The "Roller Coaster Loophole" refers to wording that was added to the Consumer Product Safety Act in 1981 that prevents federal safety experts from investigating roller coaster accidents. A fixed-site amusement ride is any ride that is permanently attached to the ground. This means that amusement rides in carnivals and other mobile attractions are subject to federal regulations, but rides in fixed-site amusement parks are not. Regulation and inspection of “fixed site” amusement rides is left up to the state or municipality and as a result, oversight varies from good to none. A majority provides some type of regulation (i.e., licensing, inspection, insurance requirements); the states containing the largest number of amusement parks (i.e., California, Florida, Ohio) do have oversight.
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