After death on Verruckt water slide, new Kansas bill would add regulations

A new bill in the Kansas Legislature would further regulate amusement rides in Kansas, just months after the son of a Republican leader was killed on the world’s tallest water slide.

House Bill 2389 would require that licensed engineers, or people with a background in amusement ride inspection, inspect amusement park rides in Kansas.

Ten-year-old Caleb Schwab died in August while riding Verruckt, a 17-story water slide at the Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City, Kan. Caleb’s father is Rep. Scott Schwab, R-Olathe, who is now the House speaker pro tem.

Rep. John Barker, R-Abilene, who is pushing the bill, said Kansas “had some very weak safeguards.”

“We started looking at statute, and we saw we were weak,” Barker said. “It’s like a tune-up on your vehicle. It’s been there for many, many years and we’ve not revisited that. So we’re kind of doing a tune-up on the existing statute and changing certain parts of it.”

The bill is scheduled for two days of hearings next week.

Under current law, inspections at parks like Schlitterbahn fall primarily to their owners.

There is limited state or federal oversight of the inspection process.

Barker’s bill would require that the inspections be paid for by the insurance company that issues the liability insurance policy that covers the ride. His bill also calls for ride operators to do daily inspections.

Officials with Schlitterbahn said late last year that Verruckt, which has been closed since Caleb’s death, will be demolished.

This story was originally published March 16, 2017 at 4:05 PM with the headline "After death on Verruckt water slide, new Kansas bill would add regulations."