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Safety standards for carnival rides in MO and KS

Posted at 5:10 PM, Aug 03, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-03 19:45:48-04

A young girl at a St. Louis mall was sent flying after a bungee ride broke. Luckily, a second bungee cord pulled the girl back to safety. 41 Action News investigated the safety standards for bungee rides.

Zach Wilson is the owner of “Fun Services” and inspects his own rides, including a bungee jumping ride. He just bought a bungee ride two weeks ago, and there is a lot to check.

"The state of Missouri, to do a complete inspection, is once a year then you are going to have your daily inspections every time the ride goes up and if it's a multi-day event you'll have a daily inspection done every single day that the ride is being used," said Wilson.

Every ride in Missouri should have a sticker on it verifying it is safe to ride.

"They'll have the month punched out and the year punched out, so this is good until March of 2017," said Wilson.

On the Kansas side, inspections are not done by a state agency, but state officials can drop in and look at the rides at any time and pull any records kept on file.

Wilson said there are ways parents can inspect rides on their own before putting your child on it:

  • Check the bungee cords to make sure there is no cracking or splitting. Also make sure they are not just tying bungees together.
  • Make sure the harness is tightened to your child. Inspect the harness beforehand to make sure there is no wear and tear.
  • Pay attention to who is working at the ride. Make sure they are paying attention to the ride and your child.

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Ali Hoxie can be reached at ali.hoxie@kshb.com

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