jsus

Google Maps satellite imagery shows the same thing. The "second floor" facades are just that, facades. The real building roof is lower than the facade and flat, as you say. French Corner is especially obvious this way. Link for reference: https://goo.gl/maps/7nEh5ymGNTwxEJTV7 And yet, it looks like this from International Street (from when Starbucks was at that site in 2011) :

It's pretty clear from what the ODA inspectors have released that something did make contact with the track itself. We also know that it's a rather small area - in the realm of 25' - of track impacted. They didn't specify the exact location but it sounds like the plate came loose right around the finish line, as green train was headed into the static (fixed, not retracting) brake fins. From all the information, it seems that either one or both bolts/screws failed, causing the L-shaped flag plate to come loose. We don't know the exact speed at the point the plate came loose but the train was probably still around 100 mph. At that speed, (yes, it's slowing down, but let's ignore that for simplicity), the train would cover about 150 ft / second. 25' of track damage sounds like one or both screws/bolts came loose, causing the plate in question to lower slightly, likely rotating around one fastener. It hit the track for a split second before becoming a projectile toward the queue. That's just speculation based on all of the information that has been released so far, of course.

You keep posting similar updates seconds after me. Are you watching me? Yup, as expected. Not cool.

Additional info has been released regarding the injured woman's present condition:

https://www.wxyz.com/news/local-news/inspectors-say-l-shaped-bracket-from-top-thrill-dragster-dislodged-near-end-of-ride-struck-woman ODA inspectors released a lot of info today. The injured is a 44-yo woman from Michigan, who was indeed struck in the head by a piece of the ride. She was transported (LifeFlight) from FRMC to St. Vincent's Hospital in Toledo, which has a Trauma Recovery Center. It seems it indeed was the L-bracket that was photographed previously, or a similar piece. The park does indeed have the part in question. Some of the bolts that held it in place were missing; others were still in place. Sounds like it's related to the control system's proximity switches. Whatever happened managed to mangle the track a bit in the process. The investigation into how this occurred is ongoing.

However what? You're not disagreeing with me. I'm not going to speculate on the family's silence since no conclusions can be drawn from it. I wish the media would stop throwing tantrums that they can't ID and harass them.

Like I said, we can't really draw conclusions from that. I certainly wouldn't want to be constantly pestered when my family was trying to recover, heal, and figure out the legal aspect. It's just that typically you do hear from those involved in similar situations, as much as there are situations "similar" to this.

Yesterday's article has the "journalist" showing no ability to dig into the subject and understand it. Basically quoted an ODA spokesperson saying that they're asking the wrong people to look into the medical response aspect of things. Instead of taking that as a critique and cue to keep digging. Here's a hint, a freebie: the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Division of Amusement Ride Safety & Fairs has nothing to do with one (allegedly at least slightly intoxicated) FNP's "complaint" that CP EMT "mishandled" the situation. If anyone investigates that, I dunno, maybe it's a board that oversees FNP licensing in Ohio to look into her actions, and whoever oversees EMTs in Ohio? Why don't you start there? As promised, I won't even send you a bill. Side note, I do find it interesting that the family is suspiciously quiet, but no conclusions can readily be drawn from that.

Self-contradictory much?

This is the only way to respond at this point. Even if it were to ultimately be removed, Cedar Fair and INTAMIN need to know how this was able to happen. The statement gives me hope that she is still receiving the care she deserves and has a chance at recovery. Sources: https://www.facebook.com/cedarpoint/posts/10158375615151463 Tony and the park have been doing that lately in general, but here especially, there's nothing to discuss.

What allegations of civil liability under state law for the non-emergency medicine nurse, who isn’t a trained EMT? What are my “allegations” vs. statements of observed fact? Why should I accuse the park of anything when I have very little to go on? No damming evidence has been released. The one bit of video we’ve seen doesn’t show any wrongdoing to the untrained observer except her trying to tell trained responders what to do. If anything, I’ve expressed that maintenance at the park this year has been brought into question, first with the lift chain failure at GateKeeper and now this. Not knowing the exact details, I’m not going to make accusations but rather express my concern.

Regardless, civil liability under state law hasn’t been alleged. HIPAA violations, a federal law, and other concerns have been alleged.

A trained medical professional is rated as nothing more than a Good Samaritan under ORC? Because this wasn’t you or me, and for continued to interfere once CP EMS and SFD were on scene, trying to issue orders.

Not leaked. Released under public records request. It’s a (likely phone) recording of an office monitor at SPD HQ in the chief’s office, of the AXON body cam website (Sandusky.evidence.com iirc), logged in as Jared Oliver, chief of Sandusky Police. There’s no reason to say it was leaked. The shaky handheld recording is likely because they have no idea which couple buttons to click to download the video file and send that off to the public who requests it.

