PA’s regulation of amusement parks falls short in inspections, enforcement

By Emily DeMarco and Natasha Khan | PublicSource | Aug. 14, 2013

Pennsylvania has more amusement park rides than any other state, with 9,300 registered rides. And its parks are unmatched in safety, Gov. Tom Corbett said in a June press release, because of the state’s rigorous ride-inspection program.

But a PublicSource investigation shows that the state agency that oversees amusement parks doesn’t track the safety inspection reports that parks are required by law to file each month the park is open.

State records show that more than half of Pennsylvania’s permanent parks and water parks did not turn in all of their safety inspection reports in 2012. The agency had no reports at all for 12 of the state’s 117 permanent parks and water parks PublicSource analyzed.

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* This story triggered a hearing in the state legislature. It won first place for enterprise/investigative reporting from the Pennsylvania Women’s Press Association and was highlighted at the 2014 Investigative Reporters and Editors computer-assisted reporting conference.