Theme Park Safety Law Is Reason to Celebrate

With little fuss and less advance notice, Gov. Gray Davis last week quietly ended 30 years of virtual free rein for the theme park industry in this tourism state. Considering the clout of the losers (Disneyland, Universal Studios, etc.), it’s pretty clear why the governor opted against a high-profile celebration.

Still, state oversight of theme parks was one of the hardest-fought victories for consumers and families in recent memory. A signing ceremony might have been in order. Maybe the guv was tuckered out from that day’s photo-op for the new Ronald Reagan commemorative license plates.

Well, discretion is the better part of campaign finance. At least Davis signed the bill. And maybe the lack of hoopla is for the best, because a final round remains for the newborn California Permanent Amusement Rides Safety Act. It now must be turned into regulations by the state’s Department of Industrial Relations, a tedious process. But the devil, as they say, is in the details.

For example: Under the new law, California’s theme parks have to make their accident records public. But the reporting requirement applies only to “serious” accidents. What does “serious” mean? Thanks to a subtle clause that slipped into the bill after a June session with industry lobbyists, it’s not clear in the legislation.

Interpreted one way, the law might mean that anything requiring more than an aspirin and a Band-Aid gets reported. Read another way, it may say the public stays in the dark unless someone dies, spends the night in the hospital, suffers a compound fracture or loses a limb.

And another example: Under the new law, the parks must be inspected, but it isn’t clear whether the inspection can take place after hours (a hassle for park owners), or only when the park is open and people are on the rides. Other states require both, to catch both mechanical problems and careless ride operators. But again, the wording isn’t explicit, and remains to be hammered out.

Such details--the certification criteria for inspectors are another--tend to make for tedious reading, but you can bet the lobbyists are polishing their bifocals. The draft regulations will be drawn up by a committee of Department of Industrial Relations staff and “interested parties”--in other words, the same advocates who fought over the bill in the Legislature. And those regulations will have everything to do with whether theme park inspections will work or whether the public will be taken on another E-ticket ride.

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That said, the public has ample reason to celebrate this legislation, which was introduced by Assemblyman Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) after a fatal accident at Disneyland last Christmas Eve.

Torlakson had no reason, back then, to think his bill would fare better than any of the other past attempts by consumer advocates to regulate California’s powerful theme parks. In fact, he’d tried a similar bill the past year, only to see it deep-sixed in committee. Nonetheless, the guy tried.

And that should be lauded. A lot of Southern California politicians were saddened by the Disneyland accident last winter, but, as the legislative session opened in Sacramento, they weren’t exactly clamoring for a shot at Disney and Universal and Knott’s Berry Farm. Eventually, Torlakson, who is from the northern part of the state, was joined by Anaheim Assemblyman Lou Correa, also a Democrat.

By summer, events had given the issue its own tragic momentum. In August, there had been three accidents in five days on free-fall rides and roller coasters around California, including one that claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy.

The parks argued--and still argue--that these were freak mishaps. But with no public accident records, how could anyone be sure? All that was clear was that this state was willing to regulate everything from soup lines to wing nuts, but couldn’t muster the will to spot-check hurtling contraptions with our most precious cargo--our children--on board.

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So on to the dotted I’s and crossed Ts of the battle. The ad hoc committee that will draft the fine-print regulations will be chosen in the next couple of months. Interested parties can follow its progress beginning Jan. 1 on the Industrial Relations Web site (https://www.dir.ca.gov) by clicking on “Occupational Safety and Health” and then checking the meeting schedules for the Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board.

Or they can mail comments and requests for information to the California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Occupational Safety and Health, P.O. Box 420603, San Francisco, CA 94142.

In the meantime, good citizens with an interest in theme park safety might consider a parting thought: Though ride injuries have shot up (along with ride size and speed and wildness), 70% stem from recklessness on the part of the riders. Tough to legislate a consumer’s way out of that.

Shawn Hubler’s column appears Mondays and Thursdays. Her e-mail address is [email protected]