Report shows hazards of summer amusement rides: part one

Southern California has a lot to offer when it comes to thrills and entertainment. Between Six Flags, Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm, many Californians will likely spend a few days of summer enjoying amusement rides. However, a new study shows that a day at the park can sometimes turn into a trip to the hospital.

The Center for Injury Research and Policy and Nationwide Children’s Hospital recently released a report detailing some of the risks associated with amusement rides at carnivals and amusement parks. Between 1990 and 2010, 92,885 children were treated in emergency rooms across the country for ride-related injuries.

The report broke most amusement rides down into three major categories:

• Fixed-site rides, which are usually found at amusements parks, stay in the same place. Fixed-site rides were the site of about one third of ride-related injuries studied.
• Mobile rides, likes the ones found at carnival midways, can be fairly large in scale but can be moved from place to place. 29 percent of injuries studied happened on or near mobile rides.
• Mall rides are typically smaller and, as the name indicates, are commonly found in places like malls, restaurants and arcades. Perhaps because of their smaller scale, mall rides played a role in only 12 percent of ride-related injuries.

Those who sustain serious injuries because of a faulty ride or unsafe premises may be able to bring a civil personal injury claim against the property owner, the ride operator or other parties. In our next post we’ll talk a bit more about some legal remedies that may be available to individuals in that situation.

Source: News-Medical, “New study examines injuries to children related to amusement park rides,” May 2, 2013