A bill aimed at making carnival rides safer is one step closer to becoming law. The Senate Commerce and Energy Committee passed House Bill 1168, sending it to the Senate floor for further debate. Representative Steve Hickey is a prime sponsor of the bill. He says it requires all carnival rides be inspected at least once a year.
“In section four it says they have to file an inspection affidavit with those who are securing the carnival service,” Hickey says. “Section five asks for daily inspection logs. And this is not unusual. The carnival operators are doing this that are coming in from other states. They’re used to it in other states. They’re just keeping a log. They’re walking around their machine, making sure there aren’t any old bolts that are about to break off, or any pieces of tin that have, you know, cracked.”
Hickey says the bill is talking about portable amusement park rides, not permanent attractions that are never moved. The bill passed the committee with a vote of six to one.