Inspection standards for attractions vary

April 18--The thrill rides at small attractions and county fairs get regular checkups from Florida inspectors. But other entertainment venues -- including speedways where inexperienced tourists pay hundreds of dollars to get behind the wheel of a race car -- don't get the same scrutiny.

After an instructor riding shotgun died last week in a crash at Petty Holdings' Exotic Driving Experience at Walt Disney World Speedway, some are wondering whether that might change.

"You could see people calling for some sort of state or even federal rules that have to be applied to ... events like these where you have to follow certain standards," said Patrick George, associate editor of car-culture website Jalopnik.

Inspection standards vary for entertainment venues. Whether a ride is subject to state regulation, for example, depends in part on the company that owns it.

State law says "permanent facilities" with 1,000 or more employees are exempt if they have their own full-time inspectors.

Those include the big theme parks such as Disney, Universal, SeaWorld and Legoland. In return those parks provide written reports each quarter of serious injuries, though the brief descriptions give few details.

The Orlando Eye observation wheel opening next month on International Drive will also be excluded from state amusement-ride inspection. It will fall under Legoland's exemption because both have the same owner, <org value="LSE:MERL" idsrc="xmltag.org">Merlin Entertainments.

Florida'sBureau of Fair Rides Inspection also regulates ropes courses, zip lines, go-kart tracks and indoor sky diving. Bounce houses, trampolines and closed-course motor-sports tracks are among those exempted from state ride-safety regulation.

Florida'sDepartment of Agriculture and Consumer Services spokeswoman Erin Gillespie said most exemptions have been around since the early 1990s as a result of legislative action.

The department's ride-inspection bureau inspects fair attractions every time they move around and permanent ones semiannually. The bureau conducted 8,956 inspections last year. No problems were found on 3,743 of them. On the rest, 22,354 "deficiencies" were found. Though many are minor, all must be corrected before a ride can continue operating. The inspections resulted in 116 devices being put out of service until they were fixed.

Many industries have voluntary sets of safety standards. They include trampoline parks, which have become increasingly popular with kids.

Some states have "just lumped trampoline parks in" with amusement-park regulations, though Florida has not, said Tracy Sarris, executive vice president of the International Trampoline Park Association.

Parasail operations were exempt from regulations in Florida, but a couple of deaths increased momentum for restrictions; last year, a state law went into effect requiring oversight.

The driving attractions and events such as Richard Petty Racing Experience and its sister operation Exotic Driving Experience, where Gary Terry died April 12, also are not governed by Florida's departments of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles or Business and Professional Regulation.

Terry, 36, died when the driver of the Lamborghini he was riding in lost control at the Exotic Driving Experience. The car slammed into a guardrail, which pierced the car.

His death was among at least four that have occurred since 2010 at similar businesses, which operate at dozens of speedways nationwide. The Exotic Driving Experience was running its luxury sports cars in the opposite direction than the track was originally designed for -- something that many in the motor-sports community think could have contributed to the fatality.

Petty Holdings, which is responsible for operation and maintenance of the Disney-owned track, had no comment for this story. It has previously pointed out it inspects cars daily and gives customers instruction before they get behind the wheel.

Some speedway officials are wary of new regulations.

Donnie Vivier, who manages the Orlando Speed World Oval Track in Bithlo, where Gotham Dream Cars holds exotic driving events, said the track has taken safety measures including hiring off-duty EMTs and paramedics.

"A lot of what they [the companies that provide the cars] can and can't do is most likely dictated by their insurance company," Vivier said. "There is some kind of accountability."

At the Disney speedway, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating because an employee died. The Florida Highway Patrol is also investigating, although spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said normal traffic laws don't apply because it's a private track.

Gary Leppla, an attorney for the family of a man killed last year during a Rusty Wallace Racing Experience event at the Kentucky Speedway, questioned why amusement parks are inspected but not race-car attractions.

"This is different than that, but ... it's an adventure-type event, and people are putting their trust in individuals who have repeatedly ... shown they're not worthy of that trust."

Rusty Wallace Racing Experience did not respond to a request for an interview.

Selling the fantasy of driving sports cars -- particularly super-expensive "exotic" ones such as Lamborghinis -- has become popular in the past few years. Crash deaths and injuries at such race-car attractions include:

--In November, 30-year-old Stephen Cox died after a crash at a Rusty Wallace Racing Experience event at the Kentucky Speedway.

--In 2012 a Spanish tourist suffered multiple lower-extremity fractures in a crash after his steering wheel detached in the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience at Michigan International Speedway.

--In 2010, 24-year-old Ashley Phalen of Los Angeles died after crashing a replica Indy race car into a wall as part of the Mario Andretti Driving Experience at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

--In 2010, Don Krusemark, 87, died when the Corvette he was a passenger in crashed at the Texas Motor Speedway. The Texas Driving Experience instructor driving the car suffered a traumatic brain injury.

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