Purplepills

Why are you angry? I can see people getting angry at staff because of this is unacceptable, but if you'd spent the money on the tickets, wouldn't you want to know if you could get that back, or if it'll be open to use it? I'm booked in the hotel for 2 nights in 2 weeks time, if the park is shut then should Ijust accept I'll lose my £200 or feel as though I should be able to ask about it? Just because people are asking these questions, doesnt mean they dotn care, havent also posted about how horrified they are, or get well messages to those injured. For many people its a big thing going to the park and you need to plan you days about visiting, thats all. Its a 4.5 hour drive for me, and I usually take time off work to go, as does my wife, so I can't just pop there any day I please.

I agree that this should be the biggest question. Agreed. The only reason I can think of as to why they didn't check it, is that the ride must have already been having issues since there was at least one empty train going round. Its unclear if the maintenance staff were at the ride at the time when the train of people was dispatched (I havent read that detail anywhere at least), or whether they turned up afterwards when it was stuck on the lift. I just think perhaps its a horrible combination of some sort of recurring issue with block control, and the guys just resetting it without really thinking too much about it. Maybe it happens a lot, and its rare for the train to stall so they just didn't think to look? I think what makes it worse is that the stalled train seems to have been there for quite some time. In a way for their sake I hope its computer error, but then thats even more frightening for the rest of us. Has anyone here had experience operating these sorts of coasters? I'd be interested to hear how often there are block sensor issues, is it common? Uncommon? I guess this will all come out in time but you can't help but want to know now exactly how this incident occurred.

Silly and unnecessary. The ride has had some minor issues, up until now, but nothing has happened here that can't be fixed. It would be a shame to see them scrap it. People just need to calm down and wait to see what the investigation reveals and how the manufacturer and park reacts to it. I'm pretty confident that once the investigation is complete, AT will do everything withing their capabilities to make everything safe and enjoyable. Those who insist it's still dangerous, should simply not ride it. Petitions dont mean anything at all. Anyone online can start one. I saw in a newspaper report of the contributing comments was from a Mr M. Mouse residing in Anaheim calling the peition 'silly' or something along those lines....very good!

It's a pretty big element, the speed will depend on the point of impact as well as the speed of both trains. [attachment=0]aaa.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=1]bbb.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=3]ddd.jpg[/attachment] [attachment=2]ccc.jpg[/attachment] The first (empty) train was stationary at the time. There a video HERE where the last 2 seconds (for some reason cut to the end) shows the empty train before the impact.

It says: So basically its a completely factless statement used to generate a headline people will read. I cannot see them closing this ride. Once the cause of the accideent is established, as long as they can assure the public, themselves, and the H&SE it won't happen again theres no reason to close it. In terms of keeping the park closed, as has been said before I think (assuming the mass opinion here is correct) they probably know by now it was human error so want to ensure procedures are in place to avoid this happening again. I cant see what else can be done in terms of technology, given you have to be able to operate it manually at some point. Whilst possibly at the request of the H&SE, I think keeping the park closed for 2 days (at least) may also be a show to the public that they are taking the incident very seriously. As for the re-opening of the Smiler, is there anything you can gauge this on? I mean if it was human error, theres nothing wrong with the ride, and barring any structural inspection no reason to not open it. You can't install any more technology to avoid this sort of accident. Personally I would forsee it being closed for several months, until the investigating and reports are complete. This would at least put the publics mind at rest a little knowing it would be 'safer' than if they just rushed and opened it in a couple of weeks time.

Nope, Deep Pockets Doctrine. The lawsuit will go to Merlin. Nobody's gonna get any money out of a seasonal theme park employee. The engineers are not seasonal employees they are all permanent members of staff. Also Merlin will not be the ones taken to court if thats what action is decided to be taken "Alton Towers Resort Operations Limited" will be the ones held accountable not Merlin. I meant employee of a seasonal theme park. Is Alton Towers open all year? Also, I'll admit that I don't know how Merlin's parks are structured, but the plaintiff typically targets the largest part of the entity they're suing, which is why you'll see people sue Walt Disney World rather than Epcot. Either way, the answer to the original question (aka, the important part) is still correct.... Are you an expert in English law? Who a victim sues has nothing to do with possible criminal negligence charges (should those laws exist in England) should it be found to be human error. ^Exactly. Criminal charges and lawsuits are completely different. I'm no expert on UK law, but I wouldn't be surprised if some charges could be brought against an individual in this case. It all depends on if he or she acted unlawfully, which is why the H&SE are there. IF the law states you must not operate in manual mode with passengers and IF thats what happened, then the law has been broken so someone has to take responsibility for that. I believe corporate charges apply in the case of things such as gross negligence (i.e. a problem which has existed but been ignored). It is of course entirely possible all the charges would be brought against the company. As far as payouts go, this would probably be from the Park/Merlin depending on how the company is setup. The maintenance staff work all year round as far as I know, in the off season the rides are stripped and serviced as required. For fairly obvious reasons its pretty difficult to do major maintenance work during the season.

