Senate OKs Inspections of Theme Parks

After several terrifying accidents on thrill rides this summer, the state Senate overwhelmingly approved a bill Friday that would create the first state inspection program for theme parks, which includes the power to shut down dangerous rides.

The action marks the first time in a quarter-century that both houses of the Legislature have passed a measure establishing state oversight of theme parks.

The bill is expected to land on the governor’s desk next week, after the Assembly, which passed the measure on a 60-15 vote in June, approves some minor changes made by the Senate. Gov. Gray Davis has not taken a position on the legislation.

Until this year, the theme park industry successfully blocked all efforts at regulation, arguing that major attractions have a good safety record and can monitor the rides themselves.

But a fatal Christmas Eve accident at Disneyland raised new questions about safety, creating public awareness that California is one of only 12 states that neither regulate parks nor require operators to report accidents. But it has the worst death rate in the nation.

“The Disneyland tragedy was the turning point,” said Assemblyman Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch), the bill’s author. “Parents across the state called and said, ‘Do something.’ . . . The Legislature couldn’t ignore them.”

The Disneyland accident killed a Washington state man when a metal cleat tore off the sailing ship Columbia and hit him in the head. His wife and a park worker were seriously injured.

Torlakson said the recent spate of summer accidents at theme parks across the nation--including several in California--gave the proposal added momentum.

On Aug. 22, a 12-year-old boy fell 129 feet to his death from the Drop Zone Stunt Tower ride at Paramount’s Great America Theme Park in Santa Clara. The next day, five people were injured at Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park when a wooden board on the GhostRider roller coaster broke and hit five riders.

Days later, a corkscrew roller coaster at Six Flags Marine World in Vallejo stopped suddenly, leaving 28 passengers dangling in midair. The same week, a death occurred on a roller coaster in Virginia.

Torlakson is asking backers of the bill to write Davis urging him to sign it.

“I’m convinced it will mean fewer accidents and tragedies,” he said.

The bill requires two inspections a year, one by a state employee and another by the theme park. The park’s inspector must file affidavits containing the results with the state.

During the state’s annual inspection, the parks must provide their maintenance, training and accident records.

When serious accidents occur, state inspectors would immediately be called. They would participate in investigations and report their findings to the public.

A key provision of the bill requires that parks publicly report all accidents other than those requiring simple first aid. Currently, theme parks can keep this information secret unless an employee is injured or killed.

The public information, backers say, allows park patrons to make informed decisions about the suitability of individual rides. They said the accident reports could also serve as an early warning that a ride may have safety problems.

The Senate vote Friday was 30-6 in favor of the bill, with three of the four Orange County lawmakers opposing it.

Sens. Ross Johnson (R-Irvine), John Lewis (R-Orange) and Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) were among the six dissenters.

“This [bill] isn’t going to do a damn thing,” Johnson said during the debate.

Dunn, whose district includes Disneyland, later said he did not believe the state inspection program “would prevent the kind of tragic accidents we have seen lately.”

For the first time, some theme parks, including Knott’s Berry Farm and Paramount’s Great America in Northern California, endorsed state oversight.

While Disneyland did not take a position on the bill, the park “worked with Assemblyman Torlakson every step of the way to develop the legislation,” Disneyland spokesman Ray Gomez said Friday.

Sitting in the Senate gallery for the vote were Kathy Fackler of La Jolla, whose son lost part of his foot after an accident on Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland, and Victoria Nelson of Napa, whose daughter died at a water slide park.

Both mothers had lobbied tirelessly for the legislation, reliving their children’s accidents in testimony to bring home the human element of the issue to lawmakers.

Fackler said she was thrilled by the Senate vote and looked forward to taking her children to a theme park armed with knowledge of the rides’ accident rates.

“I just want to know what [the parks] know,” Fackler said.

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Times staff writer Carl Ingram contributed to this story.

* PARKS REHABILITATION: A $2-billion bond issue is OKd for March ballot to fund fixing up city and state parks. A20