The New Power Party (NPP) yesterday called on the Ministry of the Interior to promote legislation governing amusement ride rentals after seven people were injured by a ride in Hsinchu City last month.
A swing ride at the Big City Shopping Mall was suddenly accelerated by staff on April 1, injuring a boy who was flung off his seat and six adults who tried to rescue him.
The boy’s mother, surnamed Huang (黃), yesterday told a news conference at the NPP caucus office in Taipei that her son received eight stitches, adding that several passers-by, her husband and herself were also injured.
Following the accident, she found that the rental company that provided the ride had also supplied a go kart that caught fire in Hsinchu County in February, causing burns to 75 percent of the driver’s body, Huang said.
She urged the government to pass legislation governing amusement ride rentals, adding that she has filed a lawsuit against the mall.
“It has been more than a month since the accident, but the government has only reached out to us once, when the Hsinchu City Government told us by telephone that amusement ride rentals are not regulated by any law. They recommended that we reach a settlement with the rental company,” Huang said.
While preparing for the lawsuit, they found that the company is the biggest amusement ride rental firm in Taiwan and has supplied rides for various night markets, as well as Christmasland in New Taipei City, said Huang’s attorney Lien Yu-ting (連郁婷), who is running for Hsinchu County councilor in the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections.
“The Executive Yuan in August last year held a meeting to discuss ways to regulate amusement ride rentals, but the related ministries all tried to dodge their responsibilities,” Lien said. “It was not until after the swing ride accident that the Executive Yuan finally assigned the Ministry of the Interior as the regulatory authority for amusement ride rentals.”
So far, the ministry has held only one meeting on the issue and although it has said that it would draft legislation to govern amusement rides, no details or a time frame have been revealed, Lien said.
The company testified to a prosecutor that the rides were modified after they were imported from China, said NPP Hsinchu Chapter head Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智), who is also Huang’s attorney.
The company also told prosecutors that the equipment did not go through any distributors and had not been inspected or tested by any government agencies, he added.
It has been almost two months since the accident and the Legislative Yuan only yesterday reviewed a bill to regulate children’s playgrounds, NPP Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said.
Until the bill is passed, local government should regulate amusement ride rentals according to the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法), he said.
They should also set down more detailed local regulations to protect the safety of children in playgrounds, he added.
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