First Step in Theme Park Safety

The state Assembly’s passage of a bill to provide oversight of safety matters at theme parks like Disneyland represents an important first step. As the bill proceeds through the Senate, vigilance will be needed to ensure that important provisions are not removed.

Last week the Assembly voted by an overwhelming bipartisan margin of 60 to 15 in favor of the bill, by Assemblyman Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch). Torlakson introduced an amusement park safety bill two years ago after the death of a Napa high school senior when a water slide collapsed at a park in his district. That legislation failed. But the issue gained new impetus after last December’s fatal accident at Disneyland, in which a cleat used to secure the sailing ship Columbia was pulled loose and struck a customer waiting in line.

A tougher measure introduced in the Senate has been set aside. That bill would have been preferable because it required independent inspections of amusement park rides twice a year. Torlakson’s measure requires such inspections once every four years. However, the Torlakson bill does represent progress in providing the public with more information about the safety of rides at theme parks. Its requirement for inspections, although not as frequent as they ought to be, also is worthwhile.

The amusement park industry has opposed provisions of Torlakson’s bill. State senators need to keep the inspections and public information provisions intact. The Senate also should not be too soft on the types of injuries that amusement parks are required to make public. There is no need to report every slip and fall, but it would not make sense either to require the reporting only of accidents that require hospitalization overnight. The bill now speaks only of serious injuries, a term that needs better definition.

California theme parks generally have good safety records. But the state is one of only 12 that does not require oversight of fixed-site theme parks; it does regulate rides at itinerant amusement parks, such as county fairs and local circuses. Bringing California into conformity with most other states by requiring independent oversight would enhance public safety.