Are theme park rides safe? What you should know if you’re worried about accidents.
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Whenever there’s a serious theme park accident, it gets widespread attention and the quiet voice in some people’s minds gets a little louder: What if something goes wrong when I ride?
It’s highly unlikely.
By and large, theme park attractions are incredibly safe. To understand how safe, we turned to two industry leaders.
► Jakob Wahl is the president and CEO of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. IAAPA‘s members span every size and sector of the attractions industry, from theme park operators to merchandising.
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► Jim Seay is the president and owner of Premier Rides, which designs and manufactures attractions for the likes of SeaWorld, Universal Studios and Six Flags. Seay also chaired ASTM’s Committee F24 on Amusement Rides and Devices, a global committee that sets industry standards for attraction safety, and the IAAPA Global Safety Committee.
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How common are amusement park accidents?
There were an estimated 130 serious ride-related injuries at North American theme parks in 2021, according to the National Safety Council’s latest ride safety report for IAAPA. Those include fatalities as well as injuries requiring immediate hospitalization for more than 24 hours for reasons beyond observation.
For perspective, 658 people died in boating-related accidents that same year, according to U.S. Coast Guard numbers shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Another 42,915 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Neither of those tallies include non-fatal injuries.
“Incidences that are extremely severe are very rare in our industry,” said Seay, adding that’s why they draw attention – “because it is so rare.”
Based on data collected from parks, IAAPA estimates the odds of being seriously injured on a fixed-site ride at a U.S. amusement park are 1 in 15.5 million rides taken.
“We really dedicate a lot of time to safety, not because it’s a problem, but just to make sure that it stays as safe as it is today,” Wahl said. “If people don’t feel safe, then we have a problem.”
Are theme park rides safe?
Overwhelmingly, yes. “Safety is at the forefront of everything we do,” Wahl said.
Even new cutting-edge thrill rides marketed as the fastest, longest or steepest yet, have to follow certain safety standards set by industry experts.
“The ASTM standards prescribe very detailed G-force levels that have to be achieved in order for a ride to be considered safe,” Seay said as an example. He noted that states generally codify ASTM guidelines as part of their own regulations instead of crafting their own.
gets halted.”
“It might sound strange, but this is actually a good sign because if a vehicle is stopped on the lift hill or on a brake. It means that the ride system signalizes, ‘Hey, something here is maybe not 100% correct, so we will check on that, and this is why we are holding the car,’ ” he explained. “It actually proves that the system is working.”
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