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On June 21, a cable snapped on a drop tower at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. The broken cable hit a 13-year-old girl, severing both legs just above the ankles. The ride happened to be located in a state that has a government ride inspection program. According to news reports, the park staff is working with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture to determine the cause of this tragedy. The state agency will, in time, issue a public report. Two theme park corporations, Six Flags and Cedar Fair, have voluntarily shut down similar drop towers pending resolution of the technical investigation. The child is receiving medical care. I imagine the thoughts and prayers of thousands, if not millions, are with the family. Certainly mine are.
The gruesomeness of the outcome gives this accident more public play than most. I’ve received requests for interviews from mainstream news programs, but also from tabloid shows and in-your-face talk shows looking to capitalize on this family’s bad luck. One query asked for someone who’d go on-air and say that amusement rides are dangerous. Another show wanted help building a list of the ten most dangerous rides, the ten most dangerous parks, or any related list of horrors that might entice and excite TV viewers. Not a lot of room there for thoughtful public policy debate.
I took a pass on most of the requests, but did agree to two minutes on a CNN morning show. The interviewer and I talked about regulatory exemptions for a bit and then he asked the stock questions provided to the press by the industry to mitigate PR fallout in the wake of accidental tragedies:
- Accidents happen everywhere. Don’t patrons accept certain risks when they choose to board a thrill ride?
- Thrill rides are statistically safe. Why stir people up over something so inconsequential?
I’ve been asked some version of those two questions more times than I can count, but never in the early aftermath of something of this magnitude. I was truly taken aback at the timing. Can you imagine any parent considering the amputation of her child’s feet to be an acceptable risk at a family amusement park?
What happened to that little girl highlights the high price of even a single failure. The only brag-worthy statistic for limb loss on an amusement park ride is zero. Cables don’t just snap. If they do, something has gone badly wrong in the system. There’s a history behind every serious accident that, if uncovered, can illuminate a path to prevention – not just on that ride or in that park, but on similar equipment across the globe. Public records ensure that safety-critical information is available to all who need it, expanding the knowledge base of the engineer and inspector communities, and allowing consumers the right of informed choice in the marketplace.
Uncovering that history means digging into all the available evidence without regard to what it might cost your company or your client, without preconceived notions about who or what to blame. This is the job of the government, not the companies who built, operated, and insured the ride. Yet government accident investigations and public accident reports are only allowed in certain geopolitical areas of this country. U.S. amusement park rides are exempt from all federal safety oversight. In the quarter century since Congress granted the exemption, only 27 states have created regulatory programs that require government officials to investigate amusement ride accidents. Human lives and limbs are too precious to entrust to this kind of patchy regulatory roulette, especially when we’re talking about children.
The Intamin drop ride in Kentucky is regulated by government ride safety officials, but the Intamin drop ride at Elitch Gardens in Colorado is not. Elitch was part of the Six Flags chain until early this year when the park was sold, along with several others, to a real estate investment trust called CNL Income Properties. Colorado has a ride licensing law on the books, but no government ride inspection or accident investigation program. If one of the rides at Elitch Gardens accidentally maims a child, there isn’t any government safety agency authorized to investigate.
What if this had happened at another Six Flags park? Some are subject to government oversight, some are not. Six Flags operates two amusement parks in Texas. Neither has an Intamin drop ride, but between them they boast a 325-foot-tall-85-mph roller coaster, a 325-foot-tall freefall combo tower, and almost a hundred other amusement rides. Texas, like Colorado, has no government ride inspection or accident investigation program. Parks manage their own accidents without pesky government interference.
What about the other corporate park chains? How accountable are they to the public?
- Disney and Universal Studios operate thrill rides at parks in California and Florida. California investigates theme park thrill ride accidents, but Florida does not. All accidents at the Florida theme parks are handled privately by the company. All findings remain confidential.
- Busch Entertainment operates theme parks in Virginia, Texas, Florida, and California. State accident investigation reports are only available for the park in California.
- Cedar Fair operates parks in eight states. Some have laws authorizing state ride inspectors to investigate serious accidents; some do not.
Under what conditions is it unreasonable or undesirable to require a thorough public safety investigation of a machinery accident that maims a child? Why are many theme park thrill rides subject to less stringent government safety oversight than the plush toys and hot dogs sold in their shops?
Despite my reputation in some corners, I’m not a big fan of over-regulation. I’m asking for an honest, thoughtful, respectful public policy discussion about the gaping holes in the current system. Congress, industry, the existing regulatory community, and consumer representatives should be willing to do that much to protect the millions of children who climb on board U.S. thrill rides.
