Bill to Reinforce Theme Park Safety Gains in Assembly

One of two bills that would bring unprecedented state regulation to California theme parks won overwhelming approval Wednesday by an Assembly committee that heard from two mothers who gave emotional testimony.

The bill by Assemblyman Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) calls for mandatory reporting of accidents and state inspections of all permanent rides every four years. The bill passed on a 8-1 vote of the Labor and Employment Committee and now heads to the Appropriations Committee.

“It is important that an independent set of eyes is checking along with annual inspections by the park itself,” Torlakson said.

Supporters included a children’s consumer advocate, a retired ride inspector, a Disney union workers’ representative and the state firefighters association.

“I know of no other activity that accommodates so many people that has absolutely no regulation,” retired ride inspector Ray Rieger said.

But the chamber was hushed as two soft-spoken mothers provided upsetting examples.

Victoria Nelson, whose only child, Quimby Ghilotti, 18, died two years ago in an accident at Waterworld USA in Concord, quietly beseeched the committee: “Please don’t let this happen to another child.”

“I wonder if this bill had been in effect two years ago, if my daughter would [now be] in college her second year, dating and enjoying life,” Nelson said.

Kathy Fackler of La Jolla, with her son David, 6, nestled on her lap, testified about the Disneyland accident that cost him the toes on one foot. She said the park rebuffed the family’s efforts to correct the condition that caused the accident on the Big Thunder Mountain ride.

“Accidents should be treated as [hard-learned] lessons, not secrets to be hidden away,” Fackler said.

She displayed an Anaheim police log that showed 1,000 emergency calls, 97 of them trauma-related, from Disneyland last year. Fackler said the public deserves to know the nature of the injuries.

In rare public testimony by Disney, lobbyist Terri Thomas said the bill needed work to define better the injuries that would have to be reported and to limit “overlapping levels of inspection.”

“We have tried to come to the table in good faith,” Thomas said, “and with acknowledgment there are some improvements that can be made in the amusement park industry in California.”

Also raising objections to provisions in the bill were the California Chamber of Commerce and a tourism trade group as well as representatives from several major theme parks. They focused on the state inspections and said it was unclear which injuries would be considered serious enough to report.

Torlakson introduced the legislation following the Christmas Eve accident at Disneyland that killed a Washington man and seriously injured his wife and a park employee. A Cal-OSHA report on the incident faulted Disneyland’s training and operation of the ride, a replica of the sailing ship Columbia.

California is one of 12 states that does not regulate permanent theme parks. But the state does regulate traveling carnivals, and Torlakson told the committee the carnivals have a better safety record than permanent parks.

Attempts over the past 30 years to regulate the theme park industry have failed under heavy lobbying, especially from the influential Walt Disney Co.

This year, Disney and other theme park owners say they are working with lawmakers to get what they consider reasonable regulation. They have asked state Sen. Don Perata (D-Alameda) to drop his bill calling for reporting of accidents and two inspections a year. They say they want to work with Torlakson to get legislation acceptable to them.

Their work resulted last week in Torlakson amendments that required no outside inspections or public reporting of accidents and shifted liability in some cases away from the parks and to their customers.

But since then, Torlakson shifted gears and strengthened his bill, drawing a critical letter to the Labor committee from Disney and other major theme parks Tuesday.

In testimony Wednesday, former U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission inspector Albert Limberg said the industry needs regulation “very badly” to prevent deaths.

After the hearing, Torlakson credited the committee’s approval to increased public attention. Last year, a similar bill died in its first hearing.

“The critical factor has been much greater public scrutiny of accident statistics, a much greater public involvement,” Torlakson said.

He said he hopes to keep his bill strong, but doesn’t yet know if he has the support in the Assembly or if Disney will increase pressure to remove mandatory outside inspections of permanent rides.

“I haven’t heard them say they support state inspection,” he said.

Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento), one of those favoring the legislation, rationalized his support concisely: “This is a good industry, but there’s nothing to fear from sunshine.”