Rationale

The Terminology task group thanks the members for taking the time to read the rationale prior to voting and respectfully requests members consider the following voting options:
• Affirmative or Abstain
• Affirmative or abstain with comment

Please contact John Riggleman (thomasjtr@aol.com) to discuss any concerns prior to posting a negative.

All comments received will be reviewed and considered. Thank you for your time in reviewing this ballot.

Rationale:
Three terms are included in F747-21a that have never been used in an F24 standard. They are circular ride, flat ride, and high ride. The best of our knowledge is that they were put into the terminology standard prior to the other F24 standards being developed. The Terminology task group discussed these terms and agreed that they should be balloted for removal from F747-21a.

Background:
A previous ballot called for the removal of these terms, but the rationale was unclear in many ways. Even so, all members but one either voted to approve the removal of these terms or agreed to withdraw their negative votes.
In completing due diligence on effects of term removal on regulations, Michelle Faulk, liaison for the ASTM regulator forum, contacted fellow regulators in the twenty states or jurisdictions where ASTM F747 has been adopted to determine if removal of these three terms would negatively affect regulations.
Nineteen provided feedback in regard to the removal of the terms and all nineteen confirmed that removal would not affect their regulations. Further information obtained relayed that the current definitions cause confusion or conflicting language for some regulators, and European regulators stated that the three definitions do not translate well which causes misunderstanding. Michelle Faulk reviewed regulations for the state that did not provide comment, and noted that it classifies amusement rides in three unrelated categories with no mention of the three terms up for removal.
Research by Michelle Faulk concluded that removal of these terms will assist regulators by ensuring that the ride classifications they currently use do not conflict or cause confusion for the industry. In addition, due to the rapid evolution of amusement rides, the current definitions of these three terms are irrelevant in today’s industry. These definitions may have been acceptable when they were originally drafted, but the wide variety of rides today cannot be divided just into these three categories.
F747 was not intended to define every term used in the industry and it is logical and appropriate to be repository of all terms used from active F24 standards. Terminology standards within ASTM are important foundations for committees’ work. Agreeing on terminology allows us the opportunity to make sure we are all starting from the same place when we have broader technical discussions.
The scope of F747-21a is:
1.1 This terminology is a repository of terms approved by Committee F24 and its subcommittees. Reproducing terms approved within all other individual F24 standards and guides, this terminology will provide a single location where terms related to amusement rides and devices are freely accessible to the public, committee members and can be maintained, updated and utilized as effective communication tools. Although published alphabetically, terms unique to a specific F24 standard or guide are indicated as such by the reference which follows the applicable term.
Therefore, this ballot is to remove the following terms and definitions from F747-21a because they have problematic definitions, have not been used in any F24 standard, are not needed in current regulations, and are outdated with no current need to be updated:
Circular ride: an amusement ride whose motion is primarily rotary in a fixed or variable plane from horizontal to 45° above horizontal
Flat-ride: an amusement ride that operates on a single level over a controlled, fixed course or track, or confined to a limited area of operation
High ride: an amusement ride whose motion is in a fixed or variable plane from horizontal to vertical