Adventures in Manuals

You: the happy owner of a newly-purchased used Deluxe Sizzler carnival ride:

“Hooray!” you think.  “It’s got a manual!  I’ll know what sort of restrictions to put on it.  Page 1 tells you this:

“Okay, so, 11 or younger ‘must’ be accompanied by an adult.  Get that sign made!” you think.  Oh, wait, though, on the very next page, there’s this:

“Huh?  The average 11 year old is 57 inches tall or so.”

Just about a year ago, a 55-inch-tall 9-year-old rode a Deluxe Sizzler at a fair in Austin, Texas, without an adult (she in fact rode with her brother, also under 52″).  She apparently attempted to shift herself to avoid smashing her brother.  She was thrown from the ride and died.  The ride operator followed the height restrictions; no Sizzler operator to my knowledge attempts to follow the age suggestions.

The CPSC report: Download cpsc_report.pdf

Might be a good case to explore in either a products or torts class.