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Aug 17, 2007 5:02 pm US/Eastern
'Sizzler' Rides Forced To Shut Down
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
All "Sizzler" amusement park rides were ordered Friday to stop operation until seat belts have been installed, the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety said Friday.
The owners and operators of the devices manufactured by Wisdom Industries, a Colorado company, had to close down the rides. The only Sizzler ride in Massachusetts is on Martha's Vineyard.
The order came in the wake of a service bulletin issued by Wisdom, recommending seat belts be installed on the Sizzler to prevent riders from being ejected from the seats.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Safety received the notice Thursday and ordered the rides to be stopped on Friday.
Bulletins were also sent to all Sizzler owners along with instructions for the proper installations of the seat belts provided by Wisdom.
In the past 10 years, at least nine riders have been injured on the Sizzler ride. In April, a 7-year-old Arkansas boy was killed when he was thrown from the Sizzler during the ride.
In 2004, a Shrewsbury man was killed after being thrown from the Sizzler ride. The man's family filed a wrongful death suit after the incident.
The bulletin said the seat belts were being recommended because "during the past several years there have been incidents of patrons coming out of their seats in the Sizzler."
The rides will be allowed to operate once the seat belts have been properly installed by the owners.
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