SECOND REGULAR SESSION

HOUSE BILL NO. 924

88TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES CANUTESON AND SKAGGS (Cosponsors).

Prefiled December 21, 1995 and 1000 copies ordered printed.

DOUGLAS W. BURNETT, Chief Clerk

L2680.01I

AN ACT

Relating to amusement ride safety, with penalty provisions.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the state of Missouri, as follows:

Section 1. 1. As used in sections 1 to 9 of this act, the following terms mean:

(1) "Amusement ride", any mechanical device that carries or conveys passengers along, around or over a fixed or restricted route or course or within a defined area for the purpose of giving its passengers amusement, pleasure or excitement;

(2) "Department", the department of public safety;

(3) "Director", the director of the department of public safety;

(4) "Operator", a person or the agent of a person who owns or controls, or has the duty to control, the operation of an amusement or ride or related electrical equipment;

(5) "Owner", a person who owns, leases, controls or manages the operations of an amusement ride and may include the state or any political subdivision of the state;

(6) "Qualified inspector", any person who is:

(a) Found by the director to possess the requisite training and experience to perform competently the inspections required by sections 1 to 9 of this act; and

(b) Certified by the director to perform inspections of amusement rides;

(7) "Related electrical equipment", any electrical apparatus or wiring used in connection with amusement rides; and

(8) "Serious physical injury", any physical injury that creates a substantial risk of death or that causes serious disfigurement or protracted loss or impairment of function of any part of the body.

Section 2. The director shall promulgate rules necessary to administer the provisions of sections 1 to 9 of this act including rules for the reporting of any fatalities or serious physical injuries incurred from the operation of amusement rides, or related electrical equipment, and the subsequent inspection of such amusement rides and related electrical equipment, provided that no rule or portion of a rule promulgated under the authority of this section shall become effective unless it has been promulgated pursuant to the provisions of section 536.024, RSMo.

Section 3. The operator of an amusement ride shall immediately cease to operate any ride upon which a serious physical injury or death has occurred. The owner of such amusement ride shall send a copy of an accident report of serious physical injury or death to the director within twenty-four hours of the accident. The cessation shall remain in force until the department has performed an inspection of any such amusement ride or equipment and has determined that the ride or related equipment is safe for public use. The department shall cause such inspection to be initiated within twenty-four hours of receipt of the report of serious physical injury or death and shall perform the inspection in a manner that proceeds with all practicable speed and minimizes the disruption of unrelated commercial activities. Such inspection shall be performed by a qualified inspector employed by the department either directly or through contract. The cost of any such inspection shall be paid for by the owner of the amusement ride.

Section 4. Each owner or operator shall retain for at least three years all maintenance and inspection records for each amusement ride. The owner shall make such records available to the director or the director's designee upon request.

Section 5. In addition to any and all other remedies, if an owner, operator or person in charge of any amusement ride or related electrical equipment covered by sections 1 to 9 of this act continues to operate any amusement ride or related electrical equipment covered by sections 1 to 9 of this act, during the pendency of a cessation pursuant to section 3 of this act, then the director may petition the circuit court, in an action brought in the name of the state, for a writ of injunction to restrain the use of the alleged defective amusement ride or related electrical equipment.

Section 6. Any person who knowingly operates or causes to be operated an amusement ride in violation of sections 1 to 9 of this act is guilty of a class A misdemeanor. Each day a violation continues is a separate offense.

Section 7. Nonmechanized playground equipment, including but not limited to, swings, seesaws, stationary spring-mounted animal features, rider-propelled merry-go-rounds, climbers, slides, trampolines or swinging gates, are exempt from the provisions of sections 1 to 9 of this act.

Section 8. Nothing contained in sections 1 to 9 of this act shall prevent any political subdivision of this state from licensing or regulating any amusement ride, electrical equipment, carnival or circus as otherwise provided by law.

Section 9. Sections 1 to 9 of this act shall not be construed to alter the duty of care or the liability of an owner of an amusement ride for injuries or death to any person or damage to any property arising out of an accident involving an amusement ride. The state and its officers and employees shall not be construed to assume liability arising out of an accident involving an amusement ride by reason of administration of sections 1 to 9 of this act.