A seat belt could have stopped him from slipping out of his harness on the Orlando Free Fall at ICON Park on March 24, potentially preventing his death, said Brian Avery, a lecturer at the University of Florida and independent ride safety consultant.
His death demonstrates the need for stronger ride safety oversight at the state and federal levels, experts said, and officials have signaled they will explore strengthening applicable laws to expand the state’s regulatory power over such rides. A letter from the Austria-based ride manufacturer of the Free Fall, Funtime Handels GmbH, said the ride did not need seat belts because its restraint system had two independent locking devices and shoulder restraints that surpassed safety requirements. The letter was released by the state along with the ride’s operations manual this week.
Before letting Tyre on the ride, employees should have weighed him, Avery said. Weight restrictions are strict guidelines established by the ride manufacturer that ride operators cannot modify. John Stine, SlingShot Group’s sales and marketing director, told Spectrum News 13 shortly after the accident that the ride is operated with “all the safety precautions in mind” and it does not have seat belts because the “safety harness that goes over the chest of the rider is sufficient.” He did not respond to requests for further comment.
Florida is one of just 29 states with amusement ride safety programs, Richard Kimsey, director of the Division of Consumer Services, said Friday while appearing along with Fried and State Rep. Geraldine Thompson, D-Orlando. “I urge the Department to: reexamine and implement minimum safety requirements for fixed amusement parks, implement secondary or additional safety restraints to quickly respond to mechanical and human errors, and require more robust peer training and safety protocols to increase accountability by amusement park operators,” he wrote.
The tall 14 year-old, Tyre, weighed about 340 lbs, way over the maximum 287 weight limit for the ride. He did have a harness on🙄