On Thrill Rides, Safety Is Optional

But eight years after the California measure was signed, it has yet to be fully implemented. Violations can go unpunished, because the state and parks have not agreed on the amount of any fines.

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"When I look at it, I see a stream of human suffering that isn't broad enough to matter to Congress or to matter financially to the companies," said Kathy Fackler, who founded Saferparks.org after her son David lost part of his foot on a Disneyland roller coaster in 1998 when he was 5. "It's like this small number of children are expendable to them."

Disney World -- the most visited amusement park on the globe -- polices itself. Florida law allows inspectors to visit big amusement parks only when the parks invite them, and so Walt Disney World, Busch Entertainment and Universal Orlando once a year host state Agriculture Department inspectors for an educational seminar and a discussion of their safety procedures. But the visits are hands-off.

"They show us their maintenance programs . . . we look at the facilities," said state regulatory chief Rob Jacobs. "We do not inspect. We have no authority."

Only after a series of accident-related suits and complaints in 2000 and 2001 did the three big Florida theme park operators agree to report ride-related injuries and fatalities. But in a carefully worded agreement, reportable injuries were limited to those requiring immediate hospitalization and a stay of more than 24 hours for treatment.

Loopholes and Lobbyists

Markey first introduced legislation to reinstate federal authority over theme park rides eight years ago, after a string of ride accidents killed four people in a week in 1999. Since then, he has been able to secure only a single half-hour hearing on the issue. His bill this year, which would also add $500,000 to the CPSC budget to handle theme park rides, has 11 co-sponsors, and not one backer in the Senate.

"Every summer there is a flurry of interest as the accidents and injuries happen," Markey said in an interview. By autumn, "nobody decides that this is a big issue. . . . Very few industries have been able to build a loophole in federal law and hold it for as long as they have. They are a powerful lobbying force."

In 2001, the first full year after the sole hearing on Markey's bill, the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions nearly quadrupled its lobbying spending, to $430,000. It also retained Williams & Jensen, a lobbying firm close to the House Republican leadership, at a cost of more than $1.8 million since 2001. Even Markey, a member of a telecommunications subcommittee, received a total of $23,000 in campaign contributions from Disney and Universal during the 2004 and 2006 election cycles.

Overall, the association has spent $5.4 million on lobbying since 2001. Disney, Universal and Anheuser-Busch -- operators of the nation's biggest theme parks -- have separately spent millions on lobbying to influence theme park safety regulation and other issues that concern them, according to reports compiled by Political Money Line.

Since Markey introduced his bill, theme parks and their lobbyists have also funded at least 18 trips to theme parks and resort areas for seven lawmakers, plus 46 top staff members, at a cost of more than $114,000. In 2001, for example, an aide to Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and 10 other congressional staffers visited Orlando for a three-day trip sponsored by the international association that included a seminar on safety issues, according to documents compiled by LegiStorm.

Stearns became the chairman that year of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's consumer protection subcommittee, and in the five years that he held the post, the congressman said, he kept Markey's bill from coming to a vote because he found the accident rate unremarkable. During this period, he collected $38,000 in campaign contributions from Disney, Universal, Anheuser-Busch and theme park lobbyists.

"They've had a few deaths and they've had a few accidents, but for the most part it's been pretty good," Stearns said in an interview. He said he agrees with the industry that lots of accident victims "are tired, and . . . in many cases don't follow directions."