SF Community Examiner: Are carnival rides safe?

SF Community Examiner: Are carnival rides safe?.

This is the time of the year cities, counties, clubs, etc, have "Carnivals" come to their area to help celebrate their causes. The carnival rides have to be inspected every time they set up. Most of the time, the local cities, counties, and the state do the inspections. Once they pass, they can used the rides, as long the safety releases and stops are working. As an example, in Sacramento, it was found on a Ferris wheel a safety item that prevents people from falling out, when the wheel stops, was not working properly: The Ferris wheel was closed down for several hours until it was fixed and inspected. Last year, in a small community, in the foothills of the Sierras, several people got jerked around because of a major problem, which was shown that the carnies did not follow through with their inspection. It cost the carnival and their sponsor a fortune in legal actions. Therefore, if you have any questions about carnivals equipment, ask for the inspection slip. Carnival rides are expected to be safe to ride. You can expect when a ride is closed down, it is for some safety factor. In one community, a ride was closed because the carnival people started the ride before it had a safety inspection. When the ride was checked, the inspectors found the safety hand break was not working, and for some reason they could not get it to work---it was torn down and put away. By the way, this weekend in Foster City, CA, the rides at the Foster City Art and Wine Festival have been approved and ready to go. Oh! If you haven't attend the Art and Wine Festival, you will be missing a good way to see "FREE" entertainment. There is, usually, two areas of free entertainment---in front of the Recreation Center and near the Senior Citizen Center. Also, the food and art exhibits are very interesting to see. Foster City is located near the beginning of the San Mateo Bridge going east