WCPO: Kentucky passes new amusement ride legislation

[sfkk339]

According to WCPO, Kentucky lawmakers have passed legislation regulating amusement park rides. Part of the new legislation mandates that all ride operators be 18 years of age or older.

 

You can find the article here

[PkiJake]

To me this is pointless! Had an 18 year old instead of a 16 year old been running the ride the same accident would have occured. I read that poor training at the park left the ride operator not knowing how to e-stop the ride.

 

-Jake

[RIP Psyclone]

WCBO = "West Coast Pash-O"?

[Evan1127]

The article (and perhaps the new legislation) is quite vague. Is there a distinction between operators and attendants? I know similar laws are in place in MA, but attendants can be 16+ as long as they're not operating the main control panel of a ride (and are, therefore, not "in charge" of the attraction).

 

And the part about alcohol is interesting. I mean, it's completely reasonable, but why was this brought up in the wake of the accident?

[christianscoasters]

Somehow this reminds me of things like, "I'm never going back to this park because the roller coaster malfunctioned." *COUGH* Six Flags America *COUGH*. It's stupid, and pointless. I can understand Kentucky wanting to make amusement parks safer, but this is just dumb.

[ahecht]

Finally, some common sense. This bill is a good start, although I think that some sort of mandatory licensing is required. Bus drivers, taxi drivers, train engineers, pilots, boat captains, etc. need to be licensed, and since the courts have ruled that amusement park rides have the same "common carrier" status as buses, taxis, trains, planes, boats, etc., the licensing requirements should be similar.

[ginzo]

Finally, some common sense. This bill is a good start, although I think that some sort of mandatory licensing is required. Bus drivers, taxi drivers, train engineers, pilots, boat captains, etc. need to be licensed, and since the courts have ruled that amusement park rides have the same "common carrier" status as buses, taxis, trains, planes, boats, etc., the licensing requirements should be similar.

 

But this law doesn't address the problem of under-trained ride operators. An untrained 18-year-old would likely act in the same way as an untrained 16-year-old.

 

Heck, the Amish let kids MUCH younger than 16 operate heavy equipment and they have few problems with this.

[ebl]

In all honesty, a good training program would work just fine for anyone 16 or 18 years old. How many 16-year-olds work in fast food, at family fun centers, etc.?

 

Proper training = Reliable employee

 

At any age...

 

Eric

[nagro5]

I hate how people think that older means more mature. It's not the operators fault that the accident happened and it isn't their fault that they didn't e-stop the ride either. He didn't know how to stop the ride because of bad training . Having older operators won't help if they're still trained improperly. Instead of setting an age limit to operate a ride, the state should set guidelines for training.

[sfkk339]

I think that 16 year olds should not operate rides because a 16 year old should not be held responsible for riders safety and lives. But yes a proper trained worker is a better worker.

[Alpenguy]

Good safety judgement doesn't necessarily have anything to do with age, but they usually increase together. Requiring operators to be 18 doesn't hurt anything at all, though proper training really is the most important thing IMO. If you don't know how to reset an e-stop or haven't ever actually done it, you're probably a lot less likely to not hesitate to hit one when considering if a situation warrants it.

[christianscoasters]

Requiring operators to be 18 doesn't hurt anything at all

 

What about the 16 year old workers that will probably not have a job at SFKK anymore, unless they do something else like a janitor or food sales? I bet just a couple of 16 year olds liked their jobs as ride operators

[ahecht]

Finally, some common sense. This bill is a good start, although I think that some sort of mandatory licensing is required. Bus drivers, taxi drivers, train engineers, pilots, boat captains, etc. need to be licensed, and since the courts have ruled that amusement park rides have the same "common carrier" status as buses, taxis, trains, planes, boats, etc., the licensing requirements should be similar.

 

But this law doesn't address the problem of under-trained ride operators. An untrained 18-year-old would likely act in the same way as an untrained 16-year-old.

 

Heck, the Amish let kids MUCH younger than 16 operate heavy equipment and they have few problems with this.

 

As I said, this law is a good start, but we still need a licensing program which would insure proper training (just like we have for operators of other modes of transportation).

[griffon]

Training has a big impact on the performance of ride operators, but I think the responsibility in the individual person matters the most. On paper the increased age requirement makes a little bit of sense. But in reality, I think you're more likely to have an irresponsible 18 year old working at a theme park than an irresponsible 16 year old. A responsible 18 year old should be able to find a better paying job by that point. I know that's not true in all cases, but in general terms that's the way I see it.