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[Opiate]

A lot of coaster enthusiasts prefer the lap bars rather than over the shoulder. Roller Coasters have always been statistically safe and with improvements in technology have been able to push the bar on thrill while proving to keep most people safe 98% of the time (made up number, but I am sure it's close to that).

Come on ThemeParkGAF back me up

Goodness, I hope and believe the ratio is much much higher than 98%. There are millions and millions of coaster rides in the US each year. Let's just settle on 300 million rides per year, which is reasonable given there are hundreds if not thousands of coasters running every day for 6 months of the year, and many can have 10,000+ riders every day.

Just with that estimate, a 98% success rate would yield 6 million serious injuries per year on coasters. Yes, I'm aware you were just throwing a number out there, but I needed to stress how far off this likely is. Given an incidence of 1-2 major injuries per year (which is what I'm seeing looking through articles), we're talking over a 99.9999% chance of not having an accident. You might say that's only a two percent difference. I would say it's the difference between 2 injuries a year and 6 million.

 

[out0v0rder]

I like fun parks and roller coasters, but there is no way I'd go on anything at SixFlags.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidents_at_Six_Flags_parks

Meh i dunno. I swear like Half the deaths are from people that climbed fences and tried to retrieve thier lost hats.

 

[Anteo]

Meh i dunno. I swear like Half the deaths are from people that climbed fences and tried to retrieve thier lost hats.

And some of the other deaths are from people that had diseases and happened to get worse/die there.

 

[Nelo Ice]

I like fun parks and roller coasters, but there is no way I'd go on anything at SixFlags.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incidents_at_Six_Flags_parks

Condolences to the family but coasters are generally safe this is just an unfortunate accident. In particular SFMM seems fine for the most part and I've been there plenty of times. I'm sure many of you terrified of coasters would think X2 is the deadliest ride in the world, it's also one of the best rides ever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOnsrPTzEfo

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Terrible. Six flags has always been the worst for safety out of the major amusement parks.

True
though another thing could be is that Six Flags has way more of this type of ride so there are bound to be more accidents
All of Disney World for example has 1 true coaster off the top of my head
-Rock n Roller Coaster

Six Flags Over Georgia(not even near the biggest) has
-Batman
-Mindbender
-Superman
-Georgia Scorcher
-Georgia Cyclone
-Goliath
-Great American Scream Machine
-Ninja
-Dare Devil Dive

Universal is
-Mummy
-Dueling Dragons Red
-Dueling Dragons Blue
-Hulk

Damn. This reminds me of a time when I went to Six Flags Great Adventure and the lap bar wasn't secured tightly. I was holding on for dear life nearly the entire ride.

I was on Dueling Dragons once and the thing only locked down like one notch, soon as the train started to go I went to check the extra safty belt and it had clicked in backwards and popped right.
Really thought I was going to come out of that one.

 

[Revolutionary]

Damn. This reminds me of a time when I went to Six Flags Great Adventure and the lap bar wasn't secured tightly. I was holding on for dear life nearly the entire ride.

 

[Red UFO]

I went on the new ride at Alton Towers last month and the over the shoulder thing got caught on my wallet in my pocket, so I had plenty of free room to shuffle about it (as in, because it was caught on my wallet, it couldn't close all the way down to my chest). I didn't make a difference really since the restraints were rock solid either way, but it was still terrifying.

Reading this makes me want to never go on a rollercoaster ever again. Condolences to family and friends.

 

[V_Arnold]

RIP....

The most horrifying moment in my life was when me and my mother went up for a spinner-type machine (you know, a huge 10m+ radius circle spinning around with smaller, also spinning stuffs spinning in it //where we sit//, angled downwards as well).

The ride lasted for 4-5 minutes. It took us 20 seconds to figure out that we could slip out EASILY from the restraints. Like...in a moment when we are not gripping for our lifes.

