Keep Park Ride Safety No. 1

A fatal accident at Disneyland last December demonstrated the need for independent oversight of theme parks in California. As legislative committees consider bills on the topic this week, they must keep public safety paramount and resist any effort to compromise on independent review.

Assemblyman Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) introduced a bill in February requiring state inspections at amusement parks and public reporting of injuries on rides. Those are reasonable requirements and have been shown to be workable in other states. However, after discussions with Disney officials, Torlakson has amended the bill, and there is now some question whether outside inspections would be frequent enough to be meaningful. The legislation says that no amusement park would be inspected more than two times in any five-year period.

In the state Senate, Don Perata (D-Alameda) is proposing public reporting of injuries and state inspection of rides twice a year.

Disney is a major contributor to politicians in the state. A Disney vice president hosted a recent fund-raiser for Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa that took in more than $1 million.

It is also a major employer, with its movie studios, professional sports teams and, of course, Disneyland. It deserves to be listened to, and most bills are modified as they proceed through the Legislature anyway.

But lawmakers should remember that Disneyland officials admitted their mistakes in the Christmas Eve accident. The park said the worker on the Sailing Ship Columbia ride, where a cleat tore loose and killed someone in line, had not been trained as required by park policies. Cal/OSHA fined the park the maximum $12,500 and criticized training and maintenance of the ride. Merely allowing theme parks to attest to their own safety won’t do.