Too Much Federal Regulation? Caleb Died at Schlitterbahn.

I've been paying attention. That webbing that caught Caleb's head and snapped his neck?

It was installed as per the directive of the county.

Before opening to the public in 2014, Verrückt did not have netting covering the flume. Mike Taylor, a spokesman for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., said it insisted on adding the netting to the top.

www.kansascity.com...

There is no way of saying if Caleb would or would not have died on that ride without the netting in place. There is inquiry as to why he was with women who were not related to him. It is possible his restraints were worn, or he might have even loosened them himself.

But one things is certain. Caleb would not not snapped his neck on the netting if the bureaucrats of Wyandotte had listened to the experts instead of making changes that made them feel better.

a reply to: JDeLattre89

Yep! We can thank "insurance" companies for that indemnity.

Yeah, Buzzy, Heaven forbid his parents use common sense.

That slide needs a waiver before they let you on it. What on earth were his parents thinking to let their 10-year-old on it in the first place?!

My kid isn't going anywhere near that until he is a good deal older than 10. I don't care what anything says. Any ride that requires a waiver carries a risk of injury and needs an adult to judge for themselves, not simply say ... oh, waterslide ... what could possibly go wrong.

It's like the parents who simply saw "cartoon" and took their 5-year-olds in to see South Park.

a reply to: Orionx2

I think it was lack of parks maintenance not some tax break for Kansas, but I digress.

WHAT?

Dude, you have no idea what you're talking about. Parks maintenance? This is not a "public park".

This is a private, for-profit AMUSEMENT PARK - like Disneyland. Or Six Flags. Or Universal Studios. Or whatever.
This has to do ONLY with the company's attention to safety.

wow.
yeah, you "digress" all right!

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

I must tell you, Buzzy--I'm interested in an adult conversation about this, but when you respond with such immature images and responses, it really disrespects both what happened to this child and the possibility that your conclusion on this matter could be incorrect.

But, yeah, thanks for treating me with unnecessary contempt when all I was trying to do was have a mature discussion with you. I get the emotional response to situations like this, but emotional anger rarely manifests itself into appropriate solutions to perceived problems.

If you want to continue the discussion with a bit of maturity and less ridiculous images and GIFs, I'm game, otherwise, feel free to refrain from responding.

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
This makes me sick to my stomach. This stupid "water park" has been 'in the works' for 8 years now.

Their ridiculous "world's tallest water slide" has been abortively opened several times.
Last week a little kid - a ten-year-old - was killed due to ineffective safety restraint systems.

HOW does this happen?

Oh. Wait - I know how it happens! Schlitterbahn is promised millions in tax benefits (paying no taxes) if they build their park in Kansas. So they do. It was a grand scheme, a lovely plan ----- I've been paying attention to it since 2008, and it's STILL not totally open.

But anyway - they built the Verruckt (or whatever). Never mind the other stuff.....they get visitors. So - this water slide.
Kid and two women who were strangers to him. Their raft flies off the ride.....the kid's 'neck injury' results in his death (some say "he was decapitated").

THIS IS KANSAS. Kansas offered Schlitterbahn this fantastic incentive to build their park here ---- promising NO OVERSIGHT worth mentioning!!! Yay!
So - protracted construction project goes on for years ------ fallow some years, bustling during others ---------- the "water slide" went up first.

IT STILL DOES NOT WORK RIGHT.

"KANSAS" inspectors are in charge.
You see? You see what happens when private companies are given tax breaks and not inspected or regulated?

Because, Amusement parks aren't under Federal Regulation. NOPE. It is the fault of KANSAS "regulation" and "inspection" that this adorable kid is now DEAD.


Weight of riders in fatal Schlitterbahn accident was within limits, according to police report

The three people riding the raft involved in the death of an Olathe boy at Schlitterbahn Kansas City water park, weighed a total of 545 pounds, according to Kansas City, Kan., police.

video from KC Star

Yeah. This adorable kid was killed (either decapitated or from a "neck injury") riding this damn thing.
The video gives a very good explanation about how lax has been the oversight, inspection process, etc. And why is this such a big deal?

That kid (God love ya, Caleb) was the son of one of our State legislators who promote such crap.

Gave the company a tax break and promised a blind eye. MANY years later, aborted "openings". Now, a kid has died. HOW LONG are we supposed to say "this is fine....meh....stupid kid...."


NO!!!!!

No. This is not okay.
Kansas under Brownback has failed, has so miserably failed. We residents are still treading water somehow, though ------- *blows emergency whistle*

Not more than a couple of weeks ago, we voted a lot of those people OUT OF TOPEKA......
yeah.

Kid is dead. "Business favors" and 'brotherhood handshakes' are NOT OKAY.
Anyway - maybe this should be in rant, but I'm putting it here. It is yet more fallout from the debacle of Brownback's stupidity....
in fact, last week he denied it was even about his policies!


