Insufficient restraints on coasters

[mattnz]

Well, I've done a whole lot of research and it's quite impressive when you look at how safe roller coasters and other theme park rides really are.

 

In terms of restraints and safety it looks like Intamin have had the most incidents re: their restraint systems. I'm sure you've all read plenty about these, but briefly...

 

Superman - Ride of Steel (Darien Lake)

In May 1999 a 365-pound guest was unable to close his lap bar properly and was ejected and fell approximately nine feet as the train went over a camel hump hill, suffering serious injuries. Dwaileebe sued the park and Intamin for negligence, and was awarded US $3.95 million.

 

Drop Zone Stunt Tower (California's Great America)

Also in 1999, a 12 year old boy fell to his death on the Drop Zone Stunt Tower at California's (then Paramount's) Great America. Following the accident, modifications were made to add redundancy to ride restraints of not just Drop Zone, but all of the Intamin Drop Towers around the world. An investigation was inconclusive and no charges were filed.

 

Perilous Plunge (Knott's Berry Farm)

In September 2001 a 300-pound woman fell from Perilous Plunge at Knott's Berry Farm. She was too large to be correctly restrained by the T-Bar and rose out of it on the -1G drop.

 

Hydro (Oakwood Leisure Park)

On April 16, 2004, 16 year old Hayley Williams was killed after falling approximately 100 feet from the top of the Hydro water ride. Hydro reopened in 2005 with new over-the-shoulder restraints. In February 2008, the Health and Safety Executive charged Oakwood for park staff not ensuring that guests were properly and safely restrained.

 

Superman - Ride of Steel (Six Flags New England)

Also in 2004, a sufferer of cerebral palsy was ejected from Superman - Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. According to an investigation, the ride operators were primarily to blame for not ensuring the man was properly secured. Intamin was also partially blamed for the ride's safety system, allowing the train to be dispatched without all the restraints properly secured. Some blame was also attributed to the victim for not notifying the operators of his condition.

 

So it seems to me that, generally speaking, Intamin's restraints are safe so long as ride operators use proper caution, especially regarding larger sized guests. (With the exception of Drop Zone Stunt Tower which appears to be a total mystery.)

 

My conclusion: After reading all this I'm not scared of Schwarzkopf any more. He never allowed the Gs to let up long enough for any of this to even be an issue!

[DBru]

^Thanks for sharing those. I had never heard of the Darien Lake accident or Perilous Plunge's...

[Sgt. Fox]

You think those restraints are scary? Try riding a looping coaster after the operator has accidentally unlocked your restraints at the top of the lift!

 

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rA5XmpL6VCk

[DBru]

^Yeah, I've seen that. But the riders that were on the coaster still had their restraints locked, right?

[Sgt. Fox]

It looks like they very wisely and quickly pull their restraints back down as the train pulls away. They should automatically re-lock without the operator holding down the release foot-pedal.

[Purplepills]

^Yeah if you look closely you can see the rider in the second row of the first car pulls the restraint down just as the train begins to roll.

[Mr Stratosphere]

I've seen that video as well. It looks like the ride was just stopped at the top of the lift at the point where gravity is just about to take over. But if you notice the back restraints are up, which to me looks like they started the evacuation from the back of the train. It looks like they should have evacuated the front of the train first. Do you think the weight change caused the train to roll forward?

 

John

[PURE]

^Looks to me like the lift started, perhaps, by someone down at the station, most likely restarting the ride, who neglected to remember the train was being evacuated. You can see there's a bunch of cars still on the lift, and the front train is just barely over the top of the hill. So I don't think a weight change would cause the train to move as much as it did.

 

As far as lap bars and restraints being sufficient (?) enough for riders, if you read through the history of all coasters and their accidents, most are caused by riders not fitting or not being restrained properly. None of them say "the lap bar gave out and the guy flew out of the seat." Mostly because that never happens.

 

Restraints and seats are designed with the human body in mind. When positioned in certain scenarios, it's impossible for your body to slip out of of restraints (unless limbs start ripping from joints).

 

But I understand the reason for concern. This weekend I rode Desperado for the first time and when I lowered the restraint, the lap bar sat halfway between my waist and knee. I sat there for 10 seconds looking at it thinking "That doesn't look right," because I'm so used to having the bar sit right on my lap.

[thrillrideseeker]

WOW! I know at SheiKra we are suppose to evac which ever row we come to first so if we evac from the lift we do back to front, but if we evac from the mid-course we do front to back... why they started in the back and then moved to the front I will never know. They should have just kept evacing from the back to the front. I don't think that the weight had anything to do with the reason that train started going. I mean just look how many cars are on the incline. There is no way in the world that coaster would have started rolling because there was more weight in two cars that are hanging over the edge. Roller coaster trains are very very heavy, so I don't think a few hundred pound people could move it. That lift motor had to have come back on.

~Matthew

[hansrubens]

I've seen that video as well. It looks like the ride was just stopped at the top of the lift at the point where gravity is just about to take over. But if you notice the back restraints are up, which to me looks like they started the evacuation from the back of the train. It looks like they should have evacuated the front of the train first. Do you think the weight change caused the train to roll forward?

 

John

 

This happend at De Efteling on Python. Their policy is to start evac. on the back so people don't start to panic.

 

I thought gravity took over. In such a situation you have to stay cool and just lower your restraint.

[Evan1127]

Superman - Ride of Steel (Six Flags New England)

Also in 2004, a sufferer of cerebral palsy was ejected from Superman - Ride of Steel at Six Flags New England. According to an investigation, the ride operators were primarily to blame for not ensuring the man was properly secured. Intamin was also partially blamed for the ride's safety system, allowing the train to be dispatched without all the restraints properly secured. Some blame was also attributed to the victim for not notifying the operators of his condition.

