Kenversations™
Page 5 of 5

More Government is not the Answer
I believe state interference can actually hurt, especially when officials who aren't engineers or designers start making design demands. Park visitors may be more lax, relying on Big Brother to keep them safe. Furthermore, some parks may feel justified in only doing as much as they are required, whereas before, they strove for ultimate safety. Finally, as a taxpayer, I worry that my state could now be sued when accidents occur, because the state is now supposedly responsible for preventing accidents.

Most accidents at theme parks are the result of error on the part of customers, whether the result of reckless behavior or inattentive behavior. Most of those types of accidents will not be prevented by state oversight.

Up until recently, theme parks in California successfully opposed state oversight of guest safety. However, like all too many of political decisions, emotion finally translated to law.

Before the Columbia accident, on an evening earlier in 1998, a young boy was riding Big Thunder Mountain Railroad with his mother. Although the family had ridden the attraction earlier in the day, the young boy wasn’t aware that the train slows to near stop a moment before coming to a "full and complete" stop, and he stuck his foot out of the moving train before it had stopped and before the lap bar was released.

His foot was caught between the station platform and the train.

He instantly experienced a great deal of pain, and his foot was permanently damaged as a result. His mother was understandably upset. From those initial moments when she was standing on the loading platform, the attraction cleared of other guests, her screaming son being attended to while she could do little to comfort him, to the months that ensued, this woman looked for a positive way to deal with what had happened. She was further motivated when Disney officials, in her eyes, belittled what happened to her son and kept information from the public by indicating that the Columbia accident was the first major accident at the park in years.

It didn’t matter that the Columbia accident involved a fatality to someone who was doing exactly what they were supposed to be, while the Big Thunder accident involved a child injuring his foot by sticking it out of a moving vehicle. It didn’t matter that the Big Thunder attraction had been operating since 1979 and had treated millions of people to a good time, almost all of them without any sort of injury. No, something like this, in the mind of this mother, called for state legislation to give yet more regulation to our lives. While Erin Brockovich crusaded for people whom were unknowingly drinking and playing in water with high levels of a suspected carcinogen, this woman crusaded to make companies protect people from themselves, at our expense as taxpayers.

Her motivation was increased and her efforts were strengthened by the Columbia accident. With this incident, state lawmakers in favor of the legislation gained the backing of the media, and the public was more receptive to state regulation of theme parks.

Some people care pushing for more state and even federal oversight of guest safety in theme parks, ignoring the Constitutional issues involved. It's a very emotional issue, because it involves our children. People look to blame corporations, forgetting that corporations are formed of people and owned by people, and that theme parks are run by people. The call for national legislation is misguided, and I believe state governments should play a minimal role as well.

As fond as some of us are of theme parks, as much as we visit them, when you get down to it they aren't necessarily parts of our lives. You don’t need to go to a theme park to function. You certainly aren’t required to. If you don’t trust the theme park to provide you with reasonably safe conditions, or the industry to regulate itself, then don’t go. There is no need for state and Federal oversight, resulting in a larger and more expensive government.

With 300 million park visits annually the chance of serious injury is one in 23 million. The odds of dying on a ride are closer to one in 1.5 billion. You are in more danger travelling to and from the theme park than you are once you are there.

Parkgoers should follow suggestions like the ones I make above, and activists and legislators should concentrate on things that really dangerous, instead of worrying if Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain is dangerous because it is so thrilling.

It is my sincere wish that nobody, especially a child, be seriously injured or killed when they are supposed to be having a great time. Remember - theme parks are very safe. Disney in particular has an excellent record. But you aren't immortal, even when visiting The Happiest Place on Earth. Use common sense and pay attention, and you're almost guaranteed to never have a problem.

See ya at the park!

Discuss It

• Discuss this article on the LaughingPlace.com Discussion Boards

Related Links

• Nick Morgan's January Guest Column on Theme Park Legislation
  

-- Posted August 22, 2001