Kansas Legislature passes oversight after waterslide death

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Kansas Legislature passes oversight after waterslide death

By ALLISON KITE
Apr. 7, 2017 12:32 PM EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators agreed Friday to strengthen the state's lax oversight of amusement park rides after a lawmaker's 10-year-old son was killed last year while riding a waterslide.

The Senate approved the bill 35-2 on Friday, just days after the House also overwhelmingly approved changing the law.

Rep. Scott Schwab's son Caleb died last summer on the Verruckt waterslide at Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas. Schwab didn't comment on the legislation until he gave an emotional speech last week in support of the bill. The investigation into the death is ongoing, but the slide has been closed since the accident.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback said he wanted to look at the legislation but would be "following Rep. Schwab's lead."

Under the legislation, amusement park rides would have to be inspected every year by qualified inspector. The bill stipulates such a professional be an inspector certified by one of several national boards; an engineer with two years of experience in the amusement park field, including one year in inspections; or someone with five years of experience in the field, with two of those in inspections.

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Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/7b575846896443a8b3099b8bb7317063/kansas-legislature-passes-oversight-after-waterslide-death

[benld74]

1. I followed this story from the beginning

The 'slide' company actually checked the state regulations in deciding where to locate the slide.
Missouri was their first choice, because of weak regulations
But Kansas was chosen, because of even more lax if it even existed regulations.

Various newspaper reports on said slide showed it
News ran stories showing it and the opening day.

Initially I thought, another thrill ride, but in Kansas? Didnt know about their regs at that time.

Then the horrifying report about the boy.
Terrible.

[spanone]

13. i just don't understand humans and their greed to the point of killing

and if they shopped for the least regulated state, they are state sanctioned killers.

imho

[Bleacher Creature]

2. Why does a child have to die for people to understand that regulation & oversight aren't bad words?

And while I feel terrible for their loss, what are the odds these changes happen had it been somebody else's kid?

[hatrack]

3. Why does a child OF A LEGISLATOR have to die for things to change?

That's the part that chaps my ass . . .

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. Evidently

Last edited Fri Apr 7, 2017, 06:23 PM - Edit history (2)

unless it happens to them, affects them, etc. in any way, shape, or form..........it simply doesn't matter.

[BannonsLiver]

10. Agreed

Any proposal to do what this shit heel just did legislatively would have been met with "go away anti business liberal" if you had talked to the POS two years ago. Fuck him. Sideways.

[LeftInTX]

15. Insert REPUBLICAN before legislator

[benld74]

17. That day featured more than

The one Legislative family in attendance

[BannonsLiver]

11. 0.0

[Wounded Bear]

4. Back in the good old days, I remember a story we passed around about traffic lights...

we lived outside of town, on a failry main road, two lane. The old fashioned kind before they put in the freeway.

Anyway, just down the road from our house was an intersection. The main road kind of curved through it. There was a corner store, and the crossroad coming from the west came down a fairly steep hill. There was limited visibility from 2 or 3 directions there and, as you might imagine plenty of close calls. The main road speed limit was 45 or 50 IIRC.

We all wondered why they never put up traffic lights there, just stop signs on the cross road. The usual response was that there had to be at least 3 fatal accidents at any intersection before they put up traffic lights.

Kind of believable. All those regulations look silly to the RW libertarian crowd until something happens. Then it's like, "There oughta be a law."

[liberalhistorian]

12. And even when something happens, a lot of libertarian

and republican assholes will just say "well, people choose to use/do such-and-such knowing that there's always a risk to it" so why should businesses have to go to any kind of trouble at all? That's the bullshit that Rand Paul spewed about any regulations for coal mines in his state, saying that "people can choose not to apply for and take those jobs if they're worried about safety." Profit uber alles, you know. Never mind that those may be the only jobs available or the only travel roads available, etc., etc. I hate libertarians and repubs more and more all the time. Selfish, selfish, selfish, selfish.

[spanone]

6. thank you republicans.

jeebus christo

[Proud Liberal Dem]

7. Regulation is a four-letter word to Republicans

While there may be a few frivolous ones out there that legitimately should be scrapped or are outdated, most regulations seem to have been put in place for a good reason. But you wouldn't know that from the way most Republicans rail against them. Of course, most people in most places in our country (Kansas maybe not so much) have grown up well-protected from predatory actions by businesses and other bad actors BECAUSE we've had regulations in place to protect us, so not many know about how bad things can be/get. I will say that I have heard that Amusement Parks are, in general, not particularly well-regulated places and I would expect that they, like pretty much everything else, is very loosely regulated in Kansas.

[MuseRider]

8. Every time I drive by that place I am

somehow driven to look at that slide (you can see it from quite a ways away) and think of that family. I am pretty certain if it had be left to Brownback he would have done nothing. Regulations are the horror that keeps this nation from being godlike and wonderful ( ) Personally having been around Brownback I actually don't think he cares much for anyone. He rarely shows emotion, even around his family. I used to really like his wife. She seems to have changed a lot but then I do not think she is out much anymore. Last I saw her she looked a lot different in manner and dress. Oh well, at least something is going to be regulated here! One step forward after a million steps backward.

[Liberal In Texas]

9. Tombstone Regulation

It's the Repub way. Don't do anything until something horrible happens. And maybe not even then.

[jmowreader]

14. How many people got hurt on this ride before the incident that forced them to take action?

Someone upthread got it right: these bastards never fix anything until it affects them personally. I wonder if they would have been so worried about ride safety as to pass a (gasp!) regulation if it would have only been a common person's kid who got killed.

[Warren DeMontague]

16. That story is and was horrifying.