IN THE MIX:Keep safety in mind on fair rides

I’m a worrier. A fact made more prominent after having children.

When I was editing the metro pages of a newspaper in the Inland Valley I was constantly coming up with new restrictions for my kids.

I’d read a story about a drowning and make a rule that my children would never play at someone’s house if they had a pool. I’d read a story about a kid dying after falling on a knife in the dishwasher and I’d forever change the way I load that machine.

When my kids were very young I’d take them to the county fair and be grateful they were too small to ride anything but the kiddie rides. Those fair rides just scared me to death. I’d ask myself how anyone was able to let their kids ride those things — that was until my own kids were old enough to stare longingly at the most frightening of rides.

In the end I realized you cannot keep your children from anything that might be dangerous. I couldn’t actually keep them locked up in the house away from any harm. That’s not a life worth living.

My fear stemmed from the lore of horrific carnival ride accidents. There’s no shortage of legendary accidents on pretty much any contraption at the fair.

I wanted to look into what really happens and who caused it and how can I avoid it.

I was primarily looking for any problems at county fair or carnivals. A Gravitron, a ride that encloses its passengers and spins around rapidly, broke open in 2004 at the Miami-Dade County Fair in Florida. Three of the seven people injured were thrown from the ride through the opening left by a broken panel.

Investigators say the accident happened when an old bolt securing one of the panels sheared, causing the panel to separate from the ride while it was running at full speed.

That accident happened after modifications had been made to the ride after an accident in 1991 at the Missouri State Fair led to four riders being ejected.

There’s plenty more, but I only have so much space. For more information, visit rideaccidents.com and saferparks.org.

While researching ride accidents I found that many of them occurred at permanent theme parks, as opposed to the traveling carnivals.

At Playland, a permanent theme park in New York, a 21-year-old and a 7-year-old were killed three years apart on the Mind Scrambler ride. The 21-year-old was a ride operator whose partner didn’t follow regulations. The young girl was sitting backward on the seat kneeling when the ride started.

The Orange County Fair has an O.K. history concerning ride accidents. But I’m not going to diminish the accidents that have happened. In 2003 there were two accidents that made the media.

First a woman was hit by a 6-inch pin that came detached from a sign on the Booster ride. She suffered a broken jaw and broken teeth. At first when you hear that a woman was injured you’re grateful no one died and you think, well, that wasn’t so bad. I’m not sure I’d feel that way if my jaw was busted and my teeth knocked out.

The second happened when a net on the Adrenaline Drop ride malfunctioned and didn’t rise to the appropriate level. She suffered minor injures. The year before, a similar ride in Florida malfunctioned and a 13-year-old broke his leg and hip.

For the past 12 years the care of the carnival rides at the Orange County Fair has been in the hands of Ray Cammack Shows.

The company’s marketing director, Tony Fiori, was pretty good at making me feel a bit better about the Orange County Fair. He said the ride attendants must go through extensive training before they work. He said they start in non-safety sensitive areas such as taking tickets and then move up the ladder to become an operator or supervisor. He said about 30 hours of classes a year, which includes written tests, are required. He also said there is one supervisor for about three or four rides and each ride has a foreman.

Orange County Fair and Exposition Center chief executive Becky Bailey-Findley said in addition to Ray Cammack Shows supervisors, the Orange County Fair hires a private safety consultant team who monitors the rides and are at the fair each day.

It’s comforting that there are so many inspectors and regulations, but of course all the regulations in the world can’t combat the one problem most organizations have with them. It’s the problem of getting employees to take the training and rules seriously. There’s always going to be the people who can skate through all the courses and training but are still irresponsible or easily distracted. I guess that’s where the public comes in. Fiori says people are encouraged to inform fair officials if they see attendants behave poorly.

The best bit of advice from both Fiori and Bailey-Findley seemed pretty obvious, but is somehow so hard for people to follow: Watch your kids, make sure the ride is appropriate for them and don’t fudge when it comes to heights and other regulations.

After hearing about all the safety catches I’ll breathe a little easier as my kids hand over their tickets, but after reading all the nasty accidents that leave people maimed or dead I’ll also keep a watchful eye on the attendants, the ride and my kids’ behavior.