Amusement Rides Hurt Over 4,000 Children in U.S. Each Year; Experts Question Safety Regulations, Offer Safety Tips

A new study reveals that more than 4,000 U.S. children are injured on an amusement park ride each year.

Experts across the board, like the researchers who conducted the study at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, are now calling to establish standardized safety regulations.

"Although the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has jurisdiction over mobile rides, regulation of fixed-site rides is currently left to state or local governments," said Dr. Gary Smith, the study's senior author and director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy.

"A coordinated national system would help us prevent amusement-ride-related injuries through better injury surveillance and more consistent enforcement of standards."

Researchers determined that 93,000 children under the age of 18 received emergency room treatment due to amusement-ride-related injuries between 1990 and 2010 — bringing the average to about 4,500 injuries per year.

The highest occurrence of injuries, more than 20 per day, was found to be during the warm-weather months between May and September, comprising 70 percent of total injuries, according to researchers working on the study.

The findings, published in the journal Clinical Pediatrics, also revealed that most injuries, 28 percent, were related to the head and neck region.

Arm injuries came in second with 24 percent, followed by face at 18 percent and legs at 17 percent.

More specifically, the most common type of injuries involved soft tissue, found to account for 29 percent of reports, followed by strains and sprains at 21 percent, cuts at 20 percent, and broken bones at 10 percent.

But while the total amount of injuries that required hospitalization or observation was low, researchers found that serious injuries necessitating hospital treatment occurred once every three days.

"Injuries from smaller amusement rides located in malls, stores, restaurants and arcades are typically given less attention by legal and public health professionals than injuries from larger amusement park rides, yet our study showed that in the U.S. a child is treated in an emergency department on average, every day for an injury from an amusement rise located in a mall, store, restaurant or arcade," Smith said.

"We need to raise awareness of this issue, and determine the best way to prevent injuries from these types of rides."

Smith and fellow researchers compiled a list of amusement-ride safety tips:

- Always abide by any height, weight, age and health restrictions posted for a ride, including loading or seating-order instructions.

- Always use seat belts and other safety equipment.

- Keep hands and feet inside the ride at all times.

- Do not let children get on a ride if you believe they do not fit the safety requirements.

- Keep children away from mall rides that are on top of a hard surface or do not have child restraints.