Ted Davis’ bid to keep our kids safe
So many thoughts go through a parent’s mind when sending children off to summer camp. Will they be homesick? What if they hate it? Will they remember to wear clean clothes? But most of all: Will they be safe?
No doubt that thought came to the parents of Bonnie Sanders Burney, but they, like most parents, trusted that camp organizers did everything possible to ensure their daughter’s safety. And that may very well be true, but 12-year-old Bonnie — whose family and friends called her Sanders — fell to her death last month when something on the zip line equipment broke during a stay at YMCA Camp Cheerio in Alleghany County.
As the mother of a daughter myself, I can’t imagine what her parents are going through, but I do empathize. Their grief must be immeasurable; my heart aches for them. I’m also a little angry.
When the story made headlines, news organizations reported North Carolina does not regulate zip lines, and state officials don’t even know how many are in use. That must change.
Sanders Burney’s death was the second reported zip line death since the treetop adventure devices have been in use in North Carolina, so it would be erroneous to suggest there are no quality control measures. Most reputable organizations — Camp Cheerio among them — abide by industry standards for training, safety and routine equipment inspections.
But Rep. Ted Davis, R-New Hanover, is right to propose there be some way to keep track of zip line operators and ensure minimum safety requirements be met. He has included provisions addressing zip lines in a bill that increases penalties for amusement-ride safety violations.
House Bill 39, which has passed both chambers but contains differences in each version to be ironed out in a conference committee, was prompted by an accident at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. Five people were seriously injured in 2013 after a ride called The Vortex restarted as riders were exiting.
Davis’ bill does not immediately call for a new layer of bureaucracy. Instead, it directs the Labor Department to gather information about how the federal government and states regulate the devices, to determine the cost of providing regular inspections and to determine whether existing laws might be applied also to zip lines.
It’s a cautious strategy at a time when many politicians would be tempted to overreact to a tragic but rare occurrence. And if any lawmaker had a right to overreact, it’s him. Davis is a distant cousin of Sanders Burney and no doubt is grieving along with the rest of the family.
“I thought to myself, this is something that is very dangerous, and it needs to be correctly regulated,” Davis said.
But he also knows the state Labor Department doesn’t have enough inspectors to add yet another item to its duty roster. That’s why the bill calls for studies to determine how many zip lines are in operation and to determine the cost of state regulation, as well as whether a private entity might be able to take on that task.
“I don’t want to pass a bill and it not have teeth,” Davis said.
Camp is often a child’s first experience away from home. And parents typically send them off with some trepidation.
Most camps for children and teens go the extra mile to keep their charges safe. Camp Cheerio has been in business for decades and has an excellent reputation. An investigation will determine what happened and should recommend how to avoid such accidents in the future.
Organizations in Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach offer many opportunities for day camps and some residential camps, and in each case the children’s safety is the top priority. But there is always the disclaimer: Things happen. Kids get hurt, especially if they don’t follow directions, but sometimes it’s no one’s fault.
That is little comfort to a parent whose child is seriously injured or worse.
I don’t know what I would do if I’d gotten the call Sanders’ parents received. But I’m glad Ted Davis is trying to make sure an experience that is supposed to be fun, like flying through the treetops on a zip line, is also safe.
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