The Truth About Amusement Attraction Safety

1. The Truth About Amusement Attraction Safety State-Based Regulations Promote Safety Better Than a Federal Alternative Prof. Chad D. Emerson Faulkner University’s Jones School of Law 334.386.7536 : cemerson@faulkner.edu

2. Where Amusement Attraction Safety is Today… • Mobile Amusement Attractions are Federally-Regulated • Permanent (or Fixed-Site) Attractions are State-Regulated • Except That…

3. Some States Have Failed to Enact Any Amusement Safety Regulation(Arizona & Wyoming) While Others Have Failed to Enact Comprehensive Safety Regulation (Ex: Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Montana, South Dakota, Utah)

4. 1960s Congressional Efforts to “Federalize” Consumer Safety Early 1970s CPSC Efforts to Classify Amusement Attractions as Consumer Products Mid to Late 1970s Litigation Over These CPSC Efforts Chance & Texas State Fair Lawsuits Walt Disney & Bell Enterprises Lawsuits How It Got To This Point…

5. The Need for This State Fair of Texas v. U.S. Consumer Product Safety 454 U.S. 1026 Nov 09, 1981 Was Eliminated By This Pub. L. No. 97-35 at § 1213, 95 Stat. 724 (1981) “Such term includes any mechanical device which carries or conveys passengers along, around, or over a fixed or restricted route or course or within a defined area for the purpose of giving its passengers amusement, which is customarily controlled or directed by an individual who is employed for that purpose and who is not a consumer with respect to such device, and which is not permanently fixed to a site. Such term does not include such a device which is permanently fixed to a site.”

6. H.R. 2668, 98th Cong. (Apr. 20, 1983) H.R. 5790, 98th Cong. (June 6, 1984) Sen. 702, 99th Cong. (Mar. 20, 1985) H.R. 3412, 100th Cong. (Oct. 1, 1987) H.R. 729, 101st Cong. (Jan. 31, 1989) H.R. 1762, 101st Cong. (Apr. 11, 1989) Subsequent Efforts to Repeal The1981 Amendment Which All Eventually Led To…

7. National Amusement Park Ride Safety Act H.R. 3032, 106th Cong (1999) Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ‘National Amusement Park Ride Safety Act of 1999’. SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OVER FIXED SITE AMUSEMENT RIDES. Section 3(1) of the Consumer Product Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2052(1)) is amended-- (1) in the second sentence, by striking ‘, and which is not permanently fixed to a site’; and (2) by striking the third sentence. SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. There are authorized to be appropriated to the Consumer Product Safety Commission $500,000 for each fiscal year to enable the Commission to carry out the Consumer Product Safety Act as amended by section 2.

8. Reality Check:The Facts Simply Don’t Support the Federalization of Fixed-Site Park Safety Regulation • Accident Statistics Don’t Support It • Proposed Funding Won’t Support It • Currently, the CPSC Can’t Support It

9. Challenges Still Exist Though… The Solution: Self-Regulation + A Comprehensive State-Based Regulatory System

10. Crucial Next Steps… Pass Comprehensive Amusement Safety Laws in Every State!

11. For the latest in Amusement Park & Recreation Law, check out: www.faulkner.edu/admin/websites/cemerson/AmusementandRecreationLaw.htm and Coming in Early 2005 The Update: A Weblog Dedicated to Amusement Law Issues