Monday, December 10, 2007
Editorial: Thrill rides shouldn't kill
The Shockwave and Sizzler need the same rules for safety as Thomas the Tank Engine.
From the RoundTable blog
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Add one more item to the embattled Consumer Product Safety Commission's list of regulatory shortcomings: ensuring theme park rides are safe.
The federal agency was stripped of its authority to investigate rides at fixed amusement parks more than 25 years ago, The Washington Post reported last week.
But a House committee is considering a bill to restore that needed authority, and increase CPSC oversight of traveling carnival rides.
The bill deserves support. Thrillseekers who climb aboard rides that hurtle up, down and sideways at 50 to 100 mph should have the assurance that the rides are as regulated for safety as a child's car seat or a painted wooden pull-toy.
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., introduced the bill eight years ago. Since then, he's managed to get only one hearing, The Post said.
In fact, the bill has been resisted by lawmakers who appear to be folding under pressure -- fueled by campaign contributions and trips to theme parks and resorts -- from the amusement park industry.
Some lawmakers callously have argued that the number of injuries and deaths caused by park rides is not high enough to warrant increased government oversight.
If congressional action were based on sheer numbers, lawmakers would be shuttling toys made in China to the back burner. No injuries or deaths from lead-tainted toys have been reported, but congressional scrutiny has been almost immediate -- and understandably, for precautionary reasons.
Yet a 20-year-old man was killed in 1999 while riding the Shockwave roller coaster at Paramount's Kings Dominion in Doswell. In 2005, a 9-year-old girl was killed on a Sizzler ride at an Austin, Texas, carnival.
This past summer, a Wisconsin teenager died after falling 50 feet from an Air Glory ride. A 13-year-old girl's feet were severed while riding the Tower of Power at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom.
Some members of Congress see no urgency to act. They instead have looked for reasons not to.
Congress is upset about the Consumer Product Safety Commission's failure to keep unsafe toys out of children's hands.
Lawmakers should be applying the same intensity to oversight of thrill rides that can maim and kill. Congress should give the commission regulatory authority -- and make sure the agency uses it.
