On the night of August 5 to 6, a 17-year-old boy was killed, and a 19-year-old young woman was seriously injured, in a merry-go-round accident at a funfair in Cap d’Agde (Hérault). The day after the tragedy, a petition was launched on the Change.org platform (here), for the public authorities to agree to reinforce security in thrill rides. It was put online by François Rivière, the president of Usap, the rugby club of Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales), himself the victim of a serious carousel accident in 2015, which plunged him into the coma for three weeks.
“It is unacceptable that our children, our friends and our families are exposed to avoidable risks when they participate in funfairs, writes François Rivière, on the platform. Preventable tragedies leave families devastated and lives shattered. It is time to act and ask the competent authorities to better supervise the practice of fairground rides to prevent future accidents. The boss of the Perpignan rugby club asks the State to go further in security checks, currently governed by a law of February 13, 2008, supplemented by an order of March 12, 2009.
“Strengthen regular ride inspections”
For François Rivière, it is necessary “to reinforce the regular inspections of rides, by qualified experts to ensure their safety and their compliance with the standards in force”, and “to set up mandatory training for ride operators, in order to to guarantee their competence in the handling and maintenance of the attractions”. The petition also calls on governments to “create an independent amusement ride safety oversight body to investigate accidents and make recommendations to prevent future tragedies.”
Joined by 20 minutes, Stéphane Dubief, founding member and general secretary of the Fédération des forains de France, underlines from the outset that he is absolutely not opposed to a change in legislation. “We don’t see any downsides to it,” he says. If the regulations must change, given the attractions used today, let’s change them. We are completely ready to sit down around a table with the public authorities, and even the manufacturers. What is vital for our profession is to welcome the public in complete safety. Even if there are very few accidents, one accident is always one too many. »
“You don’t buy a merry-go-round like you buy a loaf of bread”
Stéphane Dubief, however, ensures that devices are already in place. Regular inspections of the attractions are already carried out by “qualified” experts. “They have an approval issued by the Ministry of the Interior,” he continues. So I like to think that the Home Office is doing things right. “As for the training requested by the petition, they already exist, too, assures the founder of the Federation of fairgrounds of France. “When you go to buy a carousel, you stay more than a week in the premises of the manufacturers, notes Stéphane Dubief. You don’t buy a merry-go-round like you buy a loaf of bread. We are told how to assemble it, how to disassemble it, how to maintain it, what parts to check, etc. »
And the creation of an independent body, responsible for investigating in the event of an accident? Why not, assures the fairground representative again. But it already exists, in another form. “When an accident happens, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation appoints an approved controller, to check what another controller has done,” he explains. And it is, already, an “independent” work, assures Stéphane Dubief. “It has already happened that an approved controller, appointed by the courts, concluded that there was an error by the controller” who checked the carousel before him. But “that a specific, independent entity be created to control the approved controllers, it’s a bit the same system, that doesn’t worry us. However, we would ensure that it remains impartial. This Friday, 577 people had already signed the petition to strengthen security at fairgrounds.