Lawmaker seeks change after man's rodeo death

HOUSTON

A state legislator says it's time the current carnival ride regulations are reviewed. And there's one more complaint to add to the mix -- a scathing letter asking for a state investigation.

With the Hi-Miler packed up and on its way to Arizona, the rollercoaster from which Brian Greenhouse fell to his death Sunday, is gone but not forgotten.

"I don't trust them as far as I can throw them," attorney Joe Stephens.

Stephens is the latest to file a complaint against the ride's owner, Ray Cammack Shows and the rodeo. The three-page letter to the Texas Department of Insurance calls previous inspections "woefully inadequate," statements made by the rodeo's chief operating officer "apparently untrue" and injury reports filed with the state "misleading."

In the end, the letter asks the state to conduct a major investigation, "demand incident reports of all complaints and accidents and ferret out what they actually knew prior to the Greenhouse death." And he is not the only one asking for state intervention.

"I believe that this should be looked at," State Rep. Garnet Coleman said.

From Austin, Coleman told us he will ask for permission to introduce a bill with two purposes -- to investigate and to modify current regulations if needed.

As it is now, rides require yearly inspections with daily safety checks. The rodeo says it and Ray Cammack Shows go above and beyond that.

But there are those who are not so sure.

"Because this is a relationship that is so close, people then forget to do the things that they need to do to keep people safe," Coleman said.

"Bottom line here, this is just a Good Ol' Boy network," Stephens said.

Ray Cammack Shows has declined to comment.

The rodeo believes the ride did not malfunction because the bar and the belt, it says, were still in place after the death. It also says they would never keep a ride in operation that is not safe.