 Amusement Parks are the latest craze in the country today. Till some years
back only those who went abroad could enjoy these amusement parks. People returning from
foreign trips would talk about their visit to Disneyland and similar other amusement parks
in the west. Today, almost every major urban centre in the country boasts of theme parks.
These are developing at a rapid pace, and draw up huge crowds. The rush increases even
more during summer vacations. During the last couple of years at least five theme parks,
based on Disneyland of the United States, have come up in Chennai alone. Spread over acres
of land, these parks are beautifully landscaped in the backdrop of hills, forests, with
fresh water lakes and waterfalls adding to the ambience. People of all age groups throng
these parks to have fun. Various amusement rides including roller coaster rides and water
sports are the favourite of all those who visit these parks.
Although roller coasters are statistically the
safest ride in amusement parks, when an accident does occur, it can be serious. The
thrilling and hair-raising rides no doubt pump up our adrenaline, they also run the risk
of getting us hurt because of ignorance or neglect. According to a report, in the United
States around 3900 people are injured in these rides every year. This is despite the fact
that in the US, stringent laws governing the safety of the visitors to these amusement
parks have been laid down. Strict inspection and maintenance procedures have been framed
for the operators. In our country we do not have any standards either for the visitors or
operators. Even otherwise safety consciousness in our country is very low.  We are notorious for our culture of permissiveness. Rules apart, we
can do much to safeguard ourselves, our friends, our family, other park visitors and also
the amusement park itself. Most roller coaster rides have ride safety signs posted. These
signs provide valuable safety information about an individual ride.
We need to pay special attention to these
signs if we have any kind of health problem, such as heart problems, pregnancy, fractures,
recent surgery or illness, balance disorders, epilepsy, or basically anything else that
would prevent us from safely operating our vehicle. There have been cases where people
have died as a result of ignoring these health-related warnings, so it is in our own
interest to read them and follow them before we ride any of these. In 1980 in Florida, US,
a ten-year-old girl died after riding a rollercoaster. She had a heart problem, however
warning signs of the ride’s potential dangers were in English. The girl did not
understand English. In 1997, a fourteen-year-old girl died after she rode on a double-loop
roller coaster ride at an amusement park in Ohio. The girl was asthmatic. So in case we
are in a new place and don't understand the language, which is very likely in our country,
we should take help of the employees of the park. Further if we spot someone doing
something unsafe at the park which could hurt someone, we have the responsibility of
reporting it to the park management. This also goes for destruction of property, and
tampering with any park equipment, even if you don’t know what the equipment is used
for. People have been killed and seriously injured by being in restricted areas, so please
keep this in mind.
We should follow instructions laid down for
the various rides. There are times when we could endanger ourselves by not being aware of
our surroundings. If we are on a ride, and the operator tells us that when the ride is
over we need to remain seated until instructed to exit.  Depending what ride we are on, ignoring this warning could get us
injured by the slowing motion of the ride while dismounting. In 1987 during a
rollercoaster ride a thirty-three year old man left his safety restraint, stood up during
the ride's operation and leaned outside his car. His head struck an object. He sustained a
fatal head injury and died seven weeks later from complications resulting from the
accident. Amusement parks typically make use of very high voltages of electricity. There
are areas in such parks where fast moving machinery can cause serious injury or death. It
is better to keep away from such areas. Unattended boxes, packages or unusually suspicious
things should be immediately brought to the notice of the authorities.
We should dress suitably for these hi-tech
rides. Lose dresses, especially our Indian dresses, are dangerous. Sometime back at an
amusement park in Bangalore a girl's 'dupatta' got caught in the wheels of a go-kart and
strangulated her. It is very important to take care of the dress that we wear. We have
little chance of getting hurt at amusement parks due to some sort of mechanical failure
but we do run the risk of getting hurt because of ignorance or neglect. To meet such
eventualities the parks have adequate first aid and emergency medical facilities.
(to be continued)
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