A teenage girl’s feet were severed just above the ankles June 21, 2007 at a Kentucky amusement park after a cable snapped and broke loose on a ride called the Superman Tower of Power. The specific cause of the accident is still being investigated. According to park supervisors, the girl was riding the Superman Tower of Power ride, which is 177 feet tall and drops riders at 54 mph. People on the ride and onlookers said that as the ride came down, the wire swung left and struck the girl. The young girl was immediately transported to an area hospital, and the ride has been shut down until the investigation is completed. A spokesperson for the amusement park, Six Flags, said the company has shut down similar rides in other parks as a safety precaution.
This recent tragic accident has brought much scrutiny to the theme park industry, and many questions about amusement park ride safety regulations have arisen. Amusement park rides in the United States are regulated through a system of federal, state and local laws riddled with holes and special exemptions. Amusement park rides and water slides are exempt from all federal safety oversight. Carnival rides, go-karts and inflatables are regulated under the Consumer Product Safety Act. Some amusement rides are subject to safety regulation at the state or local level, and consumer protection laws vary from state to state, ride to ride and venue to venue. A significant percentage of U.S. amusement park thrill rides operate without any government safety oversight.
State and local government regulatory programs keep track of individual rides and the way they’re operated within a specific jurisdiction. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission looks at safety problems on carnival rides, go-karts and inflatables and can track problems that occur multiple times. The CPSC monitors incident data on non-exempt rides across the U.S. and looks for patterns that may indicate a safety problem or potential hazard. Some state and local governments hire and train amusement ride inspectors to audit the industry’s performance of safety functions.
In the United States, no official source is keeping a complete record of theme park accidents, and in many states (e.g. Florida), theme parks are not even legally required to report accidents involving injury to anyone. The CPSC does survey hospitals to collect information about product injuries including those at amusement parks and estimated there were approximately 3,400 accidents in our country’ amusement parks in 2004. According to a June 2005 report by ABC News, there have been approximately 10 deaths in amusement parks and at least 2 deaths in water parks since 2002.
There are accident-reporting websites for various states where consumers can go to
report incidents to help alert others to potential amusement park ride hazards.
If you or a loved one has been injured on an amusement park ride in Orlando or anywhere in Florida, please visit the website of experienced Theme Park Accident Attorneys Wooten, Honeywell, Kimbrough, Gibson, Doherty & Normand, P.A.
