Any realistic, accurate statistics on ride injurys?

[skaunit]

I was catching up on the SFMM thread a few weeks ago and wanted to post something about this, but with the recent accident I thought I'd start a new discussion.

 

Most of us enthusiasts like to spout off about how much more likely someone will get hurt on the way to a theme park, or in a plane crash, than on a ride. But anyone who's even briefly studied statistics knows that just comparing total numbers doesn't really give any real information. What we really need is context. For example, if the average American takes 4 flights a year say, and rides 20 thrill rides... How does the chance of injury compare? You can't just say 400000 people died in a car accident vs 2 on a thrill ride.

 

So my point is, has there been any studies or articles that really take an accurate look at the statistics on a national and/or global scale?

[adamd]

On a coaster show a couple years ago they said a proven study showed you have more of a chance dying BRUSHING YOUR TEETH than dying riding a roller coaster.

[TPDave]

I would point out that statisticians are equally as weary of an average. Remember 99.99% of us have more than the average number of legs...

 

The best way to look at it is on a per ride/per journey basis for the example you provided since travel/theme park habits will vary wildly the standard deviation of whatever stat you come up with will be quite large.

[skaunit]

well, I guess the best, most educated numbers to use would be the percentage of likelihood a person would be injured on a ride, vs. any number of other activities, like riding in a car, taking a flight, brushing your teeth [as someone here stated recently], etc.

 

For this, we would need the total number of rides taken either in america or globally over a set period of time, and then the total number of injuries or deaths for the same period. And then to be the MOST accurate, we would need the same numbers for the comparison activity over the same period.

 

If anyone has any articles/studies/sources for any of these numbers that they could post, that would be awesome.

[aCoasterStory]

One number I've heard thrown around is that you have a 1 in 750 million chance of being killed on an amusement park ride (including everything from carosuels to coasters). So presumably most people should be fine.

 

I've spent some time reading through http://www.rideaccidents.com/ and it looks like most coaster deaths are due to one of the following:

 

1) Pre-existing condition/medical episode on the ride (heart attack, stroke, aneurism, asthma attack, etc.)

2) People being in restricted areas and being struck/crushed/decapitated by the ride

3) People intentionally defeating the restraint systems on the ride and falling out (or hitting an object nearby while traveling at speed)

4) People who had no business being on the ride in the first place because they could not meet the minimum safety requirements but were allowed to ride anyways (such as having no legs w/ only a lapbar restraint)

5) People who appeared to be properly secured into the ride but were not because of their weight distribution and the restraint not being properly positioned (such as the S:ROS and NTaG incidents)

6) Mechanical failure due to poor maintenance or undetected wear & tear (such as with OPA!, though not a death)

7) Complete and utter freak accidents (such as a tree falling on the ride and causing a derailment; very fortunate everyone survived with minimal injuries)

 

Some of these you can mitigate your risk for by just not being stupid & following the rules, though occasionally following the rules isn't enough. Some of them you have no direct control over.