Urgent Need for Federal Regulation in Theme Parks

How many people need to die, or sustain severe injury from amusement park trips prior to the federal government steps in and manages the theme park industry? Rosy Esparza's household had every right to believe that she would return from the Texas Giant roller rollercoaster without damage or injury. Nevertheless, Esparza fell to her death on the Texas Giant roller rollercoaster at Six Flags Over Texas. Incidents like this are regretfully ending up being a more typical occasion in the United States at amusement and waterparks.

In reality, the variety of deaths per guest mile on roller coasters is greater than the amount of disasters on traveler trains, guest buses, or traveler planes. These disasters frequently occur due to the fact that the trips are not individually checked, inspections are not done regularly enough, mishaps are not made public and the mishaps are investigated by the parks. The federal government requires to develop national safety standards for all trips at theme park, so that every amusement park client can delight in the park as it is meant without worry of injury or death.

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Less than 3 months after the death of Esparza the Texas Giant has been re-opened, and back completely operation. The roller coaster underwent substantial screening, and received approval from the Texas Department of Insurance to resume operations, however the findings of the screening are not available to the public due to ongoing lawsuits. Despite The Fact That Texas 6 Flags has declared no fault for the Esparza mishap; the park has actually added incremental and overlapping safety functions.

These safety features include redesigned restraint-bar pads and new seat belts.

So the question is, are the department of insurance coverage officials, who inspected this trip in the past, sufficient enough to make sure these flights are safe for future riders? Theme park rides must be checked by an independent 3rd party, which has no financial interest in the amusement park. Having the insurance provider inspect the rides is not sufficient; all rides must be examined by inspectors with the mechanical aptitude to understand if the ride remains in appropriate working condition.

The United States has trained safety inspectors for baby strollers, bikes, and motorized ride-on toys; shouldn’t rides that travel up to heights of 456 feet and at 128 miles per hour have safety inspectors also? Currently there are no federal regulations on amusement park rides, so there are no reliable national statistics of injuries on amusement park rides. Each state has its own regulations for amusement parks; some states do not have any regulations of amusement park rides. Many states do not have an inspection force and rely on insurance investigators to inspect and or approve these rides.

However, most states do require the rides be inspected annually, but these regulations are not enforced. According to state records more than half of Pennsylvania’s permanent amusement parks and water parks did not turn in all of their required inspections. In fact, the state agency had no reports at all for 12 of the 117 state amusement and water parks. Following the death of a child on a roller coaster ride at Disney’s MGM studios in Orlando, Florida, lawmakers began the process of trying to pass the National Amusement Park Ride Safety Act.

This act was introduced by Congressman Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, in 2005. The act calls for fixed-site park rides to fall under the regulation act of the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The commission currently only oversees traveling carnival rides, because fixed-site theme park rides are exempt from federal oversight. Even though the fixed-site rides are rode more frequently than traveling carnival rides they are subject to less regulations. Many of these rides are operated hundreds of times a day, seven days per week but only inspected once during the year.

There needs to be a regulation that all rides are to be inspected a minimum of quarterly to find any mechanical issues that may pose a danger to riders. Because some of these rides travel in excess of 100 miles per hour they should face similar safety standards as automobiles which do not travel at such a high rates of speed. Another issue with the absence of federal regulations among amusement park rides is that, when an accident or mechanical failure occurs, the parks are the ones conducting the investigation and the findings of the investigation are not made public.

Also, if there is no media attention about the accident or mechanical failure, the accident is unknown to the public. The federal government should create a database for all amusement parks that includes all of the rides for each. The database should include all mechanical failures of all rides in the past 12 months, any accidents in the past 12 months and the last four quarterly inspections for the ride. That way, amusement park patrons can make informed decisions whether to go to certain amusement parks and ride particular rides.

Amusement-park patrons should have the right to know the history of the park and all rides, prior to riding them. With all of the things that have federal regulations, it is hard to believe that amusement park rides do not have federal inspections and regulations. In an effort to ensure these rides are safe for the public to ride and enjoy, the federal government needs to establish national safety standards for all riders at amusement parks. If national safety standards and inspections can save the life of one person, aren’t they worth creating? Works Cited Moser, Jeff.

“Family sues over Texas Giant death on the same day Six Flags says it will reopen ride. ” The Dallas Morning News September 10, 2013: Newspaper Source. Web. 31 Oct. 2013 Pataro, Luca. "Scary rides, scary risks: more than 300 million people visit U. S. amusement facilities and safely enjoy 1. 8 billion rides each year. But for a small number of thrill-seekers, good times can become a matter of life and death. " Risk Management. Aug. 2007: 50+. Biography In Context. Web. 26 Oct. 2013. Watson, Stephen T. "Recent tragedies strap in safety as peak concern. " Buffalo News, The (NY) 23 Aug. 2011: Newspaper Source. Web. 26 Oct. 2013.