Standards-Setting
In time, Dan immersed himself into assisting in founding the rules and regulations for ride inspectors to follow concern- ing ASTM-24 standards nationwide. “Most of the states have adopted these standards. The people that I worked with to set these standards were show owners, ride manufacturers and other ride inspectors. So, while there are some differences from one state to another in terms of what they require of ride safety, their observing of the ASTM regs made the states more uniform with one another with respect to the ASTM side of it,” the venerated ride safety functionary described. Dan stated that the requirements of most states regarding mini- mum insurance coverage ranges anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000 per occurrence.
The result of all of these safety-driven requisites has been
an ever-improving rank of achievement in ride safety, accord- ing to Dan. “The incidence of injuries is very, very low. Take into account all of the hours and backbreaking work that these folks put in every day and that makes the level of safety even more of a marvel! On balance, it’s a good and an extremely safe industry. I believe it’ll get better still,” Dan prognosticated. Dan is so confident about the thoroughness of his inspec- tions that he’d put all thirteen of his grandchildren on any ride that passed his rigorous checks. “We’re dealing with people’s lives out here. For instance, I always keep my grand- kids in mind when inspecting a ride. I ask myself, ‘How’d I like it if an inspector let slip by some broken or missing safety mechanism that could put a rider, like a small child, in harm’s way? When I declare that a ride’s safe, you can take that to the bank,” exclaimed Dan.
In spite of his background role as a ride inspector, Dan, nonetheless, dealt with irate fairgoers on occasion. “They’ll find out I’m a ride inspector and tee off on me about what they feel is an unsafe ride. If it’s a ride I inspected and cleared, I’ll stand behind the ride, its operator and the show 100%! Folks go away mad but the truth is that I know what I’m talking about. I don’t know that they do,” Dan stated matter of factly.
Not What You Think It’s been Dan’s experience that, contrary to popular belief, kiddie rides have more accidents than the major devices. “Given the nature of real young kids, they’re not going to pay
all that much attention to safety rules. Even with the opera- tor going up to each tub and telling the kids what they’re not supposed to do, lots of kids just won’t pay any mind. Besides, and being kids, they get curious about what they’re told not to do. That also leads to problems,” Dan said, adding that, in his experienced estimation, “…97% of riders read and obey safety signage. It’s the 3% who don’t that cause the mishaps.” Having been called in as a consultant in numerous court cases has exposed Dan to the myriad issues that said cases are consisted of, especially the financial expense. “Years ago, it cost a show man about $40,000 to fight a court case involving a ride accident. You couldn’t even say the word ‘in- surance’ in a trial. Of course, when a show loses a case, the insurance rates, which are already pretty high, go even higher. That, in turn, increases ride ticket prices. The fiscal side-effect, gener- ally, can be substantial,” Dan analyzed. Dan recounted one court case that did have a happy end- ing for all concerned. This case involved a handicapped person who felt she was being discriminated against because she wasn’t allowed to ride due to her disability. As hard as that show fought, they still lost the case and stood to lose a bundle! “Then," Dan continued, “the plaintiff’s attorney, himself handicapped, surprised the show’s lawyers by an- nouncing that, on behalf of his client, he simply wanted the opportunity to address the show’s employees and, if allowed to do so, his client would decline collection of the financial reward.”
“During the course of the trial, this attorney had the intel- ligence to figure out that, at least in the case of this show, they didn’t have the proper knowledge to appropriately deal with the disabled. The gist of his message to them was, ‘Treat us with the same respect and dignity you want others to treat you with.’ Afterward, he stayed behind and shook the hands of each and every employee as they filed out of court,” remem- bered Dan. “Clearly, he and his client weren’t interested in the money to be gained from the case and let me tell you that the money they gave up was plenty and then some! Simply, they wanted to get their point across, a point that, evidently, they felt was far more important than any amount of cash,” Dan recollected.
To be continued in upcoming issues of ShowTime magazine.
24 OABA ShowTime Magazine | MARCH 2023
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32
