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Hey look NO seatbelts!


Cody
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Redundancy = safety. And not always to the ride manufacturers.

Sometimes, the illusion of safety causes people to do things they would not normally do... See those who speed on the highway in treacherous winter conditions, assured that their multi-ton steel shell with wheels will protect them, or those who mercilessly attack others on the internet since they have the power of anonymity and a deficit of empathy. Adding those seat belts has helped more than one person here conquer their fear of Drop Zone!

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Redundancy = safety. And not always to the ride manufacturers.

Sometimes, the illusion of safety causes people to do things they would not normally do... See those who speed on the highway in treacherous winter conditions, assured that their multi-ton steel shell with wheels will protect them, or those who mercilessly attack others on the internet since they have the power of anonymity and a deficit of empathy. Adding those seat belts has helped more than one person here conquer their fear of Drop Zone!

I agree with EVERYTHING you've said here.

I truly think some people are wired differently when it comes to primal survival instincts. I value my life dearly (not to say others don't... :P ) and I'm one of those people who needs to see that redundant safety belt snapped into place to truly feel safe. I've overcome this on DB, but I don't think I could ride Drop Tower without the safety belts. Ditto for Invertigo.

I'm also one of the people who drive a SAFE and COMFORTABLE (but not unreasonable) speed on snow-and-ice-covered roads, with people inevitably ending up fighting with each other trying to get around me. I must be the only person in Warren County without AWD or something. Yet in my own defense, more often than not, guess what vehicles I see spun out or upside-down when it's icy out. Yep, those AWD crossovers and SUV's that just couldn't wait to get around me. But I digress... :rolleyes:

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You know, I've always (well, not always. I guess it's only been a couple years) wondered why it is that they didn't put seatbelts in Diamondback. Because I'll be really honest, I'm incredibly nervous whenever I ride that thing. I guess I have trouble trusting JUST the lap bar.

Then there are those of us (myself included) who have gone a vast majority of our lives trusting only the lapbar... and lived to tell about it! Even the old one postion buzzbars that were once common at KI, but are now only found there on a nice wooden kiddie coaster. I miss those old days, and view seatbelts as a necessary evil in these days of increased rider stupidity.

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Redundancy = safety. And not always to the ride manufacturers.

Sometimes, the illusion of safety causes people to do things they would not normally do... See those who speed on the highway in treacherous winter conditions, assured that their multi-ton steel shell with wheels will protect them, or those who mercilessly attack others on the internet since they have the power of anonymity and a deficit of empathy. Adding those seat belts has helped more than one person here conquer their fear of Drop Zone!

I agree with EVERYTHING you've said here.

I truly think some people are wired differently when it comes to primal survival instincts. I value my life dearly (not to say others don't... :P ) and I'm one of those people who needs to see that redundant safety belt snapped into place to truly feel safe. I've overcome this on DB, but I don't think I could ride Drop Tower without the safety belts. Ditto for Invertigo.

I'm also one of the people who drive a SAFE and COMFORTABLE (but not unreasonable) speed on snow-and-ice-covered roads, with people inevitably ending up fighting with each other trying to get around me. I must be the only person in Warren County without AWD or something. Yet in my own defense, more often than not, guess what vehicles I see spun out or upside-down when it's icy out. Yep, those AWD crossovers and SUV's that just couldn't wait to get around me. But I digress... :rolleyes:

Some things are so important they are worth the digression:

Q.

Settle an office dispute...

For similar safe, defensive driving, my coworker says his 4wd F150 is better than my A4 with quattro + traction control on snowy and icy roads. I'm pretty certain unless I drive into a 2' snow drift, I'll maintain more control and and movement than he will. What say you?

  • January 28, 2011 11:18 AM

A. Warren Brown : Please, good people, dispense with that kind of silly thinking. Here's why: Hubris is the friend of collision on icy roads--especially icy, congested roads. We saw way too much of that in Wednesday night's heavy snowstorm in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Some people with dedicated four-wheel-drive, locking differentials and all of that, apparently thought they had been tapped by God to move up the food chain. Some of them literally were bullying their way through traffic, only to crash into lesser-wheeled souls. The end results were traffic jams all over the place. The problem? The 4x4 bullies misunderstood God's tap. The Dude was trying to tell them to be careful, more considerate of their road neighbors. He was trying to tell them to take it slowly, to treat their accelerators gently, to understand the Golden Rule of Winter Driving: "ICE IS THE GREAT LEVELER. DON'T BE A FOOL. YOU WILL CRASH, SOONER OR LATER, IF YOU DON'T RESPECT ICE. PROCEED WITH EXTREME CAUTION, REGARDLESS OF YOUR DRIVE SYSTEM."

(emphasis in the original)

http://live.washingt...tml#question-13

a. Warren Brown in a personal hero of mine.

b. I couldn't have said this better myself.

c. Read and heed. The life you save may be your own. Or, perhaps more importantly, someone else's (maybe mine!)

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Oh, yes...some of us even know what incident where directly led to that installation...

On another note, even though I am a strong advocate of safety, there is something to be said for the viewpoint expressed (in a very brilliant and comical way) here:

http://www.mywvhome.com/oldies/scared.html

O.M.G.!!!! i LOVE THIS!!!!! its so true tho..... I may be a "youngin" but heck i remember that stuff. if u were playing at the neighbor kids house and acted up, their parents could discipline you and i dont know how many times i got spanked, and i learned.. at least until after the sting wore off :P and u came home when the street lights came on. we didn't have phones when we were 10. I didnt get a cell phone til halfway through college. and yes i remember the "bricks" and briefcase phones lol. thanks terpy for making ME feel old :P oh and dont forget the lead based paint cribs :P

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While I enjoyed the article that Terpy posted and Stalker referenced, I have to point out the good in many of the safety advances that have been made in this country over the years. It used to be more common for people to lose fingers in manufacturing accidents, it used to be more common for families to lose parents who were bridge builders, miners, etc , it used to be more common to be seriously injured in car accidents.

Having your first priority be safety in any industry or life in general is the right thing to do. I think the hard part is drawing a line between protecting people from something that could accidentally happen with normal actions or protecting people from a willful act to put themselves in harms way. We can all say that we know where we'd draw that line, but a lawyer/judge/jury that disagrees will always push the line further

As a kid, I used to ride Racer/Beast when there were no seat belts, dividers or headrests, and they only had buzz bars. I also recall pushing the limits of safety and doing stupid things that could have caused serious injury. Were my actions normal or willfully putting myself at risk - the park obviously thought it was close enough to that fine line to improve safety by changing things. Did it make it safer - yes. Did it make it less fun - probably not materially, but maybe a little. Is that worth it - I'd have to say yes in the big scheme of things.

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