Texas amusement park ride safety
In Texas, under the state’s Amusement Ride Safety Inspection and Insurance Act, the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has safety oversight for rides at fixed site amusement parks, like Six Flags in Arlington. TDI also oversees ride safety at water parks and carnivals, as well as for things like zip lines, bungee jump lines, mechanical bulls, go-carts, rock-climbing walls, and other similar activities.
Bodily injury insurance
Every amusement park ride operator or owner must have at least $1 million in bodily injury insurance coverage, per injury.
Ride inspection
A qualified engineer retained by TDI must inspect each amusement ride. Engineers, and others responsible for the safety of amusement park and carnival patrons, are required to perform the following:
- Examining assembly and re-assembly steps for rides.
- Carefully training employees who assemble, maintain, and operate the rides.
- Ensuring that amusement park ride owners and operators follow ride manufacturers’ specifications for the ride. For example, if the manufacturer recommends that all riders should be at least 42 inches tall, the operator shouldn’t lower that height requirement to 36 inches.
- Welds and cotter pins that hold rides together should be checked for safety, fit, and wear.
- All parts of a ride, including rails, tracks, and supports should be checked for any damage, wear, cracks, or missing or displaced parts.
- Ride safety restraints should be checked to make sure they all operate and lock properly.
- All metal parts of a ride should be checked to ensure that they don’t conduct electrical current that could electrocute guests.
- Operator control panels should not be easily accessible to guests.
- And ride operations and performance should be checked without any guests or riders to make sure that they operate safely and smoothly.
What happens when a ride is deemed safe?
When the ride owner or operator has shown proof of the necessary insurance and the qualified engineer has inspected a ride and declared it safe, the ride gets a TDI sticker that includes the date when the ride will next need inspection. Our amusement ride safety lawyers remark that generally, each ride at amusement parks like Six Flags gets inspected once per year.
In addition to TDI inspections, other state, local, and county officials may conduct safety inspections without prior notice. These officials are also entitled to see proof of insurance, daily self-inspection logs for the rides, and the ride inspection certificates. TDI keeps records of the inspection certificates, insurance coverage polices, injury reports from the rides, and quarterly government action reports.
The Texas amusement ride safety lawyers at Denena Points, PC emphasize that, when there’s an amusement ride accident, it’s not TDI that investigates. As in the case of the recent fatal fall from a roller coaster at Six Flags, it might be the amusement park itself that conducts the accident investigation. Which could mean that accident victims and their families might not get full disclosure regarding the true causes of the accident.
Have you or a loved one been injured in an amusement park or carnival accident?
If you or a loved one have been injured in an amusement park or carnival ride accident, we urge you to download our FREE report to learn more about amusement park ride operations and safety and learn important tips about roller coaster safety.
If a ride accident harms you or your loved one, you can also contact our experienced amusement park ride accident attorneys for a free initial legal consultation, without obligation. Reach us at 713-807-9500 or anytime through our online contact form. Put our proven experience with complex ride accident compensation claims to work for your family’s future.