Tuesday, September 07, 1999
Ohio lawmaker asks to review amusement-ride safety laws
BY PAUL SOUHRADA
The Associated Press
COLUMBUS — After four people were killed in amusement park accidents in New Jersey, California and Virginia last month, one state lawmaker says maybe it's time to take another look at whether Ohio's safety regulations ensure that rides are death-defying, not deadly.
“Ohio's got a very good safety record,” Sen. Mark Mallory, D-Cincinnati, said last week. “I just want to make sure it stays that way.”
Paramount's Kings Island near Cincinnati shut down two rides — the Drop Zone and King Cobra — following the deadly accidents on similar rides at two other Paramount amusement parks. The King Cobra, a stand-up roller coaster, has reopened. The Drop Zone, a free-fall ride, remained closed pending an investigation into the California accident.
Mr. Mallory said he wants to meet this week or next with officials from the state Agriculture Department, which monitors amusement park rides, and with operators of the parks.
“It seems strange that all of a sudden, we have all of these accidents,” he said. “I'm looking at this with an eye toward possible changes if necessary.”
It isn't necessary, said Rep. George Terwilleger, R-Maineville.
Mr. Terwilleger, whose district includes Kings Island, said he thinks the state's current regulatory system and the park's internal safety monitoring program is working well.
“I think things are working the way they should without the state getting more involved,” he said.
Ohio and Florida are the only two states with full-time inspectors to monitor rides. Twelve states and the District of Columbia have no safety regulations for rides at all.
In Ohio, eight inspectors and one supervisor check every ride at least twice a year, said Deborah Abbott, a spokeswoman for the state agriculture department. They have jurisdiction not only at theme parks such as Kings Island, but also go-kart tracks, water parks and traveling ride companies that temporarily set up shop at fairs, carnivals and shopping centers around the state.
In 80 percent of the amusement park accidents — defined as a ride-related injury requiring a trip to the hospital — over the past four years, human error was to blame, Ms. Abbott said.
And though she didn't have the specific figures, most of the error was on the part of the rider, she added. “We don't usually see a lot of operator error or mechanical error.”
Ohio also has a “rider responsibility” law that allows prosecutors to charge unruly amusement park pa trons with a misdemeanor if their horseplay results in an injury.
Nationwide, amusement park and carnival rides kill slightly more than five people a year, based on 25 years of statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. There have been more than 130 ride-related deaths since 1973.
But the federal agency only investigates accidents involving portable carnival rides that are moved across state lines. Federal law exempts fixed-location rides from the commission's jurisdiction.
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