Accident on Wildcat at Cedar Point

[haiderodes]

I love that since the current head of operations has gone on a safety craze (adding the air gates to every ride, seatbelts to things like corkscrew, saying "check") they've had more accidents than in the 10 years prior.

 

What do you mean "saying check"? Could you elaborate?

 

I understand the airgate thing, even Disney has them nowadays whereas they didn't before. I still dont quite get the seatbelts on Corkscrew. They have them on Iron Dragon as well dont they?

[Jew]

^^^For the record, the McDonalds lawsuit was totally legit. While it was the ladies fault for putting the coffee in her lap, McDonalds was purposely making it WAY hotter than it should have been.

 

Asking for a high amount of damages is common practice. Is it legit? That's for a judge/jury to decide. But you always ask high and settle lower. Asking lower allows the offending parties to simply sweep their mistake under the table.

 

I know if *I* was put into a situation where I was injured on a coaster, I would be asking for a lot in damages as well. Afterall, in theory, the accident could take my main hobby away from me...riding roller coasters. It might also affect my ability to work in the amusement park industry (my current career choice) depending on how emotionally scarred I was. Plus any time spent in the hospital/rehab isn't exactly fun. Every lawsuit is unique. It's unfair to discredit any of them based on the dollar amount.

 

Besides...many of these huge awards come as a result of punitive damages anyways. So it's Jurors/Judges blowing things out of proportion.

 

But enough of the off topic discussion...

 

I just hope that this doesn't give Cedar Fair a reason to create even more horrible "safety" policies.

[FeelTheFORCE]

I love that since the current head of operations has gone on a safety craze (adding the air gates to every ride, seatbelts to things like corkscrew, saying "check") they've had more accidents than in the 10 years prior.

 

What do you mean "saying check"? Could you elaborate?

 

I understand the airgate thing, even Disney has them nowadays whereas they didn't before. I still dont quite get the seatbelts on Corkscrew. They have them on Iron Dragon as well dont they?

 

Whenever workers check your restraints they say out loud, "check." They had never done this in previous years, that I am aware of.

[ginzo]

I'm 6'1", was completely comfortable in it, love it to death, and even have it in my top ten. If they'd like to get rid of it, please, by all means, send it to Lake Winnie. Thanks.

 

I'm with you on this. Wildcat is great fun and one of the best things to do at Cedar Point. If it didn't always have an obnoxious line, I'd marathon it. I'm of a similar height and didn't have a problem fitting into the cars. I think the back seat is a tighter squeeze than the front seat is, but it's totally fine.

[lil jimmy norton]

This sounds very selfish, but it always bums me out when these things happen. They always make me second guess the saftey of amusement park rides. I know not many people die/get injured on rides, especially coasters, but it still makes me think. I"m glad no one was serioulsy injured.

[cycamps]

I seriously hope this doesn't mean an end to Wildcat.. its not exactly a noteworthy coaster nowadays, but it's so much fun.

I totally agree with that statement!

[pgathriller]

I don't see Wildcat going anywhere. It was just an accident. It probably will be removed in the future for something new but not now. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

[jamesdillaman]

These things happen. How long has wildcat been running? How many circuits has it completed without incident? These things happen at lots of parks, you just don't hear about them usually.

 

For instance, just in the 2 years I worked at KI, we had fingers lost on the Beast, a child hurt on a flat ride, and a death after riding Top Gun (not directly ride related, it was a heart attack)

 

-James Dillaman

[dandaman]

^ How are your knees not jammed into the padding in front of you? My knees were killing me the last time I rode. Cedar Creek Mine Ride is just as bad.

 

Also 6'1", but I agree with the knee-jamming. Corkscrew seems bad to me just because there isn't enough legroom between what the wheel covers take up in your "riding area".

 

Though, for the record, I do enjoy Wildcat, especially for its size. It might be the most underrated ride at CP! (Which still qualifies it as the best of its kind, apparently...)