Tampered wiring may have caused Pigeon Forge death

Posted | Contributed by Walt S

A Consumer Product Safety Commission report says the safety interlock wiring on the Hawk ride at a Pigeon Forge FEC was bypassed, allowing ride to operate with a non-functional restraint. This may have caused the release of June Carol Alexander, a passenger that fell from the ride to her death in March.

Read more from The Mountain Press.

The owner should be happy with the fact that he is only being charged with 2nd degree murder.

He was playing russian roulette every time he had the ride op hit the "start" button.

These guys should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. As I understand it, TN doesn't really police amusement rides that well, and may not have any jurisdiction to close this park. Hopefully, a good, sizeable civil suit will take care of that.

....and NOW we know why the charge that was filed seemed *severe* at the time....:(

It's up to riders to obey the safety warnings and follow all posted rules, etc., but we really do TRUST that operators will run their rides in the safest manner possible. For violating that trust, this guy should spend a LONG time behind bars...

I do hope that this lets Zamperla off the hook in the civil suits, because obviously this was outside of their control.

Brian, the park _is_ closed. I was in Pigeon Forge last week. Their sign is still lit up, but it is advertising the arcade next door...

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the actual CPSC report at their web site or a mention of it on Rideaccidnets.com. Has anyone else had better luck? I hate to go by what a newspaper says.

Any way you look at it, this does appear to go beyond just negligence and involve some real acts of commission, not just omission.

I have requested the CPSC reports and, once I get them, will scan and post them on masstort.org. It is not an agency that moves particularly fast, so we'll see when they show up.

They should be charged, but if I may ask where is this "park"?

You know what, that's exactly what I said was the cause back in March. Definitely a criminal act that should be punishable to fullest extent of the law.

DC2Beltz3, Rockin Raceway is located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee on the main "strip". (Along wth other various go-cart tracks and such) It's a few blocks from the Dollywood entrance.

Rockin Raceway is/was between "Stoplight #2" and "Stoplight #3" in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee ( Mapquest Map )

You must be logged in to post