FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, March 13, 2008

For more information contact:
Bill Clary

(502) 564-4696

COMMISSIONER FARMER HAILS SENATE PASSAGE
OF AMUSEMENT RIDE SAFETY LEGISLATION

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer commended the Kentucky Senate for passing legislation Wednesday to make amusement rides safer in Kentucky.

“Senate Bill 203 requires ride operators to do more to make sure their rides are operating properly,” Commissioner Farmer said. “It also gives the Kentucky Department of Agriculture more authority to investigate serious accidents and penalize ride operators who disobey the law. I’m grateful to the Senate for passing this bill.”

Senate Bill 203, sponsored by Sen. Tom Jensen, R-London, passed 37-0. It now goes to the Kentucky House of Representatives.

The measure requires ride owners to inspect rides before opening to the public each day and prohibits anyone under 18 from operating a ride. It requires ride owners to notify the Department within 12 hours of an accident that results in death, injury requiring medical treatment other than first aid, or damage to a ride that renders it unsafe. It permits the Department to issue subpoenas in a ride accident investigation and establish civil penalties of up to $10,000, up from the current maximum of $1,000.

“This is good legislation, but it’s not enough,” Commissioner Farmer said. “The General Assembly needs to provide the funding to hire more ride inspectors. Kentucky has only eight full-time inspectors to conduct about 10,000 inspections a year. It is our duty to protect the public, and the Department needs more inspectors if we are to carry out our duty.”

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