Industry organizations – Page 2 – THRILL Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University

Amusement ride accidents are spectacular, but experts say they’re rare: CBC

Happy to provide information and quotes for this good effort by CBC to provide a balanced report.

“Amusement ride accidents are spectacular, but experts say they’re rare”.

Time magazine covers amusement ride safety

Had a great interview with well-informed reporter Kevin Lui from Time. Check the article.

Screenshot of Time magazine article headline "A growing list of accidents is putting safety at amusement parks under the spotlight"

Report of rider injury

The fatal injury on the Schlitterbahn “Verrückt” waterslide has been reported as a decapitation.

Earlier accounts referred to a “neck injury”. Reporters enthusiastically parsed past Consumer Product Safety Commission reports and noted 28% of injuries in their dataset were head and neck injuries. They did not report that the CPSC data on amusement rides substantially overstates injury occurrence due to the inclusion of swan boats, ball pits, laser tag, corn mazes and other things that are not what you would popularly consider “amusement rides”. A study I published in the journal Safety Science in 2014 found the national estimate of actual amusement ride injuries was less than 2/3 of what CPSC data would suggest.

Who makes attractions safe?

There are many people involved in setting standards that make amusement rides and devices safe. The ASTM F24 standards are used in 19 countries, and counting. The committee has almost 900 members, and holds meetings three times annually. Meetings held in USA have almost 300 people participating in multiple concurrent sessions, literally poring over language used in standards to ensure that people following the standards will interpret the requirements as intended.