The National Amusement Park Ride Safety Act of 1999 was introduced by
Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA) on October 6, 1999, with 10 original
cosponsors: Reps. George Miller (D-CA), Joseph Hoeffel (D-PA), Robert
Wexler (D-FL), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), William Lipinski (D-IL), Carolyn
Maloney (D-NY), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Rosa DeLauro (D-NY), Richard Neal
(D-MA) and Henry Waxman (D-CA.)
Purpose
The purpose of this legislation is to close a consumer protection
loophole created in 1981.
Section 2 of the bill eliminates the restriction on CPSC safety
jurisdiction adopted in 1981 - the so-called "roller coaster
loophole". Eliminating this restriction would allow the CPSC the
same scope of authority to protect against unreasonable risks of harm on
"fixed-site" rides that it currently retains for carnival
rides that are moved from site to site ("mobile rides.) This would
include the authority to investigate accidents, to develop and enforce
action plans to correct defects, to require reports to the CPSC whenever
a substantial hazard is identified, and to act as a national
clearinghouse for accident and defect data.
Section 3 of the bill would authorize appropriations of $500 thousand
annually to enable the CPSC to carry out the purposes of the Act.
Background
The Consumer Product Safety Act provided the Consumer Product Safety
Commission (CPSC) with the same consumer protections authority it has
for other consumer products. However, in 1981, following a series of
legal challenges by several owners of large theme parks, Congress
stepped in and limited CPSC authority only to those rides "not
permanently fixed to a site." Thus, the CPSC currently is
prohibited from investigating accidents or developing or enforcing
safety plans, and manufacturers, owners and operators of rides are not
required to disclose to the CPSC defects which would create a
substantial hazard of consumer injury. Since it cannot gather the
information, the CPSC is also effectively prevented from sharing the
information with others so that accidents in one state can be prevented
in another.
Rising Risk of Serious Injury
The CPSC estimates the number of serious injuries on fixed and mobile
amusement park rides using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance
System (NEISS). This data includes only injuries severe enough to have
led the injured party to go to an emergency room. According to its July
1999 summary, emergency-room injuries on fixed rides increased from 2400
in 1994 to 4500 in 1998. During the same period, emergency-room injuries
on mobile rides have held relatively steady, with 2000 in 1994 and 2100
in 1998.
State-by-State Regulation
CPSC regulation supplements state regulation where states have
adopted inspections programs, and provides some measure of protection in
states that have none. Currently the following states have no inspection
program: Alabama, Arizona, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Utah
and Vermont. Moreover, Florida exempts theme parks with more than 1000
employees, Virginia relies on private inspections, and New York exempts
New York City (which includes Coney Island.)
States with inspection programs are very uneven depending on which
agency has the responsibility and whether its expertise is design,
operator training, manufacturing, etc. No state, and no industry
organization, provides the national clearinghouse function that the CPSC
currently provides for mobile rides and could provide for fixed-site
rides.
Recent Fatalities
Although the overall risk of death on an amusement park ride is very
small, it is not zero. In the course of the last week of August 1999, 4
deaths occurred on roller coasters in just one week, which U.S. News
& World Report termed "one of the most calamitous weeks in
the history of America's amusement parks":
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