 

Though the overall point of your post may be valid, this section is not exactly correct. The "failure of the ride attendant" was the fourth of four factors listed that contributed to the accident with the first three being "girth of the victim", "pre-existing medical condition" and "varied seat belt sizes".

 

In the case of the "failure of the ride attendant", the attendant actually did everything within her training and the training program developed from Intamin's recommendations.

 

This is just one of those subjects for me where it bothers me when people believe things that are not true.

[RCoasterny]

How many people have fallen out of a looping coaster that only had lap bars?

 

Eric

 

Four.

[Mr Stratosphere]

I also watched the video again and noticed that there were others that were seated with their restraint open and pulled them down after the train cleared the lift. Watch the video again and you can see more people pull their restraints down in cars 5 and 7 of the train. Very smart actions by the riders, and probably instruction by the employee at the top of the lift.

 

John

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rA5XmpL6VCk

[NINCUB]

Well as far as MB at SFOG it is extremely safe in my opinion. I have ridden it many many times. This type of loop and forces keep you in your seat. I really couldn't imagine the train getting "stuck" in the loop. Even if something failed on the train itself, I think the train would come outta the loop with the help of our friend/enemy gravity.

[raptorcrew2002]

How many people have fallen out of a looping coaster that only had lap bars?

 

Eric

 

Restraints are fine, safe, and beyond far and between cause of death and loss of guest during a ride. Almost all issues are caused by;

 

* Dumb people. You know the hey look what I can “splats”

* Bad operations letting people who shouldn’t ride, ride. *Cough Superman ROS bounce.

 

So your concern should be how many accidents have been caused due to restraint failure within ride design and accommodation. You want to know what the most dangerous ride in a theme park really is. The Steam Locomotive/or boats, followed by sky rides/cable cars.

 

Hey if it makes you feel any better or worse, Atlanta traffic is 1,000,000,000 times more likely to take you out then Mind Bender, or any current modern coaster. Actually the maintenance performed on the plane flying you over is far scarier.

[Sgt. Fox]

I know they're perfectly safe, but the restraints on the flying coasters like Batwing at Six Flags America (I assume Tatsu is the same) have always scared the bejeesus out of me. Something just bothers me about that harness being the only thing between me an a big stain on the ground.

 

I suppose there's some psychological comfort to knowing that even if the restraint somehow failed in a standard coaster, I'd still sitting in the car clinging for life.

[Groteslurf]

I can only think of one coaster I didn't really feel safe on and that's Wild Mouse at BPB : only 1 loose seatbelt around your waist.

Of course this in combination with the insane speed and turns and the fact that you were nearly headchopped on the lifthill to start with, makes it one crazy and cool ride.

[Kennyweird]

The only roller coaster I ever felt truly unsafe on was the Anaconda at KD. My OTSR was fairly loose and wouldn't pull down any further, and as I was going up the lift hill I realized that I could easily slip out if I wanted to, which made me wonder what would happen if someone stupid actually decided to worm their way out of it.

[CD]

The only time I have ever felt that a lap bar was not sufficient was when I went on the Great Dipper at the SCBB when I was around 12. I was a pretty small kid so there was a couple of inches of space between my lap and the lap bar. I was so terrified that I was going to fly out of the seat that I clutched on to the restraint for the whole ride! thought also believe that It was that very ride that made me become an enthusiast !

[MG]

The most unsafe I have ever felt on a coaster was on Thorpe Park's X:\ NO WAY OUT! The lapbar sat about 20-30 cm above my lap. You do not feel very secure going up a lifthill backwards like that!

[verticalzero]

Most coasters which have inversion in their layout should be OTSR-free Schwarzkopf type and just have a lapbar. Have full freedom of putting your arms in the air

 

Rocket costers do not need them, e.g. Stealth and Rita.

 

X:NWO at Thorpe Park is a kiddies ride really, nothing to it, I wish more coaster trains could face backwards.

[PKI Jizzman]

Does anyone else think that Rita/clones could have gone with the normal T-Bar?

[cosmic hearse]

Yesterday night some friends and I got on Jaguar at Knotts Berry Farm and about halfway through the ride my lap bar just popped up. At no point did I feel unsafe since it is extremely tame and there's also a seatbelt that is worn(although I must admit I was a bit surprised). I just held onto the bar for a few seconds and re-clicked it back into place.

 

[Kalepi_Konei]

The most unsafe Ive ever felt on a ride was on Jurassic Park and Dudley Do Rights Ripsaw Falls (before restraints)

 

I remember going on JP at IOA when I was around 10-11 and I sat down in my row and we pulled the lapbar down, well there was an extremely obese lady (about a 250-260 lb person which to me was huge at the age of 10-11, anyways, we pull it down, it hits her stomache and the thing doesnt budge any further, I remember putting all my 90 lbs of weight on it trying to pull it down further, and the lady started grunting with pain (lol stapling) after I realized she was in pain I stopped, and had to bare with it the rest of the ride.

 

Also I rode Dudley Do Right without any restraints when I was 10-11 and felt very unsafe, during the middle of the ride however I found the metal bar under the sides of the logs, there they became my best friends the rest of the ride!

[bdstrom]

I remember during mid-90's, I went to the Adventureland in Altoona, IA and they had a rollercoaster called "Super Screamer." The train didn't have a belt or lapbar. Absolutely nothing and it terrified the *bleep* out of me. RCDB has pictures of the rollercoaster but no train, unfortunately.

 

http://www.rcdb.com/ig216.htm

 

It's perfectly understandable why they took this coaster out. Lawsuit waiting to happen!