When I was a little kid, I loved the county fairs that popped up every summer around my home state. There were petting zoos and wild rides, all the games and doughboys and ice cream…I lived for those summer moments right before we all went back to school.
That is until the year that I got stuck in a gondola for over an hour while the operators tried to fix a mechanical problem.
I was so scared, sitting there 30 feet in the air, that I threw up.
Lots of people worry about fair rides.
To this day, I won’t go on rides, and after reading this story out of Ohio, I have even more reason to feel super twitchy about fair rides.
An Ohio mom took to Facebook to warn others heading out to the Summit County Fairgrounds to be cautious after a ride her children were on broke apart with them strapped inside.
The children were pinned to the ground with the ride sitting on top of them.
“Tonight we took our kids to the Summit County Fair, and one of our worst nightmares happened,” writes Tessa Brown.
“This picture was just minutes before this ride broke; the jet ski that our kids were on snapped off and fell with them strapped in. The boat was on top of them. They were screaming and crying in fear.”
I don’t think you have to be a parent to empathize with how panicked this mom must have felt in those chaotic moments when the ride broke.
Watching anyone, especially children, get hurt is enough to make the toughest among us want to freak out.
“We were told that the rides were all inspected the day before. I think this just shows how dangerous and unsafe these old fair rides are,” Brown wrote in her post.
“The people working the rides don’t seem to care much and the one operating this ride in particular, didn’t ask if the kids were okay or anything.”
Brown goes on to say that the Tallmadge Fire Department and paramedics were there in minutes to help out.
Thankfully, her children suffered only minor scrapes and bruises, and no one was seriously injured.
But what may be even more frustrating than a ride breaking in the first place is the response from the fairground operators.
The children were not seriously injured because they were appropriately strapped inside the ride, and the safety equipment worked as it was intended to.
They also reported that Summit County Fair Manager Cathy Cunningham told them the rides had been inspected by the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) of Fair Safety just a few days before the incident and that the rides are inspected daily by the fair operators.
The fair officials, as well as the ride vendor, Lisko Amusements, reportedly met with the family to make sure everyone was ok.
And thankfully, they were. Repairs and further inspections were made to prevent more malfuntions. However, the ODA said they would decline to investigate since no one was seriously injured.
So, how common is it to experience fair rides breaking?
Actually, it’s not that common at all. Here are some interesting statistics from BMW Law to consider:
In 2019, there were 1,299 ride-related accidents, making it 3.7 injuries for every one million visitors.
Between 1987 and 2000 there have been 63 fatalities from rides.
Of all the injuries incurred each year, 29% are soft tissue, 28% are head and neck, and 10% are broken bones.
32% of all injuries to kids were the result of some type of fall.
While no one ever wants to read about kids getting hurt, particularly while doing something as fun as going on fair rides, we are so glad to know the Brown family is safe and that no one was seriously hurt.
