Carnival ride, at California’s Calaveras County Fair, malfunctioned and injured 24 riders when part of it collapsed suddenly on Friday evening.

Most of the injured riders are children. Three seriously injured riders were airlifted to area medical centers. Other riders were seen in local emergency rooms for various complaints of pain after a carnival ride went seriously wrong. State accident investigators are currently working to determine what happened. The accident occurred at the fair grounds in Angel Camp, California during the Calaveras County Fair.   

As a child grows from infancy, starts to walk, ride a bike, and drive a car; the child’s risk for injury and death changes with the child’s developmental stage and lifestyle. The type of death and injury changes with the development level of the child. With the exception of infants, accidents are the number one cause of mortality in children. County Fairs are common events during the spring and summer seasons. The carnival rides are disassembled and assembled as the carnival travels to the various locations. The machinery endures much wear and tear. And the skill level of the people responsible for assembling the ride may vary.  While it is not known how this accident occurred at this time, consider whether amusement ride conditions are safer at stationary amusement parks versus traveling carnivals. Large established stationary amusement park rides are not subjected to the disassembly and assembly rate as compared to the traveling machine.