Brownback in election denial

Our editorial last Sunday asked whether Gov. Sam Brownback would listen to voters and be willing to change course. An interview he did recently made clear the answer is “no.”

I'm just going to leave this here. And see if anyone is actually paying attention.

www.insurancejournal.com...

Permanent rides in Kansas must be “self-inspected” annually by a qualified inspector, with the state conducting random audits of the resulting inspection records. A document released this week by the state Department of Labor showed all of Schlitterbahn’s rides passed private inspections on June 7.

So uh perhaps I don't understand how "regulations" work? It appears the ride passed inspection a month before?

Among the states with no state oversight are Mississippi, Alabama, Nevada, South Dakota and Utah, according to the amusement park association.

It also appears that Kansas is not the worst at not having regulations for this.

The Kansas law allows local officials to impose safety requirements, but Wyandotte County only checks rides when they’re constructed to see whether building codes have been followed.

So are you going to direct your venom at the local elected officials of Wyandotte county as well?
www.factsweb.org...

Political Statistics for Wyandotte, KS Democrat Percentage : 69.440% [The percentage of the population that is registered as a Democrat.] Republican Percentage : 28.750% [The percentage of the population that is registered as a Republican.] Independent Other Percentage : 1.808% [The percentage of the population that is registered with an Independent Party.]

Oh no that does not seem to fit your agenda.

I have a child of similar age to caleb. We were in KC last summer. He wanted to go to the park to ride that specific ride. His mother and I decided to do other things. We were VERY upset to see the reports of what happened that day.

There is PLENTY of blame to go around for that childs senseless death. To try to hang this on Brownback is ridiculous. The voters in Ks put him in office, and will probably do so again in the next cycle. The people in Kansas are the ones that need to make the change. I doubt that will ever happen. People were out in Topeka recently only to be replaced by others in the same party.

originally posted by: bobs_uruncle
Well, just think, 545lbs minus what, 80lbs for a 10 year old. 465lbs for the pair of women, he was riding with altogether 2 very heavy woman. Someone wasn't paying attention.

Hmm...here is an article that has photos of the two women who were in the raft with Caleb and they sure the heck do not look 200+ pounds each: Link




I am thinking the park lied about the combined weight of the passengers.

a reply to: shooterbrody

I will "direct my venom" anywhere I feel it is deserved.

Brownback's policies have ruined this state's economy. Failure to regulate an amusement park is only ONE OF THE THINGS he has done.

The people who were ousted were Tea Party lunatics, and they were replaced by MODERATE Republicans (some of whom used to be Dems and switched JUST SO THEY COULD GET RID OF THE BASTARDS.)

That child should not have died. The restraints were faulty. The buck stops at the GOVERNOR in this state.

a reply to: SlapMonkey

You know what, SlapMonkey?

Every damn time I come on here and start a thread, I get attacked by right-wingers.
This place is toxic lately, with the right-wingers hating on us "liberals" and "educated" people. No one here wants to learn.

What is it you would like to say about Caleb?
I'm all ears.
I'd be more than happy to discuss the topic as grown-ups. When I'm attacked for pointing out right-wing idiocy, that doesn't feel like a "grown-up" thing. So - now that we've established that - thank you for acknowledging my frustration and the issue at hand. That should be refreshing.

The state’s current law, the Kansas Amusement Ride Act, provides little government oversight of amusement rides. It requires owners of the rides to inspect them and make inspection reports available to the Kansas Department of Labor. Though the law grants KDOL the authority to conduct its own inspections, the state did not inspect Verruckt during the two years it was open.

Brownback is the governor. He is expected to make sure the citizens and visitors to our state are SAFE.

Source

I have ridden this slide before with one of my children and it was a blast. It was a punch in the gut when this accident happened. Anytime something happens like this we have to step back and see what went wrong. A few years ago, just down the road from this park, people were killed on a roller coaster at Worlds of Fun. Every year we hear about a person losing a life at an amusement park, or receiving a significant injury.

I work at the Labor Dept in Nebraska and we have Amusement Park Ride inspectors who inspect every ride before they can accept customers. In the three years I have been here, there still have been catastrophic injuries despite these inspections. Entire cages have fallen off of Ferris wheels with people in them, chains break, restraints allow children to fall out, etc. We have investigated our inspectors and in every case found a thorough inspection occurred, the parts simply failed.

In short, I think we need to step back and allow a thorough investigation to occur to see what really happen. The rush to point fingers because of a tragedy can be detrimental to the process and those involved. This was a tragedy and my heart goes out to the family.

a reply to: shooterbrody

Hold on a sec.

You are telling me not to blame a Dominionist Right-wing Conservative governor who has SLASHED public spending on education, mental health services, and infrastructure for the fact that lax oversight resulted in this kid's death?

