AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) -- A committee tasked with trying to find ways to make Maine hayrides safer, tells the Legislature they can't do much to help.
The Joint Standing Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety and the Committee on Transportation released a report in March that says there is no oversight in place that would allow for inspections of hayrides across Maine.
The committee was formed largely in response to the hayride crash October 11, 2014, that killed Cassidy Charette of Oakland. The crash in Mechanic Falls injured 23 others.
The report concluded "a significant program of registration and permitting would be required if oversight were to be undertaken. Such a capacity for this type of service is presently not available within the resources of either (State Fire Marshal's Office and Maine State Police) at this time."
The report also states that since the vehicles used in most rides are not road worthy and are not required to be inspected in the first place. "The state would be required to develop their own with no measurable engineering guidelines to go by. "
Maine State Fire Marshal Joe Thomas told NEWS CENTER that the group concluded there was little the state could do to improve the safety situation. Thomas said the team would draft guidelines and safety suggestions to ride providers, but oversight was impossible at this point.
MOBILE CLICK TO READ Report of the Maine Fire Marshal s Office on Hayride Safety