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About General Safety
How safe are rides at U.S. amusement parks and carnivals?
How much control do you have over your own safety when you're on a ride?
How many accidents are caused by equipment failure?
What are some red flags that should make you re-think riding a certain ride?
Why is it important to find the ride that fits?
Are today's high acceleration rides more dangerous than slower rides?
The industry blames most accidents on rider misconduct. Is this an accurate assessment?
About Child Safety
Are children at higher risk for injury on amusement rides?
What should parents know about choosing rides for children?
What safety lessons should parents teach children before visiting parks and carnivals?
When is it safe to let my child ride alone?
If my child is too short to ride alone, is it safe for him to ride with his older brother?
Who develops child safety standards for amusement rides?
About Data and Statistics
How many people are injured on U.S. amusement rides each year?
What is the most common cause of amusement ride accidents and injuries?
What are the most common types of injuries on go-karts, waterslides, and inflatables?
Where does Saferparks get its data and statistics?
Who generates the safety statistics quoted by the amusement park industry?
About Safety Oversight
What safety regulations apply to U.S. amusement rides?
What about the big parks like Disney World and Six Flags?
Who checks up on the carnivals that move around from place to place?
Why are amusement park rides exempt from federal safety oversight?
If signed into law, what would Congressman Markey's bill do?
If a park is already subject to state regulation, why is a federal layer of oversight important?
Why is it important that serious accidents be investigated by the government?
Each accident can provide critical information about the safety of the ride and the conditions under which it is operated. The companies that designed, built, operated and insured the ride are too financially and emotionally invested in the situation to provide a thorough, unbiased assessment of cause after a major accident. Imagine if our laws allowed automobile drivers to investigate their own vehicle vs. pedestrian accidents. The accidents would be blamed on the pedestrians and we'd have walker-responsibility laws instead of crosswalks, low speed zones in front of schools, and pedestrian right-of-way rules.
There is a history behind every serious amusement ride accident that, if uncovered, can illuminate a path to prevention -- not just on that ride or in that park, but on similar equipment across the globe. Uncovering that history means digging into all the available evidence without regard to what it might cost your company or your client, without preconceived notions about who or what to blame. This is the job of the government, not the companies who built, operated, and insured the ride.
Good government investigations ensure that safety-critical information is available to all who need it, expanding the knowledge base of the engineer and inspector communities, and allowing consumers the right of informed choice in the marketplace.
