‘I had mere seconds to act’: Man climbs from looping roller coaster as lap bar unlatches at US theme park

A man has been captured climbing from a moving roller coaster at a US theme park in Arizona on Sunday.

Just seconds after the ride began on a roller coaster at Castles N’ Coasters in Phoenix, he noticed his lap bar was faulty — in several frantic seconds, he made the decision to flee the carriage.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Man climbs from moving roller coaster in ride emergency.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, was at the theme park to celebrate his niece’s birthday, and was accompanied by his children.

After hitting the smaller rides and the go-karts, they lined up for the Desert Storm.

They were onboard the the double-looping roller coaster, as it climbed the first steep incline on the track, when he heard the “click” of his lap bar unlatching.

“I checked my lap bar one last time, and it released,” the man said.

He quickly decided to climb out of the carriage, which was moving slowly towards its rapid drop, and onto the “catwalk” which ran alongside towering tracks — it is a choice he believes may have saved his life.

“I had mere seconds to act on whether I stayed on or got off,” the man said.

The ride operator had visually checked the lap bars before the ride had taken off, but the man said she did not test it further.

“I pushed up on mine. She looked. She walked away,” the man said.

He said the operator also failed to spot him as he climbed out of his seat, and walked down the tracks to the ground.

“She should have been watching that car and when she saw me climbing out she should have been able to hit an emergency release, should have been able to do something,” the man said.

“I just started the climb down because I just wanted off of that,” he said.

The man has slammed the amusement park for negligence, noting his worry over the potential for a worse outcome.

“The worst part was having the kids there, and knowing it could have been one of them,” he said.

He filed an incident report with the park, but said he was not given a copy.

“I think the scariest part was the negligence on their part and just the absolute carelessness that they had throughout the entire thing,” the man said.

Arizona is one of eight states in the US that does not regulate amusement parks, according to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

State law requires parks to have private insurance companies inspect rides just once a year.

“That 100 per cent needs to change,” the man said.

“I think all amusement parks that basically have people’s lives in their hands need to be better regulated.”

Castles N’ Coasters did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.