NEVER AGAIN.... That was like pure torture that should last a few seconds max, but...it lasted for four minutes.

 

[warthog]

Terrible accident. I feel bad for the kid, his family and anyone who had to witness this. Reading about how this might have been because of negligence makes it even worse. It might be a dull job these safety people have to do, but it's important they don't forget about the importance of their role. Then again, the ride should be designed to minimize the chance of human error.

All in all a bit early to draw conclusions though.

I do like roller coasters. The thrill is great, even though my stomach can't handle too much of it. My girlfriend likes roller coasters very much and we'll keep on visiting amusement parks from time to time. I do always have worst case scenarios in my mind though, every time I get in a roller coaster.
When the safety is a bit loose, I imagine being fling out. When it's very secure, I imagine the cart derailing and being smashed into the concrete. Yeah, they are good fun...

Never had anything serious happen. Only thing worth mentioning was this ride:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcbpC5c0y_o
There was no one going on it when we were there and when I picked a seat, I noticed the front was all bloodied. No idea what happened there, but obviously I picked another seat. Ride made me nauseous.

 

[MoGamesXNA]

Well. She died doing something awesome.

Hopefully this doesn't cause insurance premiums for theme parks to sky rocket to the point where investment in new/existing rollercoasters is discouraged.

 

[Raiden]

Stuff of nightmares, literally. I vividly remember a dream where i flew out of a rollercoaster at it highest point.

 

[DrM]

This is why I hate rollercoasters with only lap restraints. Screw airtime

the only 'incident' was in Mirabilandia when somebody managed to threw up in front of me in the middle of the run. But is suspened coaster so all the stuff flew past me.

 

[DBT85]

Terrifying.

I'venot had a chance to read the entire thread but if the restraint did click once as Gabe Flores above said, if it then came undone isn't that a fault with the ride and not negligence with the attendant? I've been on loads of rides where some people get 3 or 4 clicks and some only get one, mostly because of the size of the rider. That is assuming of course that the restraint was tight.

The only coasters I've been on are the ones at Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington World of Adventures in the UK, and then those in Busch Gardens, Islands of Adventure and the Disney parks in Florida. Enjoyed them all but there was one (I can't remember which) that I was worried on as it went up the hill as I felt my wifes over the shoulder restraint didn't go down far enough. I mean it clicked, and then had the belt clicked into place that comes up between the legs, but for some reason I was really worried.

On those where the belt is also used, would the belt hold the restraint in place if the main mechanism failed? Is it strong enough?

 

[captive]

I think I'm gonna be sick. That is not a fucking job to get lazy at...

most of the time they're just kids working for the summer. My fiance and I went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas in april and i swear I didnt see anyone over the age of 20 running any ride.

And this is why i always, always kick the restraint more if possible.


RIP, so sad, I couldnt imagine going to a place of fun like that and losing someone.

 

[Cousteau]

been talking to God for so long
That I have you look in my life
I guess he talking back.
F*ckin' with my click.

 

[DjRoomba]

Guys, this seriously happens all the time.
You know how many people have died on Disney rides? (alot)

 

[rjc571]

Airplanes are much safer than rollercoasters...

Well that's just not true. On average there are around 4 roller coaster deaths per year in the US out of 300 million or so riders. A major airplane crash in the US only happens every few years or so, but when it does it results in mass casualties, unlike roller coaster incidents which only affect one seat/person.

 

[Pagusas]

Guys, this seriously happens all the time.
You know how many people have died on Disney rides? (alot)

Sarcasm?

 

[KidA Seven]

For the people afraid of dying on a rollercoaster, are you scared of driving to the point that you will never ride in a car?

 

[Choke on the Magic]

I'm a bit of a rollercoaster junky. This seems to be happening more often now. Although I just might be hearing about it more since we're more connected now. Eitherway this kind of stuff should not happen.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

Guys, this seriously happens all the time.
You know how many people have died on Disney rides? (alot)

Don't scare me - I'm going to Disneyland in the first week of August!

