Calgary Stampede rides safer than in years past when accidents occurred, Alberta says
'These guys look as these very, very closely because nobody wants any accidents to happen,' minister says
The Province of Alberta wants people to feel they're safe on Calgary Stampede midway rides, saying inspection procedures have improved since incidents involving faulty rides in previous years.
Ten people were injured in 2010 when one of the pods of a Scorpion ride came off and fell 10 metres, crashing into the ground.
A year earlier, a roller-coaster car released prematurely, crashing into the back of another car and leaving eight people, including a child, with minor injuries.
Dean McKernon, with the Alberta Elevating Devices & Amusement Rides Safety Association (AEDARSA), said it's unlikely incidents like those would happen again.
"These rides go down the road quite a bit and they ride on trailers and they bounce and they're running 12-hours a day, so failures do happen," McKernon said.
"Most of the rides here have non-destructive testing requirements but for us in Alberta, we now, anytime we see a failure on something like that, the ride is taken out of service or it's not allowed to operate until the manufacturer or an engineer does an assessment on it."
He said all rides are inspected every morning before the park opens.
Shaye Anderson, the province's minister of municipal affairs, said regulations have evolved.
"These guys look as these very, very closely because nobody wants any accidents to happen. I mean you are here to have some fun and be safe," Anderson said.
"It's a lot more strict than it used to be."
With files from Kate Adach and Mario De Ciccio