Fair rides considered safe

If you like food, rides or animals there’s something at the Cape Fear Fair and Expo for you to enjoy. But how safe is the fair? And what goes in to keeping you secure in those death-defying rides?

Jerry smith spends an entire day checking each and every nut and bolt on the Cape Fear Fair and Expo’s rides.

Fair inspector Jerry Smith said, “Honestly, they’re probably more safe than a permanent park in that they are inspected in North Carolina each time they are set up.”

Both the inspectors and ride owners are required by the state to do an inspection, before the fair can open for business.

“All of our inspectors are NARSO certified, which means that we are trained in how to do our ride inspections,” Smith said.

The state’s high safety standards have paid off.

“There has not been a ride related fatality in the state of North Carolina or an incident in our history, so we are very proud of that,” Smith said.

But safety isn’t up to the inspectors alone. The riders play a vital role in remaining un-harmed.

Smith said, “On this particular ride and all others we post a riders safety campaign which gives safety tips for people to observe when they’re riding the rides.”
Here’s how the inspection works: The ride is powered off, and Smith does a visual once-over. After that’s done, the ride is powered up and inspected again.

“In North Carolina we have a 100 percent law that says every part of that ride has to be working before we can certify we will put a certification of operation on it,” Smith said.

If rides aren’t your thing there will be plenty of food to eat, shows to watch and animals to pet. The fair started Thursday night and will be going on until November 3.