanding of the hazards.  Through my website and media interviews, I try to teach parents how to avoid the unique hazards that amusement rides present to young children.

Ride enthusiasts are not in a high risk group for amusement ride accidents.  Young children are.  Toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary school-aged children account for more than half of all ride-related accidents.  Inexperience and immaturity are the primary causes of those accidents.   Amusement rides expose children to heights, speeds, forces, and mechanical equipment that they are normally kept away from.  Those factors combine to create specific hazards that need to be explained to parents.  That's what Saferparks does.

Public education is impossible without access to thorough data on ride-related accidents.  The first step in prevention is to accurately and specifically describe the problem.  Florida's theme parks, with combined attendance of 65 million people annually, are a primary draw for families of young children.  Yet those families are denied access to the safety records of rides at Florida's theme parks.  The lack of public access to data on ride-related injuries is the reason Saferparks advocates for more consistent regulation.  Parents can't protect their children from dangers they don't know about.

Ride enthusiasts don't need access to official accident logs.  They have a wide network of organizations that share word-of-mouth information on the quirks and injury records of most thrill rides.  Enthusiasts understand how the rides work, and have a good idea of what a new ride will feel like.  They are adults or late teens.  The problems of inexperience and immaturity, primary risk factors for ride-related injury, don't apply to most enthusiasts.

Amusement rides may be one of the safest places in America for a 20-year-old ride enthusiast, given the alternatives available to young adults in America.  But amusement rides are not inherently safe places for the average 2-year-old or 4-year-old or 6-year-old, or even 8-year-old.  Parents and children can be taught how to use amusement rides safely, just as they learn to use bikes, scooters, and skateboards safely.  Saferparks aims to do exactly that.  Rather than imprison parents like me, who've learned about ride safety the hard way, why not use our stories as examples of what not to do?  

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has been overseeing the safety of traveling carnival rides for more than 20 years.  They have more experience with mitigating child safety hazards than any other agency in America.  The CPSC analyzes data on product-related injuries as a way of identifying accident trends and planning prevention strategies.  Sometimes the best prevention strategy is a public education program aimed at consumers.  Last year, the CPSC sent out press releases announcing a spike in childhood injuries associated with Razor scooters.  Thanks to that press release, a whole lot more kids are now wearing helmets when they ride Razors.  

Last month, the CPSC issued a safety bulletin to state amusement ride inspectors and owners of inflatable amusement rides.  The CPSC, in cooperation with several state agencies and a safety authority in Australia, investigated 42 incidents on inflatables, involving 3 deaths and 53 injuries (broken bones, head injuries, contusions, abrasions, and sprains).  The safety bulletin reinforced the importance of following the manufacturer's instructions for setup, training, supervision, etc., and provided specific recommendations regarding staffing, weight limits, anchoring, and windspeed limits.  

The CPSC is the only safety agency in America with budget, mandate, and authority to investigate nationwide accident trends on traveling carnival rides.  A 1981 law exempted permanent amusement rides from CPSC jurisdiction.  There is no safety agency in America authorized to investigate nationwide accident trends on amusement park rides.  I support Congressman Markey's bill, HR 1488, which would revoke that exemption.  

Enthusiasts love their thrills.  Parents love their children.  Enthusiasts have a right to decide what level of risk they're willing to assume for those thrills.  Parents have a right to know the specific risks they're taking when they put their child on a particular amusement ride.

As long as consumers have access to the safety history of the amusement rides they choose to board, then both sides get what they want.  The amusement ride industry puts enormous time and effort into designing and operating safe rides.  They should be proud of their safety records.  Proud enough to show them to their paying customers.