Since the horrific accidents killed those two parade-goers during Mardi Gras, a lot of suggestions have been made as to how parades and floats can be made safer. The one thing we can all agree on is those deaths were tragic and senseless.
A couple of things jumped out at me. The first is that both victims were native New Orleanians who loved Mardi Gras. The second was that they were both 58 years old. We also spoke with someone at the Krewe of Tucks parade who told us her story of pulling a spectator, also in her fifties, out from under a float before she too would have been run over by a float after falling.
So many solutions have been offered since. No tandem floats. Guards walking alongside the floats. Barricades.
The one that makes the most sense to me is common sense. By all accounts the second accident had nothing to do with tandem floats, but the City was forced to do something. So, perhaps out of caution, perhaps out of building awareness, tandem floats were prohibited for the parades that followed Endymion. Thankfully the season ended with no more fatal accidents.
There is some disagreement as to the origin of tandem floats. Some say it was to facilitate the so called “super floats” being able to safely turn. Others say it was to skirt the city permit limitations on the number of floats allowed. If 30 floats were allowed then having float number 1, 1a, 1b, etc. hitched together would still match the letter, if not the spirit, of the law.
If your premise is that tandem floats are the cause, then I don’t know what options there are other than eliminating them. But how do you that without affecting the krewes or their parades? I suggest we admit the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes and revise the permits.
Let’s be honest. Floats with one, two or more tandems attached ain’t one float. It’s two or three or four. So let’s expand the number of floats allowed, given the number that are already REALLY rolling, to accommodate the tandems. That would mean each float would need its own tractor, driver and power system. If some krewes were able to overcome that requirement at the last minute this year, it seems having a full year to work on it shouldn’t be a hurdle too high.