Bill Requiring State Checks at Theme Parks May Be Revived

In the wake of a fatal Christmas Eve accident at Disneyland, a state assemblyman said he hopes to revive a bill requiring safety inspections at the state’s amusement parks.

Assemblyman Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch), who spearheaded that bill after a teenage girl died in a 1997 water-slide collapse at Waterworld in Contra Costa County, said it failed in the face of opposition from the amusement-park industry.

“I find it somewhat perplexing that the industry is so much against any regulation,” Torlakson said. “We’re exploring avenues where legislation may be possible this year.”

The new general manager of Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park embraced the idea of state inspections Monday, a different position than was held last year, when the amusement park was part of the lobbying effort against Torlakson’s bill.

“My view is, if it’s done correctly, it can be beneficial,” said Jack Falfas, who took over after the park was sold to new owners in late 1997. “It can be another set of eyes for everyone.”

Disneyland spokesman Ray Gomez said the world-famous amusement park’s rides are already reviewed by park employees to make sure they are operating safely. New guidelines could be “premature,” he said.

“If I were just to look at Disneyland’s safety record since it opened 43 years ago, and since we’ve had more than 400 million guests in the park since it opened, I would say our safety record on the whole would be very, very good, and it might be premature at this point to start calling for state inspections,” Gomez said. He added that Disneyland officials never took an official position on the Torlakson bill.

Luan Phi Dawson, 33, of Duvall, Wash., died Saturday of a head injury after a metal cleat tore loose from the Columbia sailing ship ride. His wife, Lieu Thuy Vuong, 43, who was also struck, was moved Monday from intensive care to the regular care unit at UCI Medical Center in Orange. The couple were taking their son and grandson to Disneyland at the time of the accident, which also injured Disneyland employee Christine Carpenter, 30, who remains hospitalized with a severe foot wound.

Dawson’s friends and co-workers on Monday mourned his death.

“It’s a tragedy, and our hearts go out to the family and friends and to the Disney employee who was injured,” said Dan Leach, spokesman for Microsoft Corp., where Dawson worked as a computer programmer. “Our prayers are with the family of our employee.”

A friend of Vuong used the Internet to talk about the woman who escaped Vietnam to make a life for herself in the United States. When her first husband had a heart attack and died, Vuong turned to school and a new vocation to support their two young children.

“Her courage let her learn English and attend school to become a pharmacy technician,” wrote Carl Anderson, a longtime family friend. “She is one of the finest [people] I know. Please join me in hoping she pulls through this difficult time.”

Relatives plan to arrange a private memorial service for Dawson in Washington state when Vuong is well enough to come home, said UCI spokeswoman Kim Pine.

It remains unclear exactly what caused the cleat to pull off and strike the couple as they stood nearby. Disneyland employees who spoke on condition that they not be named said they believe the ship was moving too quickly when the bowline was attached to the cleat, which could have caused it to pull loose under pressure.

Investigators from the Anaheim Police Department and the Orange County coroner’s office spent much of Monday examining the accident scene as part of an investigation into the cause of the death. Cal-OSHA has also launched an investigation because a worker was hurt.

The question of whether stepped-up state oversight is needed has surfaced repeatedly over the years, especially after much-publicized deaths or injuries.

Six of the 15 most popular amusement parks in North America are in California, which has 71 amusement parks, according to a report prepared by the state library’s California Research Bureau after the 1997 Waterworld death.

That report also found that California is in the minority when it comes to oversight.

“Given the large number of amusement parks, many people are surprised to discover that California is one of only 10 states that does not have specific state oversight over permanent amusement parks or rides,” the report states.

Regulation varies from state to state. Hawaii inspects amusement rides every six months, Pennsylvania does so monthly, and some states do random checks, the report found.

California’s rides are not entirely unregulated, however. They are subject to local building codes, and the state does monitor some rides, such as aerial tramways.

“California has considered regulating permanent amusement rides on a number of occasions and has chosen not to,” it concludes.

Torlakson said that although Disneyland enjoys a reputation as a safe place to visit, he still would like to see stepped-up regulations. The 1997 bill would have required the state to compile information on deaths and mishaps at state amusement parks. Currently, the state has no way of compiling such statistics, said Dennis O’Connor, assistant director of the California Research Bureau, which conducted the report on amusement parks.

At the federal level, a bitter fight over the regulation of rides at amusement parks arises nearly every time there is a fatality.

Federal lawmakers have battled to allow the Consumer Product Safety Commission to inspect rides in some fashion since 1979 when two gondolas at the Texas State Fair fell 85 feet, killing one man, crippling a teenage girl and injuring 18 others.

The commission responded by proposing safety standards. But in 1981, with the help of former Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton), whose district included Disneyland, an amendment was passed barring the commission from regulating rides at permanent parks.

Dannemeyer said Monday that he objected to the federal government getting involved.

“If they don’t run the places as safely as they can, they’ll be out of business,” he said. “The specter of civil suits is a powerful [incentive] to keep their houses clean.”

Contributing to this report were Times staff writers Elaine Gale and Tina Nguyen.

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Ride Fatalities

Ride-related deaths are rare nationwide, with 36 from 1987 to 1998. More than half the deaths were at amusement parks. Roller coasters and whirling rides were the most dangerous:

By Location

Amusement parks: 21

Fairs, carnivals: 7

Unknown: 8

*

By Attraction:

Roller coaster: 9

Whirling ride: 9

Ferris wheel: 2

Train: 2

Bumper boat: 1

Capsule: 1

Log (water) ride: 1

Sleigh ride: 1

Unknown: 10

*

Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission