CPSC Jurisdiction

In an effort to better understand what compelled the theme park industry to lobby Congress for a full regulatory exemption in 1981, Saferparks sent a request to the CPSC asking for documentation on the two fixed-site accident investigations in 1980 that involved politically-powerful parks:  1) a fatal accident at Marriott's Great America theme park in Santa Clara, California, and 2) an unspecified accident at Disneyland. 

According to the CPSC, the report on the Disneyland accident "cannot be located.  We must presume that it is misplaced and lost.  We apologize for any inconvenience."

The CPSC eventually returned a few documents related to the Marriott investigation. The only item of interest in the public file on the Marriott investigation was a sworn statement from William Robert Stanley who worked as a Seasonal Safety Supervisor at Great America in 1980, when the park experienced at least two separate collision accidents on a roller coaster called the Willard's Whizzer.  One of the collisions killed a 13-year-old boy.  According to Mr. Stanley, the override key for the coaster's anti-collision control system was found in the control panel after both accidents, in direct violation of safety procedures.  The morning after the fatal accident, before CPSC investigators arrived, Mr. Stanley's manager boxed up "safety files, maintenance files, ride operations files" and ordered Mr. Stanley to remove the boxes from the facility.

The CPSC eventually found out about the missing files, which contained records of similar collisions involving another Willard's Whizzer coaster at another Marriott theme park.  In January 1981, the CPSC announced that the park had negotiated a settlement on charges that Marriott failed to meet the reporting requirement of the Consumer Product Safety Act.  Marriott was fined $70,000 and "agreed to begin making regular reports to CPSC during the next two years regarding the safety of amusement rides the company owns or operates." 

Six months later, Congress passed a law exempting fixed-site amusement rides from compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act.  The industry's chief lobbyist was a former Marriott official implicated in the string of events which led to the $70,000 judgment against Marriott.

Although Marriott's congressional exemption still stands and the young boy is still dead, Marriott no longer owns Great America and the roller coaster no longer exists at Great America. 

Three years after the 1981 exemption, a string of publicized thrill ride accidents sparked three different bi-partisan bills to close the roller coaster loophole, and resulted in a public hearing conducted by the House Subcommittee on Health and Environment, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-California).  Testimony introduced by CPSC Commissioner Stuart M. Statler provides well-reasoned answers to the same questions and rumors that continue to plague efforts at rational public debate today. 

• Chronic Misconceptions About CPSC Regulation of Amusement Rides
  Answers excerpted from congressional testimony prepared by CPSC Commissioner Stuart Statler for the 1984 hearing of the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment.

Nineteen years after the 1981 exemption, another string of publicized thrill ride accidents sparked another bi-partisan bill to close the roller coaster loophole, and resulted in a public hearing conducted by the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and Consumer Protection, chaired by Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-Louisianna). Kathy Fackler, President of Saferparks, spoke on behalf of consumer interests.  

As in 1984, the 2000 hearing failed to convince Congress that thrill ride machinery should be subject to public safety oversight.  Marriott's exemption still stands.