State Beefing Up Amusement Ride Inspections
Limited Data Makes Dangers Hard to Assess
Official federal and state data on theme park and state fair accidents is almost nonexistent. File photo.From The Columbia, SC Free Times
BY DAN MCCUE
Aug 13, 2011
One of the South Carolina State Fair’s major rides — and the subject of numerous You Tube videos — the Polar Express is nothing if not a loud, good time, whirling patrons around a lighted central tower as music blares, lights flash and a siren draws the attention of passersby.
But as recounted in a lawsuit filed July 1 in the Richland County Court of Common Pleas, things went awry on the afternoon of Oct. 12, 2008, when Brenda K. Summers and her husband attempted to board the ride.
According to the complaint filed by Charleston attorney W. Mullins McLeod Jr., Summers tripped and fell on a raised board on the walkway while boarding the ride.
She tried to break her fall by reaching out and steadying herself on the side of the ride; however, as she did so, the handrail on the ride gave way and slammed down, catching her hand and mangling her right ring finger.
“Thinking her finger had been severed, Summers asked an attendant to unlock the bar carefully as she did not want her finger to fall into the ride,” the complaint reads.
Summers was treated for injuries to her right hand, right arm and collarbone.
At the same time Summers’ lawsuit was filed, South Carolina officials were moving to tighten ride inspection standards in the wake of a March miniature train crash in Spartanburg that left the 6-year-old son of a local pastor dead and 28 others — most of them children — injured.
In June, the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office said its investigation found that excessive speed caused the fatal derailment. But a state amusement ride inspector also admitted he’d falsified an inspection report, clearing the train for operation even though it had a dead battery at the time of the inspection.
But as recounted in a lawsuit filed July 1 in the Richland County Court of Common Pleas, things went awry on the afternoon of Oct. 12, 2008, when Brenda K. Summers and her husband attempted to board the ride.
According to the complaint filed by Charleston attorney W. Mullins McLeod Jr., Summers tripped and fell on a raised board on the walkway while boarding the ride.
She tried to break her fall by reaching out and steadying herself on the side of the ride; however, as she did so, the handrail on the ride gave way and slammed down, catching her hand and mangling her right ring finger.
“Thinking her finger had been severed, Summers asked an attendant to unlock the bar carefully as she did not want her finger to fall into the ride,” the complaint reads.
Summers was treated for injuries to her right hand, right arm and collarbone.
At the same time Summers’ lawsuit was filed, South Carolina officials were moving to tighten ride inspection standards in the wake of a March miniature train crash in Spartanburg that left the 6-year-old son of a local pastor dead and 28 others — most of them children — injured.
In June, the Spartanburg County Coroner’s Office said its investigation found that excessive speed caused the fatal derailment. But a state amusement ride inspector also admitted he’d falsified an inspection report, clearing the train for operation even though it had a dead battery at the time of the inspection.
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