 

[Davey Cakes]

For years I pretty much avoided coasters, other than the more mild ones.

Last year I finally decided to try again at one of the local amusements parks and I had a blast. The park only had three coasters, really (one of which was wooden).

It made me want to try out bigger parks with more coasters, like Six Flags New England. But, because of reported incidents, it makes Six Flags seem iffy. I'd love to try more coasters but I'd want a better guarantee of safety.

 

[soepje]

Some years ago a roller coaster got stuck at a theme park overhere. They started evacuation from the back to the front of the ride, causing it to start rolling again. The people still in their seats went through the whole ride without their safetybelts on, loopings and all.. No one was hurt thankfully, but fuck that´s scary.
Link to the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-h92bKZ7w

 

[MMaRsu]

Wow that's insane man. I love rollercoasters but this is a really scary thing to happen! If I were to see this happen I'd probably never go on a rollercoaster again :|

Some years ago a roller coaster got stuck at a theme park overhere. They started evacuation from the back to the front of the ride, causing it to start rolling again. The people still in their seats went through the whole ride without their safetybelts on, loopings and all.. No one was hurt thankfully, but fuck that´s scary.
Link to the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-h92bKZ7w

Aaaaargh wtf man ik dacht juist dat dit soort shit niet gebeurde :|. Nu weet ik niet of ik nog wel in die python durf haha lol.

 

[soepje]

Aaaaargh wtf man ik dacht juist dat dit soort shit niet gebeurde :|. Nu weet ik niet of ik nog wel in die python durf haha lol.

Lol, for what it´s worth they probably learned from their mistake and won´t do it like that again

 

[Rad-]

I remember when I was like 7-8 and I rode a roller coaster that had just this lap lock. I was a skinny kid and the final click position wasn't anywhere near my legs. I was shitting my pants so hard.

 

[Scuderia]

I swear i nearly died on Splash Mountain, that would've been embarrassing.

 

[Zoso]

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metr...n-texas-giant-roller-coaster-at-six-flags.ece

Our Tanya Eiserer spoke with Carmen Brown of Arlington, who says she was next in line to ride the Texas Giant behind the woman who fell to her death this evening. She told Tanya she witnessed the woman being strapped into the ride. She was sitting next to her son.

The woman, said Brown, “basically tumbled over and you just see her son [go], ‘Ahhh.’ They didn’t secure her right. One of the employees from the park — one of the ladies — she asked her to click her more than once, and they were like, ‘As long you heard it click, you’re OK.’ Everybody else is like, ‘Click, click, click.’ Hers only clicked once. Hers was the only one that went down once, and she didn’t feel safe, but they let her still get on the ride. …

“That could have been me.”

Brown said the woman’s young son was in a seat in front of his mother.

“We heard her screaming,” Brown said. “We were like, ‘Did she just fall?’”

This doesn't really make sense. New Texas Giant has hydraulic restraints, they don't click.

It's probably best to wait until officials investigate the cause before making any conclusions. But historically most rollercoaster deaths come from human error and not the rides themselves malfunctioning.

 

[strafer]

This is why I only ride the Tea Cup.

 

[Froli]

Life time trauma for the kid

 

[Overdoziz]

Some years ago a roller coaster got stuck at a theme park overhere. They started evacuation from the back to the front of the ride, causing it to start rolling again. The people still in their seats went through the whole ride without their safetybelts on, loopings and all.. No one was hurt thankfully, but fuck that´s scary.
Link to the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-h92bKZ7w

 

[javac]

This is why I only ride the Tea Cup.

And even then I still fear it's going to go flying :/

 

[Izayoi]

All of these people scared of coasters. ;_;

You guys are missing out. Statistically, it's almost an impossibility to die as a result of a roller coaster-related mishap, 1 in 300,000,000.