Don't you blame Obama for everything you can think of?
That Schlitterbahn Park has been a problem from the day it was announced it would be opening.

Brownback will not be re-elected. All of his minions were voted OUT, and there has been a recall suggested since his last term. We are trying to get rid of him. Please don't speak about things you don't know about. You aren't here anymore.

a reply to: warpig69

I'm not rushing. The facts are out - Kansas does not have laws in place to ensure inspections by a neutral third party.
I'm glad Nebraska does.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Arent you changing your premise here? Would you be ok if a third party inspector was required, or does it have to be an inspector from some federal agency?

Many people will disagree on the principle that a Governors job is to ensure the safety of every kid in the state, and argue that is the role of the kids parents.

As a brand new parent myself, I'd be damned if I were going to trust a governor or some regulations to protect my child over a judgement call made from my own analysis and research of a given situation...

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Failure to regulate an amusement park is only ONE OF THE THINGS he has done.

Again I will point you to a passed inspection from june 7th. There are regulations in place you just have not bothered to research them before ranting about how terrible brownback is. I do believe the state house and senate have to pass legislation before brownback can sign it. Also I pointed out Wyandotte county could impose their own regulations. Guess their inaction deserves no blame either.

You are telling me not to blame a Dominionist Right-wing Conservative governor who has SLASHED public spending on education, mental health services, and infrastructure for the fact that lax oversight resulted in this kid's death?

I don't think the law in Ks works that way. I would bet the state house and senate put together the budget and then the governor has to sign it? The people of Ks voted in gop majority in both the house and senate. Just as the gop ousted reps will be repalced by gop reps.
You can blame who you like; rant and rave about how horrible he is; using a childs death to express how much you dislike him is beneath even you.

There were multiple failures surrounding this childs death. Anyone can understand anger at this situation. Brownback does deserve some blame but, others do as well.

originally posted by: SonOfThor
a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Arent you changing your premise here? Would you be ok if a third party inspector was required, or does it have to be an inspector from some federal agency?

Uh yeah that

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Don't you blame Obama for everything you can think of? That Schlitterbahn Park has been a problem from the day it was announced it would be opening

Oh and your lack of federal regulations that your raging about; by your logic ( it happened in ks under brownback it is his fault) it is the big Os fault for not implementing federal regulations on amusement parks on a national level ?

a reply to: shooterbrody

okay look. I don't care what you think. I know what I'm ranting about - and I know who our governor is, and what is happening to our state. I pay attention to it. Every day, I hear the news about it.

It matters to me.
You seem to think you know enough to tell me what I 'don't know', and sir, that is inappropriate.

You have no idea what (or who) I know, or how familiar I am with this state and county. So kindly stop. You are mistaken. The straps being used were inadequate. There were no proper inspections....

bah.

Here: do the research yourself:
cjonline.com...

You will find headlines that include how Schlitterbahn lobbied for continued permission to self-inspect,
how the last inspection was not in any way a "pass" - it was based on the circumstances at the time of the inspection. period.
how the shoulder straps have fallen off passengers while riding
how the sand-bag-filled raft took flight
why the park has never been properly finished OR inspected

why you feel the need to exonerate the authorities is beyond me.
If you are not interested in learning how the Kansas legislature works, or what our Governor has done, or why "Kansas" is in the news all the time, then so be it. Do not come on here and tell me I am unaware.

a reply to: shooterbrody

I'm a fan of Obama's actually.
But I knew you'd go there.

Yes. We need more federal FEDERAL regulation, because when states decide to be retarded, people get killed. It isn't like Caleb unstrapped himself and tried to jump.

Jesus.
The raft wasn't even loaded correctly - he was put in front.


Adklsfgj'oj'aopgj'i

go look it up yourself.

ok.

I am going to walk away after I say this one more time:

Caleb died because the water park is not adequately built (it isn't even really finished), and the stupid ride has been 'faulty' since they first built it. There have been many experiments, a complete rebuild, and the engineer in charge even said he based the thing on roller-coasters, and this is an entirely different thing.

The park "rules" say no one under 14 on the slide. Caleb was 10. This was a special "law-maker appreciation" day - you know, because when companies get cool stuff you know.

Is Wyandotte County complicit? Yes. I never said this was Paradise. What the demographics have to do with it are nothing, because we are talking about State-Level laws.

People are stupid. People are easily bribed, and schmoozing for favors is an art form. I know how that works, too -
so you guys need to step off. I have written (and won) grants, I have participated in fancy-ass fundraisers, I know how it works. I KNOW how it works. So stop.

Kansas is a mess.
Other states are similarly shabby.

If stupid people and greedy people run things at the "State" level, and they screw it up, there needs to be FEDERAL oversight.

I'm out. Have fun pretending that regulations are bad.