A few people will avoid it. Most won't. A few years down the line people will probably have forgotten about it. The Runaway Train was involved in an accident in 2006, I bet most people are completely unaware now.

There is, but I would think an engineer can override the block alarm, to tell the computer that the block is empty. So, its possible for someone to be told there is a block, think its just an error, clear it, then this sort of accident can happen.

Just noticed how bent in the front of the second train is. Hell of a whack to do that, absolutely horrible for the people in the front row.

Terrible scenes today. Initially when I read about a 'crash' I assumed nothing major had really happened and it was the media blowing it out of proportion. As everyone else has said, I can't understand how another train entered the same block as a stalled one. Nothing can really be taken as fact yet, although I read a couple of reports that the train with the guests in was stuck at the top of the lift hill for 5 minutes before going over. The video on the BBC website from 14 year old 'Thomas' HERE at the end shows what seems to be the stalled train before the crash? Its not moving so either its been there a while or it got jammed somehow. Unlikely to be another stalled train right? All speculation of course but the fact this can happen at all is awful. I hope they get to the bottom of it soon so whatever caused it can be fixed and not happen anywhere else. Sad day indeed.

Would there also a be a 'What would rides be like on the moon:The ride'? I'd totally visit if there was.

^Really? That would be quite a coincidence! I'll add you later on...

I'm purplepiiis (looks like purplepills on screen), I'm nearly always playing MW2. Add me if you like.....even though I suck at the moment, lost my MW2 mojo =[

ADMIN EDIT: The mods have discussed the video, and since it is standard for Chinese news broadcasts to use such re-creations, we've decided to restore it. Some of our members may find the content at bit insensitive or tasteless, but that's up to the individual. Thank you, Chuck Found this amazing and no doubt entirely accurate account of what happened. I'd guess the ride type is almost certainly right (possibly), maybe just maybe a bit of guesswork on the actual accident.

^I think they were marketing it as a scary ride from a psychological point of view, more so than the ride layout being thrilling. The theme does seem quite dark. I'd agree the marketing was very over the top though, but then it gets people talking about it and sections in the national press, which I guess is the point of it. Just wondering for those who have been this weekend if there has been much downtime?

Personally I think it looks fun. I'm not sure what people were expecting really, as soon as I saw it was an Intamin 'family' coaster I thought it would be a pretty dull coaster with a good theme. Yeah sure the coaster doesn't look that great from a thrillseeker point of view, but it looks FUN. I'm quite looking forward to riding it

Is that corkscrew low enough for some stupid kids to climb on? I wonder if they'll have to fence it off like a normal ride

Ahahaha. Really good report. I love monkeys, and I think thats one of the coolest ones I have sever seen.

^Yes but everyone knows the very best kind of cheese is melted cheese, however this provides very little structural strength. I suppose they could always make a flume using melted cheese.

I get 10 points! Bit of a wild guess but that part is actually my favourite bit of the ride. Really nice photos, thanks for putting them up. I look forward to visiting AT next spring =]

In short, I'm against texting etc whilst driving, UNLESS you're stuck in traffic anyway, and literally not moving. The second you're off again you should stop. There are many distractions with satnav/ipod etc, and yes in all honesty I do change my ipod tunes occasionally, but I think thats easier than talking or texting. If they made it illegal however I'd stop doing that. Perhaps a little hipocritical, but I have never used my phone to text/talk whilst driving.

I really liked Reaper, I don't tend to like much TV therefore am a bit annoyed it just stopped halfway through.

Is it too early to bring back this fantastic topic for the off season?

Mine's obviously the D12 song. I can't remember why I chose it though, I was probably listening to it at the time, and it's just stuck.

Nice photos etc.... Theres something I find fascinating about seeing overgrown theme parks, even those I have never been to. I dont know what it is really, maybe something ghost like, a bit stange but there you go =]