House Bill 1241/Senate Bill 902 “The Tyre Sampson Act” and HB 1243/SB 904 the accompanying public records exemption sponsored by Representative LaVon Bracy Davis (D-Ocoee) and Senator Geraldine Thompson (D-Orlando) today unanimously passed the House floor. HB 1241/SB902, also known as the Tyre Sampson Act, named after the 14-year-old, honor roll student and football player from out of town who fell off of the Orlando freefall after coming to our state for spring break. The bill makes a number of provisions to safety standards for rides. Adjustments include more signage, an adjustment to annual affidavits, reporting of any major modifications to rides, more extensive training of employees, updated reporting on maintenance, ride commissioning and certification, restraints and safety systems, and accident notification procedures.
Representative Bracy Davis stated, “When people visit our state, they should trust that all of our amusement parks, whether they have 20 employees or 2,000 employees, are being held to a certain safety standard. This is the new standard. And this will ensure that tragedies like the one that happened to Tyre and his family will never happen again.”
“The brutal and wrongful death of Tyre Sampson was the preventable and unnecessary result of negligence and carelessness by the manufacturer and operator of the Eagle Drop. Inexplicably, they made modifications to the ride which made it more dangerous, and ignored the size and weight restrictions before putting kids and families on their ride and dropping them at the speed of gravity. Tyre was an honors student and football star who lost his life because of their decisions. We are so grateful to Representative Bracy Davis and Senator Thompson, for their hard work in looking into the root causes of this tragedy, and taking steps to make sure that it won’t happen to anyone else’s child” stated Todd Michael, the attorney representing Tyre Sampson’s mother.
Nekia Dodd, Tyre Sampson’s mother, said that she is excited for the provisions included in this bill because it “will save another child’s life.” This bill will honor him by revising and creating amusement ride provisions that will improve the nature of certification reports, permit applications, inspections, and employee training.
