Fair officials do grueling inspections on rides to make sure they're safe for you.
Hours before the New York State Fair opened it's gates, workers were busy inspecting carnival rides on the Midway. They have to meet a strict set of safety guidelines.
Wednesday night, Inspector John Dodson was making sure the "Ali Baba" was up to par, it's a new ride this year. He checked to see if the bars were securely welded together, pulled on the shoulder restraint to test that it firmly locked in place, and made sure that a rider can't slip through the space between the lap bar and the seat. "This is good," he said.
An inspection can take hours, and with more than 60 rides, analyzing every machine takes days. Each ride goes through a grueling inspection before anyone can get on, and every day workers do another round of safety checks.
"We have eyeballs on every single machine before the public gets on them tomorrow," said Dodson.
If something is wrong with the ride no one gets on until inspectors say it's fixed. Dodson says he realizes there is a lot of trust riding on him to keep fairgoers safe.
"I have to put my head down at night knowing I did the best job that I can possibly do," said Dodson.
Dodson says 80 percent of the accidents that happen are because riders are not following the rules. He encourages people to pay attention to height and weight requirements, and listen to the workers if they say you or your child can't board the ride.
