ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — The rides at any pop-up fair can look comical at times.
Swinging seats elevated so high above the fair you can't make out what's below, spinning enclosures that make you regret the fried food you just ate, and carts that go back and forth at speeds that make you feel glued to your seat. These scenes are common at the Erie County Fair.
Fair rides seem dangerous, but most fairgoers build up the courage anyway and are sucked into a line they may or may not want to get out of.
But making sure you and your family is safe is the most important thing, especially to the inspectors who are ultimately responsible for the rides' safety.
"You know, we're parents as well. The last thing that we want is anyone to get hurt or go home and not have had a good day," Brian DeStefanis, the New York State Department of Labor's (DOL) Supervising Safety and Health Inspector said.
"So that's aways on our minds out there. That's our first priority that everybody stays safe and haves a good time," he added.
New York State has a rigorous process for fair rides to begin operating. According to DeStefanis, New York has 40 inspectors that work out of nine district offices statewide.
DeStefanis continued explaining that an appointment must be made to meet with the operator on-site while the ride is being built. Operators must also carry liability insurance of at least $1 million.
There is also the standard mechanical inspection that looks to make sure the ride is within manufacturer standards, wear and tear, and that all parts are lubricated correctly.
The operator then turns the ride on for the inspector, and a permit must be given before the ride can accept any fair-goers.
"Once that's all approved by us we're gonna give it a go ahead and let it operate for this fair," DeStefanis said.
However, the inspection process does not stop there.
"Our inspectors will return unannounced while the fair is in operation," DeStefanis said. "What they're going to be looking for is that the operator is dealing with the public correctly, that they're enforcing ride height requirements, and that they're watching for horseplay and things like that."
Fair rides failing is nothing new.
For 2022, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported over 24,000 injuries caused by mobile amusement park attractions occurred last year.
While rides are not federally regulated, 44 out of 50 states do regulate their parks and rides according to Verify.
New York is listed by a Saferparks study from 2019 as having "partial government oversight," the second highest tier. 46 of the 50 states according to the study regulate "portable rides," like what is seen at the Erie County Fair.
"In New York State the operators are required to go on annual permit inspection and then we return at every setup," DeStefanis said. "Every time the operator sets those rides up we're doing the complete, full inspection again."
DeStefanis also added that one or two failures per event would be "pretty high," adding that the operators his department deals with are "diligent."
In fact, the DOL has released inspections from the Erie County Fair and every ride listed that got an inspection passed, allowing everyone to have some peace of mind when standing in line for some otherwise daunting rides.