A young woman died on Friday at an amusement park, the fourth victim to be claimed by the park in as many years, writes The New York Daily News. Gabriella Garin, 21, died Friday evening around 9:30 p.m. at Rye Playland, 25 miles north of Manhattan. Garin was employed by the amusement park and was attending White Plains Community College. Garin, a single mother of a three-year-old girl, would have been the first member of the Garin family to finish college. Her dream was to become a grammar school teacher. Her family, also employed by Rye Playland, was devastated by the loss, responding with both tears and anger.
The ride which took Gabriella Garin’s life was called the Mind Scrambler. The basic design of the ride consists of several spider-like arms which spin in sweeping circles near ground level. Park officials report that Garin was too close to one of the cars while attempting to quiet a group of rowdy kids. She “went to tell them to sit down,” report witnesses and was struck by one of the cars.
Not everyone agrees with this version of events, however. Garin’s family blames the park for her death. In May of 2004 a 7-year-old girl was killed on the same ride, having been thrown off while kneeling on the seat. The death prompted the park to announce new safety measures, such as seatbelts, additional lighting, and a second attendant on duty. However, a park spokesman, PeterTartaglia, admits that there was no second attendant on duty when Garin was struck. There have been several other fatalities at the park in recent years as well. In 2005 a 7-year-old boy died when he left the boat ride he was on and became stuck in the ride’s conveyor belts. And last year on the Fourth of July a 43-year-old man drowned when he waded into a park lake, reports The New York Daily News.
The Mind Scrambler was reported to have passed inspection this past spring. It is now shut down for the rest of the summer.
I understand that it is the park's responsibility to ensure safety for it's riders but where in the policy does it say they have to be babysitters as well. These kids should have known better
What a shame. That's one of my favorite rides too. It doesn't sound like the ride itself was to blame. The poor woman made a tragic mistake and paid for it herself. (She could have stopped the ride if the kids needed immediate correction.) I wonder how the rowdy kids took it.
I've been going to Rye Playland for my whole life, having grown up in Westchester County. An EMT friend of mine was the first responder when that little boy was mangled by the log flume two summers ago. As the article notes, this park has an increasingly lousy safety record. Kids should not be dying at amusement parks.
Cindess: if you read the article, you'll see that the woman who was killed actually WAS a babysitter. The point of having a second attendant on duty is presumably not to "babysit" but to watch out for safety transgressions just like the one that has now, tragically, claimed another life.
A second attendant to say, "Miss, you're too close to the ride," and she may have actually graduated college.
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