You're over 300 times more likely to die in a plane crash, and around 3,750,000 times more likely to die of a car accident in your lifetime.

Seriously. They're a ton of fun and literally one of the safest types of amusement in existence. You're missing out!

 

[JJDinomite]

Rest in peace. It's a horrible way to die, but so is getting in a car accident. Is that going to stop me from driving? No. Just like most things in life, roller coasters come with a very small risk. Honestly, that's part of the fun of it. For those of you who are too afraid to try roller coasters, I wouldn't let a story like this add onto your fear. Remember that this happened in Texas.

 

[injurai]

Ahh crazy wooden roller coasters...

reminds me of The Beast and Son of the Beast in Ohio...

 

[TheContact]

I've only been on the Superman, Batman, the Mind Eraser, and one other one. Superman was the "scariest" but it was so fun it's the only one I went on a few times. Sitting in front was the best. But I always worry I'm going to die on one

 

[RiZ III]

All of these people scared of coasters. ;_;

You guys are missing out. Statistically, it's almost an impossibility to die as a result of a roller coaster-related mishap, 1 in 300,000,000.

You're over 300 times more likely to die in a plane crash, and around 3,750,000 times more likely to die of a car accident in your lifetime.

Seriously. They're a ton of fun and literally one of the safest types of amusement in existence. You're missing out!

Honestly I don't really get the point of these stats. I understand that they basically come down to saying "you're safe". But it doesn't really matter in the end. It either happens or it doesn't because, like this lady, you don't know if you're going to be the unlucky one.

 

[TDLink]

True
though another thing could be is that Six Flags has way more of this type of ride so there are bound to be more accidents
All of Disney World for example has 1 true coaster off the top of my head
-Rock n Roller Coaster

Six Flags Over Georgia(not even near the biggest) has
-Batman
-Mindbender
-Superman
-Georgia Scorcher
-Georgia Cyclone
-Goliath
-Great American Scream Machine
-Ninja
-Dare Devil Dive

Universal is
-Mummy
-Dueling Dragons Red
-Dueling Dragons Blue
-Hulk


I was on Dueling Dragons once and the thing only locked down like one notch, soon as the train started to go I went to check the extra safty belt and it had clicked in backwards and popped right.
Really thought I was going to come out of that one.

I don't really know what you consider a "true coaster" but Disney World has at least 4 as far as I can tell (Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, Rock N Roller, and Everest). If you add in the other Disney parks they have more as well overall as a company.

Guys, this seriously happens all the time.
You know how many people have died on Disney rides? (alot)

Honestly if I had to guess I would say 5 or less not due to heart attacks/similar things where the rider shouldn't have been there in the first place.

 

[krameriffic]

Honestly I don't really get the point of these stats. I understand that they basically come down to saying "you're safe". But it doesn't really matter in the end. It either happens or it doesn't because, like this lady, you don't know if you're going to be the unlucky one.

You don't get the point of stats? What? The point is to quell irrational human responses to shocking tragic moments with objective fact. It's to stop people from overreacting to single, major events. Saying it either happens or it doesn't is simply missing the point that it's much more likely to happen driving in your car or walking around in a thunderstorm than spending a day at a theme park once a year.

 

[chubigans]

This prompted me to look into past amusment park fatalities and... Oh my god.



Yeah I'm done with amusement park rides.

How is that...how is that even possible?!

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Wow the restraint coming undone on a rollercoaster... that's right up there in "nightmare deaths". Hope her passing was quick, absolutely horrifying though :\

 

[R10Neymarfan]

Sometimes the restraints become stuck, there's a manual override on the side of the car that with a decent amount of upward pull can be used to unstick them when people are unloading. Its hard as hell for the passenger to do it (I barely could), but its possible. But at what point does the rider take responsibility for their fate? If you intentionally release your restraints there's no reason that the operators should be responsible for your dumb ass.

Edit: there's also a seatbelt in the ride as well.

Most new coasters are hydraulics now.

