Text-only version
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?
The graphs, charts, and figures on the Saferparks website are drawn from two primary sources of ride-related accident/injury data:
- State Regulatory Agencies have provided public records of accidents reported by parks and carnivals under their jurisdictions according to state ride safety laws. Not all states have public reporting laws, and not all states that collect safety data on amusement rides respond to Saferparks requests. Years covered, equipment types included, and level of detail provided vary by jurisdiction. In aggregate, the regulatory records are of sufficient volume to provide insight into the ways in which patrons are hurt using amusement rides and attractions. Click here to view the accident records.
- CPSC NEISS Hospital ER Records are collected by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS). Approximately 2% of hospital emergency rooms in the United States participate in the NEISS system. Standardized data is collected on injuries associated with a wide array of consumer products, including amusement rides, go-karts, inflatables, and public water slides. NEISS data is a probabilistic sampling generally used to estimate national injury rates, however there has been legitimate controversy over this use for products with non-uniform distribution, such as amusement rides. The raw data is useful, however, in analyzing common patterns of ride-related injury. The NEISS records have an advantage in that they cover almost all states (albeit only tiny portions of each), and the record format is standardized. The Saferparks Database has incorporated NEISS data from 2002-2006 (approx. 4000 records). Click here to view the NEISS records.
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?
