How Safe Are Amusement Parks for Children

Have you ever wondered about just how safe amusement parks are for your children?

Amusement parks are meant to be a source of fun and excitement, but there is always an underlying risk of injury. Children account for ½ of amusement park injuries, which is a horrifying statistic to think about.

The last thing you’d want to happen is for your child to get injured, but the harsh reality is that there is always at least some amount of risk associated with amusement parks.

The Dangers of Amusement Parks

Depending on what amusement park you visit, the safety level of the rides there will vary. More respected parks like Disneyworld are very safe to visit, while local amusement parks have a higher risk of injury.

Part of the problem is that not every state has a good system in place for ride inspections. There are currently eight states that don’t have inspections programs ran by the state for fixed-site rides.

Another issue is that giant constructions that are constantly used like amusement park rides are susceptible to wear and tear. It is very difficult to fully inspect a ride, which can make it easy to overlook sources of mechanical failure.

Here are a few common dangers posed by amusement park rides:

• Falling from a Ferris wheel.
• Being flung from a roller coaster ride.
• Concussions from slamming into safety equipment.
• Being struck by an amusement ride.
• Neck and back issues from cars crashing into each other.
• Drowning in water parks.

Injuries will always be a risk at an amusement park, but fortunately, they aren’t as common as you might think.

Likelihood of an Injury

The actual likelihood of your kid getting injured is fairly low.

Roughly 335 million visitors attend amusement parks each year. In 2016, there were just 30,900 emergency room visits related to rides at amusement parks.

This means that there is less than a one-hundredth of one percent (0.00008465%) chance of sustaining an injury requiring a visit to an emergency room. Furthermore, there is just a one-in-16-million chance of receiving an injury severe enough to require staying overnight at a hospital.

Excluding water parks, there were 22 deaths related to amusement park rides between 2010 and 2016.

This shows that injuries do happen, regardless of how likely they are to happen. Most injuries are not fatal, but death does happen in rare cases.

What Causes Injuries

An injury is a quick way to shift a day full of fun into a nightmare, so it is important to know what causes them to happen. Imagine planning for a day full of fun and memories, only to end it with a traumatizing hospital visit.

Understanding this will make it easier for you to identify potential causes for concern that could lead to your child getting injured.

Like we mentioned before, not all amusement park rides are regulated by the state. This means that mechanical failure is always a cause for concern. 

Even if a park does have state inspections, there is no guarantee that equipment will hold up until the next inspection. It is almost near-impossible to fully inspect every inch of a ride and the cars that go along with it.

Mechanical and safety equipment failure are one problem, but there is also a human element included with injury risk.

Ride operators may not always be paying attention. When operating the ride all day long, it can become easy to lose focus and make an error that causes injuries. 

Amusement park riders can also make mistakes that lead to their injury. Failing to obey safety rules or ignoring safety equipment is a great way to make this happen.

One final cause of injury is a health issue that a rider may unknowingly have. Getting on an amusement ride may cause complications due to their condition, which is not directly a fault of the ride itself.

What to do

While you can never fully guarantee your safety at an amusement park, that doesn’t mean that you should avoid them altogether.

The chances of your child sustaining an injury are fairly small and a serious injury is much rarer. Amusement park injuries are caused by mechanical failure and human error, the latter of which is something you can look out for. 

Do your best to follow all safety rules and make sure the ride operator is coherent, vigilant, and doing their best to keep riders safe. 

Don’t let your kids go on rides that they aren’t tall enough for (or even those that they barely meet the height requirement) and considering riding with them just in case.

This will give you the best opportunity to keep you and your child safe the next time you visit an amusement park.