Session of 1998
                   
HOUSE BILL No. 2722
         
By Representatives Sloan, Benlon, Compton, Feuerborn, Findley, Free-
                born, Mayans, E. Peterson, Phelps, Shore, Stone, Toelkes, Tomlinson
                and Vickrey
               
1-27
          11             AN ACT concerning amusement rides; relating to inspection and regu-
12             lation thereof; prohibiting certain acts and providing penalties and
13             remedies for violations.
14            
15       Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
16           Section 1. As used in this act:
17           (a) (1) ``Amusement ride'' means any mechanical or electrical device
18       that carries or conveys passengers along, around or over a fixed or re-
19       stricted route or course or within a defined area for the purpose of giving
20       its passengers amusement, pleasure, thrills or excitement at carnivals, fairs
21       or amusement parks, and shall include but not be limited to:
22           (A) Rides commonly known as ferris wheels, carousels, parachute
23       towers, bungee jumping, reverse bungee jumping, tunnels of love and
24       roller coasters;
25           (B) equipment generally associated with winter sports activities, such
26       as ski lifts, ski tows, j-bars, t-bars, ski mobiles, chair lifts and aerial tram-
27       ways; and
28           (C) equipment not originally designed to be used as an amusement
29       ride, such as cranes or other lifting devices, when used as part of an
30       amusement ride.
31           (2) ``Amusement ride'' does not include:
32           (A) Games, concessions and associated structures;
33           (B) any single passenger coin-operated ride that: (i) Is manually, me-
34       chanically or electrically operated; (ii) is customarily placed in a public
35       location; and (iii) does not normally require the supervision or services of
36       an operator; or
37           (C) nonmechanized playground equipment, including, but not lim-
38       ited to, swings, seesaws, stationary spring-mounted animal features, rider-
39       propelled merry-go-rounds, climbers, slides, trampolines, moon walks
40       and other inflatable equipment and physical fitness devices.
41           (b) ``Department'' means the department of human resources.
42           (c) ``Nondestructive testing'' means the development and application
43       of technical methods such as radiographic, magnetic particle, ultrasonic,

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  1       liquid penetrant, electromagnetic, neutron radiographic, acoustic emis-
  2       sion, visual and leak testing to:
  3           (1) Examine materials or components in ways that do not impair the
  4       future usefulness and serviceability in order to detect, locate, measure
  5       and evaluate discontinuities, defects and other imperfections;
  6           (2) assess integrity, properties and composition; and
  7           (3) measure geometrical characters.
  8           (d) ``Operator'' means a person actually engaged in or directly con-
  9       trolling the operations of an amusement ride.
10           (e) ``Owner'' means a person who owns, leases, controls or manages
11       the operations of an amusement ride and may include the state or any
12       political subdivision of the state.
13           (f) ``Person'' means any individual, association, partnership, corpora-
14       tion, limited liability company, government or other entity.
15           (g) ``Qualified inspector'' means a person who holds a current certi-
16       fication or other evidence of qualification to inspect amusement rides,
17       issued by a program specified by rules and regulations adopted under
18       section 3.
19           (h) ``Secretary'' means the secretary of human resources.
20           (i) ``Serious injury'' means an injury that results in:
21           (1) Death, dismemberment, significant disfigurement or permanent
22       loss of the use of a body organ, member, function or system;
23           (2) a compound fracture; or
24           (3) other significant injury or illness that requires immediate admis-
25       sion and overnight hospitalization and observation by a licensed physician.
26           Sec. 2. (a) No amusement ride shall be operated in this state unless
27       at the time of operation the owner has in effect an insurance policy,
28       written by an insurance company authorized to do business in Kansas,
29       insuring the owner and operator against liability for injury to persons
30       arising out of the operation of the amusement ride. Such insurance policy
31       shall:
32           (1) Provide for coverage in an amount not less than $1,000,000 per
33       occurrence and not less than $2,000,000 in the annual aggregate; and
34           (2) name as an additional insured any person contracting with the
35       owner of the rider for the operation thereof.
36           (b) An insurance policy required by this section may include a de-
37       ductible clause only if the clause provides that any settlement made by
38       the insurance company with an injured person or injured person's per-
39       sonal representative will be paid as though the deductible clause did not
40       apply.
41           (c) An insurance policy required by this section shall provide that the
42       insurer may not cancel or refuse to renew the policy without 30 days'
43       written notice to:

