Legislation to provide greater safety for amusement park rides in Tennessee is on its way to Governor Bill Haslam for his signature after passage in the Senate on Wednesday and the House of Representatives on Thursday. Senate Bill 430, sponsored by Senator Brian Kelsey (R-Germantown) and Rep.
John DeBerry (D-Memphis), comes after two accidents occurred in Tennessee last year, including one in Memphis when eight people were taken to the hospital after a carnival ride malfunctioned and was prematurely shut down at the Delta Fair.
The other accident occurred at the Greene County Fair where three girls fell 35 to 40 feet when a basket overturned on a Ferris wheel resulting in serious injuries.
“These injuries are the type of issues we are hoping to prevent with passage of this legislation,” said Senator Kelsey. “We need more safety measures in place to keep these kinds of accidents from ever occurring again. This bill tightens up regulations and calls for increased inspections to help ensure that amusement devices in Tennessee are safe.”
The legislation addresses safety issues on the front end with increased inspections and oversight of the devices, while strengthening standards for device operators and requiring a prominent display of proof of inspection. To accomplish the inspections, the bill allows the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to continue either their current practice of using qualified, third party device inspectors, or they can employ their own inspectors.
The bill also requires that an operator of an amusement device must be competent, 16 years of age, operating only one device at a time and that they must be present while the ride is engaged. In addition, it authorizes persons injured in accidents to bring a cause of action against the owners and operators of these amusement devices.
“This bill increases oversight over amusement devices to provide greater safety for those who ride them,” added Rep. DeBerry. “We are very pleased that this legislation has passed and believe it will help curb such incidents as those which occurred in Tennessee last year.”