If carnival rides are outlawed, only outlaws will run carnivals
Authorities in North Carolina have charged the operator of a ride at the NC State Fair Assault with a Deadly Weapon resulting in serious bodily injury. The claim is that he tampered with a safety system that allowed the ride to start up resulting in the injury of five people, including the operator.
From the prior thread where I went into the difference between assault and battery, an assault is an INTENTIONAL threat to cause bodily harm to another with the victim believing that you have the ability to carry out the threat.
Its possible a negligent act that resulted in the accident, but was it really an assault with a deadly weapon?
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/10/26/4417864/fair-ride-operator-arrested.html
Earlier in the week, the ride had the safety interlock “fixed” that prevents the ride from moving unless the safety bars are locked in place.
These charges: Somebody is running for judge or DA…..
Non-podium carneys are easy targets.
Especially from out of state.
I witnessed something similar although I’m vague on where or when. I was standing by a “scrambler” type ride (it has 3 arms with 4 cars on each arm that hold two people – the whole thing spins and then the arms spin – it’s a very simple old ride) in the early afternoon when the place was empty. The control to operate the ride was at the end of a long cable intended to be used from the operator stand, but the operator had it in his hand inside the perimeter of the ride. The ride started to spin and he had his back to it. I froze in that moment and didn’t yell “hey, look out!”. I figured he knew what he was doing and I didn’t want to be an idiot. It wasn’t going terribly fast yet, but hit him from behind and flattened him on the ground and when he let go of the control, the ride stopped. He stood up, dusted himself off and didn’t seem all that concerned. It was an odd experience.
The Agriculture Secretary is “mad” that attendance fell by 10,000 people the next night. That’s a lot of unsold elephant ears.