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  1           (1) The insured; and
  2           (2) the department, in the form and manner prescribed by rules and
  3       regulations adopted by the secretary, including the name and address of
  4       the owner of the ride and a description or identification number of the
  5       ride.
  6           (d) An insurance policy required by this section shall provide that the
  7       insurer shall report to the office within 24 hours after the insurer pays a
  8       claim or reserves any amount to pay an anticipated claim that reduces
  9       the liability coverage to a limit of less than $1,000,000 because of bodily
10       injury or death in an occurrence.
11           (e) A copy of the insurance policy required by this section shall be
12       available for inspection by any person contracting with the owner of the
13       amusement ride for the operation thereof.
14           Sec. 3. (a) The secretary shall adopt rules and regulations specifying
15       programs that issue certification or other evidence of qualification to in-
16       spect amusement rides and that the secretary determines require edu-
17       cation, experience and training at least equivalent to those required on
18       the effective date of this act for a level 1 certification by the national
19       association of amusement ride safety officials.
20           (b) No amusement ride shall be operated in this state unless such
21       ride has a valid certificate of inspection. An amusement ride erected at a
22       permanent location in this state shall be inspected by a qualified inspector
23       at least every 12 months. An amusement ride erected at a temporary
24       location in this state shall be inspected by a qualified inspector within 30
25       days after such ride is erected. The certificate of an inspection required
26       by this subsection shall be signed and dated by the inspector and shall be
27       posted in plain view on the amusement ride, in a location where it can
28       be easily read.
29           Sec. 4. (a) The secretary shall adopt rules and regulations specifying
30       standards for nondestructive testing of amusement rides that the secretary
31       determines are at least equivalent to those of the American society for
32       testing and materials that are in effect on the effective date of this act.
33           (b) No amusement ride shall be operated in this state unless non-
34       destructive testing of the ride has been conducted in accordance with the
35       recommendations of the manufacturer of the ride and in conformance
36       with standards determined by the secretary to be at least equivalent to
37       those of the American society for testing and materials that are in effect
38       on the effective date of this act. The certificate of an inspection required
39       by this section shall be signed and dated by the inspector and shall be
40       posted in plain view on the amusement ride, in a location where it can
41       be easily read.
42           Sec. 5. (a) No amusement ride shall be operated in this state unless
43       the operator is at least 18 years of age and has satisfactorily completed

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  1       training that includes, at a minimum:
  2           (1) Instruction on operating procedures for the ride, the specific du-
  3       ties of the operator, general safety procedures and emergency procedu-
  4       res;
  5           (2) demonstration of physical operation of the ride; and
  6           (3) supervised observation of the operator's physical operation of the
  7       ride.
  8           (b) No amusement ride shall be operated in this state unless the name
  9       of each operator trained to operate the ride and the certificate of each
10       such operator's satisfactory completion of such training, signed and dated
11       by the trainer, is available for inspection by the public, upon request, on
12       the premises where the amusement ride is operated, during the hours of
13       operation of the ride. In addition, a list of all operators so trained and
14       certified to operate an amusement ride shall be posted in plain view on
15       the amusement ride, in a location where they can be easily read.
16           Sec. 6. (a) Each patron of an amusement ride, by participation, ac-
17       cepts the risks inherent in such participation of which an ordinary prudent
18       person is or should be aware.
19           (b) Each patron of an amusement ride has a duty to:
20           (1) Exercise the judgment and act in the manner of an ordinary pru-
21       dent person while participating in an amusement ride;
22           (2) obey all warnings, written or oral, prior to and during participation
23       in an amusement ride;
24           (3) refrain from participation in an amusement ride while under the
25       influence of alcohol or drugs; and
26           (4) use properly all amusement ride safety equipment provided.
27           (c) No amusement ride shall be operated in this state unless there is
28       posted in plain view on the ride, in a location where they can be easily
29       read:
30           (1) All safety instructions for the ride; and
31           (2) the responsibilities of patrons of the ride, as provided by subsec-
32       tions (a) and (b).
33           Sec. 7. Any person contracting with an owner of an amusement ride
34       for the operation thereof shall ensure that:
35           (a) Inspection certificates are posted as required by sections 3 and 4;
36           (b) the names of trained operators and certificates of training are
37       posted as required by section 5; and
38           (c) safety instructions for the ride and the responsibilities of patrons
39       of the ride are posted as required by section 6.
40           Sec. 8. Whenever a serious injury results from the operation of an
41       amusement ride:
42           (a) Operation of the ride shall immediately be discontinued;
43           (b) the owner of the ride, within 24 hours, shall report the incident

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  1       orally or in writing to the department; and
  2           (c) operation of the ride shall not be resumed until it has been in-
  3       spected and the department has approved resumption of operation.
  4           Sec. 9. (a) It is a class B misdemeanor for an owner or operator of
  5       an amusement ride to operate, or cause or permit to be operated, any
  6       amusement ride in violation of this act.
  7           (b) It is a class C misdemeanor to violate the provisions of section 7.
  8           (c) Each day a violation continues shall constitute a separate offense.
  9           Sec. 10. The attorney general, or the county or district attorney in a
10       county in which an amusement ride is located or operated, may apply to
11       the district court for an order enjoining operation of any amusement ride
12       operated in violation of this act.
13           Sec. 11. The governing body of any city or county may establish and
14       enforce safety standards for amusement rides in addition to, but not in
15       conflict with, the standards established by this act.
16           Sec. 12. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
17       publication in the statute book.
18      
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