Recent news about serious injuries and at least one death caused by amusement park rides naturally raises concerns about the safety of such rides.

For Kansans, those concerns may be heightened by the knowledge that Kansas is one of only seven states that does not regulate the safety of such rides. Although no serious accidents have been reported in Kansas in recent weeks, news about a girl who had parts of both legs severed on a ride in Kentucky and the death of an amusement park worker who got caught on a ride in New York provide unsettling reminders that, either through operator error or equipment failure, tragedy sometime lurks on rides that are intended for entertainment.

State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, proposed legislation about a decade ago that would have required state inspections of rides and proper training for ride operators. The legislation wasn’t approved, but Sloan said Monday that he still believed such a measure is needed, especially for traveling carnival shows. In fact, he said, many carnival industry leaders and operators encourage safety regulations as a way to protect and reassure the public.

Summer spawns numerous small celebrations across the state, many of which contract with traveling companies to set up rides in their communities for a week or less at a time. Festival organizers, of course, do the best they can to bring in quality rides run by companies with good safety records. However, it seems that such traveling shows pose special challenges for several reasons.

First, because their rides are assembled and disassembled frequently, there is more opportunity for a potentially dangerous error. Permanent parks, like Worlds of Fun or the new Wild West World near Wichita, probably are run more professionally than their traveling counterparts and have a greater stake in protecting customers they hope will continue to patronize their business. And there’s always the possibility that substandard operators would be more likely to do business in one of the seven states they knew had no regulations.

There is, of course, no way to guarantee no one ever will be hurt on an amusement park ride. As is true of many entertainment choices, as well as everyday activities, it only takes one bad decision or one operating error to open the door to tragic results. Still, with all of the measures we legislate to try to make life more safe, especially for Kansas youngsters, it only makes sense for Kansas to institute at least minimal safety standards for the operation of carnival rides.