Self-Regulation in the Amusement World

I‘ve written before about the Wisdom Sizzler, a very popular carnival ride.  There has been a series of injuries and fatalities on Sizzlers associated with patrons not staying in their seats.  The deaths have included a nine-year-old girl riding with her younger brother at a carnival in Austin, Texas, which at least somewhat undercuts the “rider misconduct” argument.

Wisdom, the ride’s manufacturer, has this month (finally?) issued an advisory urging the addition of seatbelts.  It’s available here: Download Sizzler_Bulletin_8_01_07.pdf.  The introduction is carefully phrased but gives the main idea:

The update is presumably inadmissible to prove defect, but you may recall regardless that the nine-year-old’s family is out of luck on any design defect claim due to Texas’s statute of repose.

–BC