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Death at Six Flags over Texas


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  • 4 weeks later...

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/u-s-world/six-flags-to-reopen-texas-ride-where-woman-died

Texas Giant will be reopening this weekend. They have added new padding to the restraint bar and added seatbelts that will restrict people with "unique body shapes or sizes" from riding. The result of an investigation reported no mechanical malfunction on the ride.

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Wow, didn't think I'd see this happen this season, I wonder if there will be any reaction from the industry moving forward in regards to restraint design, limitations to body sizes, ect.

Good questions. My thoughts are the industry might start intentionally putting seatbelts or other type of restraints that exclude people with unique body sizes from riding more often. It will be interesting to see what happens from here.

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A one million dollar lawsuit has also been filed by the victims family.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/52978022#.UjCYmG2NdVg

For better or worse, I feel that some changes are looming for the industry.

"It’s not a first time problem for Six Flags. It’s not a first time problem for the amusement industry, and they seemed to be more involved with providing more thrills than they do safety," said Branson.

Ouch

“These changes certainly are a step in the right direction. But it’s a shame it took yet another death on yet another Six Flag rollercoaster to prompt Six Flags to make basic safety changes,” he said.

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"It will now offer a roller coaster seat on the ride line for riders to judge for themselves in advance if they fit."

Isn't this poor grammar?

Seriously, journalists need better proof readers these days.

The park will now offer a roller coaster test seat to riders wating in line so they may judge, for themselves, if they'll fit.

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I am pretty large in size (height/weight) 6'5" 265LBS. I have been on several coasters that I hear that "click" several times.

With that being said, I have experienced myself, having my lap bar comfortable (at least two clicks) but I have a little room for comfort.

Then the ride op comes by and shoves down on the restraint even more. This makes it uncomfortable to some extent. Hearing this sad and tragic story, makes me glad they do it.

On Inverdgo, a Ride op, didn't even check my OTSR, and it was a bit loose. If you tried to get her attention she just ignored me..Same thing happened to me on Drop Zone. If you watch them, they don't even check half the riders OTSRs..

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Push down lightly and pull up twice. Thats how we were told to do it at Carowinds. Most seatbelts can be undone by visitors, is a panicking visitor always going to be rational if the lapbar "fails*"

*a visitor thinks that it is not working properly.

A lapbar check will catch a lapbar that doesnt properly lock. It does happen, I seen it, we Always took the proper action.

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Yahoo article on the Lawsuit http://gma.yahoo.com/family-sues-six-flags-womans-fall-14-story-120105611--abc-news-topstories.html

Interesting note from the article

The T-shaped lap bar that was supposed to restrain riders didn't work properly, according to the suit. The lawsuit states that inspections done on the roller coasters after Esparza's death "showed that various parts of the security systems on the ride were experiencing inconsistencies and intermittent failures."
After the incident, Six Flags replaced a "limit switch," an indicator that shows the safety bar is in place, in the car Esparza was riding in because amusement park staff "found the switch to be defective," according to the lawsuit.

I haven't seen the official report on the incident to verify these quotes, I would assume journalistic integrity? (for what that is worth anymore) but these issues that are reported are quite interesting to say the least. Shame that such a tragedy had to happen if it were preventable, then we must question a new coaster company and the possibility of them not having fully developed their safety policies for their rides. Just things to consider and question when an event like this happens.

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If that WAS true, would that be a gerstlauer problem?

I feel that all coasters should have belts like mf/ttd that if you can't fasten yourself your out. Guest may complain but its the best thing for safety, Almost all coaster incidents are from riders with unusual body proportions. Weight shifting is a issue.

I would hate for ejector air to be banned from coasters and only have floater air instead.

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Push down lightly and pull up twice. Thats how we were told to do it at Carowinds. Most seatbelts can be undone by visitors, is a panicking visitor always going to be rational if the lapbar "fails*"

*a visitor thinks that it is not working properly.

A lapbar check will catch a lapbar that doesnt properly lock. It does happen, I seen it, we Always took the proper action.

I question the ability of some people to properly check lap bars. I know I have ridden many rides where the lap bar check was a 1-2 finger lift on the bar (thinking Beast and Racers).... I always appreciated the FoF crew for pushing down and yanking up.

If that WAS true, would that be a gerstlauer problem?

I feel that all coasters should have belts like mf/ttd that if you can't fasten yourself your out. Guest may complain but its the best thing for safety, Almost all coaster incidents are from riders with unusual body proportions. Weight shifting is a issue.

I would hate for ejector air to be banned from coasters and only have floater air instead.

I agree with this statement. By adding a belt, it helps keep the people who are on the shorter/taller/lighter/bigger side from having an accident. I may not like certain rides, but I wouldnt want any type of ride transition to be banned when a "simple" fix or addition can keep people safe...

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"It will now offer a roller coaster seat on the ride line for riders to judge for themselves in advance if they fit."

Isn't this poor grammar?

Seriously, journalists need better proof readers these days.

The park will now offer a roller coaster test seat to riders wating in line so they may judge, for themselves, if they'll fit.

Not only is it poor grammar, it was released to the world by the AP.

"Hey you guys!" should have been placed at the beginning of the original sentence, to fit the demographics....LOL

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"It will now offer a roller coaster seat on the ride line for riders to judge for themselves in advance if they fit."

Isn't this poor grammar?

Seriously, journalists need better proof readers these days.

The park will now offer a roller coaster test seat to riders wating in line so they may judge, for themselves, if they'll fit.

Not only is it poor grammar, it was released to the world by the AP.

"Hey you guys!" should have been placed at the beginning of the original sentence, to fit the demographics....LOL

Im not going to argue too much with yall on grammar issues, but dont forget that the AP has its own style book. It is completely different than "normal" grammar. They have certain rules for comma use etc.

For example all verbs must be present tense or present perfect (goes/has gone), no commas before conjunctions, etc etc etc

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