Montpelier (ap) — Vermont has no direct safety oversight of the rides at the fairs, carnivals and field days held across the state every summer and fall, and efforts to require such oversight have gone nowhere, officials said.

The state does require amusement ride operators to register with the Secretary of State, show proof of insurance and have workers’ compensation insurance for their employees, but unlike most states, no safety inspections of the rides are required.

“I’ve always had a fear of some kind of accident,” said Republican state Rep. Richard Lawrence, who is also the president of the Caledonia County Fair in Lyndon who has tried for years to get the Legislature to pass a law requiring ride safety inspection. He said those efforts have failed both because of a lack of a funding source to pay for any inspections and no state agency has been willing to provide inspectors.

The issue came into focus after a rider was killed Wednesday at a fair in Ohio.

The same company is now operating rides, without any problems, at the Green Mountain Fair in Manchester.

The issue for many of the small fairs, which are already operating on a thin margin, is cost, Lawrence said.

And his efforts in the Legislature to require fair ride inspection have failed both because of a lack of a funding source to pay for any inspections and no state agency has been willing to provide inspectors.