Parks Report 51 Accidents Since New Law

California amusement parks have reported 51 injury accidents to the state since a law requiring more oversight and regulation took effect last year.

Many of the accidents were minor and some were not even investigated by the state, but safety and child advocates who pushed for more oversight said the numbers are evidence that the law’s “wheels are starting to turn.”

Guidelines for the law have not yet been formally adopted and are still being ironed out, but amusement park officials have said they are operating on the honor system by notifying the state about the incidents.

Already this year, 22 accidents have been reported to the state, including six at Disney’s new theme park, California Adventure. Three of those were on Mulholland Madness, a sharp-turning roller coaster designed to resemble Southern California freeways.

Disney officials have shut down that ride to make improvements, but said their action is unrelated to the accidents. The accidents all appear minor, a state spokesman said.

Disneyland spokesman Ray Gomez noted that the ride is new, but similar to roller coasters around the world. Still, he said it is not up to “Disney standards” and will be slowed down and smoothed out.

Meanwhile, officials with the state Division of Occupational Safety and Health--the agency charged with amusement park oversight--have forwarded the first set of the law’s regulations to the state Office of Administrative Law for review before they can be signed by the secretary of State and enacted.

Those regulations include a controversial requirement that amusement parks report every incident needing medical service other than ordinary first aid. The law also requires annual ride inspections and gives the state power to investigate accidents.

The law gave the state authority to investigate last September’s accident on the Roger Rabbit attraction at Disneyland. Brandon Zucker, then 4, suffered serious brain damage after being trapped beneath the ride for several minutes.

Investigators found that Disneyland employees did not seat the Zucker family properly and may have failed to lower the lap bar completely. The state’s report also required that Disneyland make several safety modifications to the ride before it can be re-opened.