For for those gaffers that are afraid of their restraints being loose. If the trains was very lose to where it could be dangerous the coaster trains would usually e-stop on the lift hill

 

[Avinexus]

Some years ago a roller coaster got stuck at a theme park overhere. They started evacuation from the back to the front of the ride, causing it to start rolling again. The people still in their seats went through the whole ride without their safetybelts on, loopings and all.. No one was hurt thankfully, but fuck that´s scary.
Link to the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-h92bKZ7w

Ummm...you can see in the video that they all still had their restraints over them. There was one person without their restraint over him/her because he was about to get off the ride when it started rolling. You can see him pull it down before the turn.

 

[Sydle]

Some years ago a roller coaster got stuck at a theme park overhere. They started evacuation from the back to the front of the ride, causing it to start rolling again. The people still in their seats went through the whole ride without their safetybelts on, loopings and all.. No one was hurt thankfully, but fuck that´s scary.
Link to the incident: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey-h92bKZ7w

You can see one of the remaining riders pull down his/her restraint quickly. Glad nobody was hurt.

 

[Izayoi]

Honestly I don't really get the point of these stats. I understand that they basically come down to saying "you're safe". But it doesn't really matter in the end. It either happens or it doesn't because, like this lady, you don't know if you're going to be the unlucky one.

You are literally 30,000 times more likely to die while masturbating in the shower.

Do you also compulsively waste your money on the lottery? It either happens or it doesn't, right?

What a silly, irrational thing to say.

 

[BananaBomb]

i was once on that ride at great america with the 3 loops (demon? can't remember) and my fucking harness did not properly click in and i tried to tell those fuckers but they just started the ride anyway. amusement park workers are just shithead lazy ass teenagers.

 

[RiZ III]

You don't get the point of stats? What? The point is to quell irrational human responses to shocking tragic moments with objective fact. It's to stop people from overreacting to single, major events. Saying it either happens or it doesn't is simply missing the point that it's much more likely to happen driving in your car or walking around in a thunderstorm than spending a day at a theme park once a year.

Yea I understand it quells irrational fears, but saying that you as a person are more likely to die in a car crash than in a roller coaster or in an airplane is still bogus when it comes to reality cause you just dont onow how youll die. You can just say, yea chances are low that youll die today, but that doesnt really mean anything cause you could just die today. How did these stats help this lady?

 

[H_Prestige]

All of these people scared of coasters. ;_;

You guys are missing out. Statistically, it's almost an impossibility to die as a result of a roller coaster-related mishap, 1 in 300,000,000.

You're over 300 times more likely to die in a plane crash, and around 3,750,000 times more likely to die of a car accident in your lifetime.

Seriously. They're a ton of fun and literally one of the safest types of amusement in existence. You're missing out!

1 in 300,000,000 doesn't mean shit if you're the 1. If it's you, the stats are 100%.

No way am I riding this kind of shit again. Not letting my safety depend on faulty mechanics or dumb teenagers. If I'm going to disneyland again, no more space mountain or big thunder. Just Indiana Jones and It's a Small World. No way to die on that.

 

[Izayoi]

1 in 300,000,000 doesn't mean shit if you're the 1. If it's you, the stats are 100%.

No way am I riding this kind of shit again. Not letting my safety depend on faulty mechanics or dumb teenagers. If I'm going to disneyland again, no more space mountain or big thunder. Just Indiana Jones and It's a Small World. No way to die on that.

?????????????

Do you not understand how math works?

Are you being sarcastic?

 

[rrs]

1 in 300,000,000 doesn't mean shit if you're the 1. If it's you, the stats are 100%.

No way am I riding this kind of shit again. Not letting my safety depend on faulty mechanics or dumb teenagers. If I'm going to disneyland again, no more space mountain or big thunder. Just Indiana Jones and It's a Small World. No way to die on that.

The paranoia wears off in a few days