How safe are amusement parks?

How safe are amusement parks?

Michael Largo (Author, "Final Exits") gives expert video advice on: In which sports do players most often suffer from sudden death?; How likely am I to die on the golf course?; How likely am I to die while swimming? and more...

Today, amusement parks are tremendously safer than they were 100 years ago. There have been over 12,000 deaths occurring in amusement parks over the last 100 years. But predominantly those occurred in the first 20 to 30 years, when most amusement rides were made out of wood. So fire and mechanical failure were common. Nowadays, deaths from roller coasters are usually from falling out of them, not strapped into the roller coaster properly or standing up and riding improperly, those are the deaths that occur from roller coasters today. There have been only 10 deaths in the last 10 years from falling gondolas. Bumper cars, there's only been three deaths in the last 10 years. So amusement parks are tremendously safer than they were previously.