Overview of U.S. Amusement Ride Regulations

Amusement rides in the United States are regulated through a confusing patchwork of voluntary standards and federal, state, and local laws, riddled with holes and special exemptions. 

• Amusement park rides and water slides are exempt from all federal safety oversight.  Carnival rides, go-karts, and inflatables are regulated under the Consumer Product Safety Act.  [Federal Regulation]
• Some amusement rides are subject to some type of safety regulation at the state or local level.  Consumer protection laws vary widely from state to state, ride type to ride type, venue to venue.  [State Regulation]

A significant percentage of U.S. thrill rides, including those at Florida's theme parks, operate without any government safety oversight.

• State and local government regulatory programs, where they exist, keep track of individual rides and the way they're operated within a specific jurisdiction on a day-to-day basis.
• The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) looks at safety problems on carnival rides, go-karts, and inflatables through a wider lens. The CPSC can track problems that occur on multiple rides in different states, and has an effective system in place to disseminate urgent safety information to industry and consumers.

• Some state and local governments hire and train amusement ride safety inspectors to audit industry's performance of safety functions. Government inspection programs:
  • Provide redundancy of inspection, an additional set of eyes to catch problems before somebody gets hurt.
  • Monitor manufacturers' and owner/operators' compliance with applicable safety standards
  • Ensure that serious accidents are thoroughly and impartially investigated, and the findings are made publicly available.
• The CPSC monitors incident data on non-exempt rides from across the country, looking for patterns that may indicate a broader safety problem or emerging hazard. Trend analysis reports and product safety alerts disseminate safety-critical information nationwide to the people responsible for prevention (i.e., industry and consumers).

Current Regulatory Issues