Thing is, Cedar Point Police Department *is* the police. They have essentially all the legal duties, capabilities, obligations, etc. as Sandusky Police. The scene was theirs, with Sandusky Police acting as backup, per SPD chief in an article linked above. Bodycam officer is clearly SPD, others on scene are CPPD/security (they have both). CP EMS responded with what seems to be a Sandusky Fire ambulance soon behind with the stretcher to rush her to the ambulance, to FRMC. I don’t understand the obsession with needing to know the victim’s identity and medical condition. It comes across as incredibly disrespectful. Suffice it to say, the chance of the family not going to the media to put out the word that she has died seems quite telling. I can’t imagine they wouldn’t make it known. That makes it seem she’s still alive and they don’t want to talk to anyone right now. Prayers that she’s getting the treatment she deserves from experts who know way more than we need to.

For comparison, a 2-day ride and slide ticket (CP and CPS) with all day drink wristbands is ~$80, not including $20/day parking. When they have more demand than operational capacity (long, slow lines), that’s basically giving away gold passes. It’s also less than they used to charge for the base pass that didn’t include Shores, parking, early entry.

When a defect in a specific car is identified that is the fault of the manufacturer, I don't know about you, but yes, that makes me less likely to trust my family to their vehicles. When a maintenance issue that should never have been allowed to cause a serious injury can be traced to a specific repair shop, then I'm definitely never letting them anywhere near my vehicles again. It's not as black and white as you say. And the vast majority of injuries/deaths on the road are not accidents, are due to human error/negligence. No, we shouldn't "accept" that there's a serious risk to our safety every time we're on the road. That needs to change.

No, there is no federal equivalent of the NTSB that oversees amusement rides. The NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) is more of an advisory board that investigates transportation safety concerns. It has no power in and of itself other than to investigate. It then provides recommendations to manufacturers and regulators (e.g. FAA - Federal Aviation Administration). The NTSB has experts on staff who understand how aircraft, vehicles, etc. are built, how they operate, how the software works. They work with the manufacturer to prevent an incident, such as the Boeing 737 MAX crashes, from happening again, but the manufacturer is not legally obligated to make recommended changes. In that example, it was up to the FAA, foreign regulators, and/or Boeing to ground the planes, not the NTSB. There are also no federal regulations regarding amusement rides; each state provides its own level of regulation. In Ohio, the Department of Agriculture does certify rides, but it does not at all perform investigations to the extent that the NTSB does. Their certification is more along the lines of verifying that the operator has performed and documented any maintenance, repairs, and operational procedures as provided by the manufacturer. States obviously can collaborate but there is no formal federal agency to facilitate this. What can happen is that operators will learn of incidents with similar rides, often directly through the manufacturer. In Ohio, it is my understanding that operators must comply with all manufacturer guidance, thus if, say, INTAMIN were to instruct parks to stop operating all accelerator coasters, then Cedar Fair would be obligated to shut down Top Thrill Dragster until further notice. It's still generally up to the park and/or manufacturer to work to investigate the cause of the incident. The DoA inspectors will, however, need to confirm that the issue has been identified and no further safety issues are present before the ride can be re-certified.

Per WTOL, there apparently was a Level I/II trauma nurse (this one male) in line who was able to help, with CP EMS showing up quickly.

WKYC has a bit more detail, and some bodycam footage presumably from a SPD officer who responded as the patient was prepared for transport to the ambulance. Interestingly, they state that the patient indeed was transferred to Toledo, not Cleveland.

Easier said than done. How do you modify the queue in a way that you maintain visibility of the ride, of the returning trains with the grins on everyone's faces - a key part of the guest experience is seeing others enjoy it - yet have a strong enough barrier that a relatively small bolt (for instance, we don't know that's what it was here) can't get through? Given that it doesn't appear to have been a failure of the launch system, I'm left to wonder if they would, then, need to build similar anti-shrapnel defenses around all rides. What do you do where Corkscrew, well, corkscrews over the midway? Etc.

Given that there is the potential for the public to learn the identity of the patient, medical details reported by a medical professional could be traced back to a specific individual, thus at best posing an ethical concern, if not an outright HIPAA violation. If there's even a chance you could connect the medical details with a specific individual, that's got to be a no-no without patient consent.

More eyewitness reporting.. "Eyewitness describes Cedar Point coaster accident: ‘It looked like a metal disc flying through the air’" - cleveland.com

All I have to say is if she was worried about CP covering stuff up, did she also think Sandusky Fire Dept would collude with the park to make the report disappear? Agreed on it being poor judgment indeed. Would it even be a good idea to post she was there and stepped up to help? I saw mention that sounded like a female nurse, but this was after the post was apparently deleted so I can't confirm. Haven't seen the post itself.

Makes perfect sense. Unfortunately, I doubt on a busy Sunday that they even had room in the parking lot to land the helicopter even if they wanted to. Having it meet them on the helipad at FRMC sounds like the next best option. CPFD is on-site and SFD is at the end of the causeway for rapid response, FRMC ~5 miles out. The helicopter also likely would've come from Cleveland, right? So in the time it takes them to fly over, FRMC could begin treatment. As for the nurse... I can understand her wanting to keep her own records/notes, though suggesting that CP would just make the report disappear is a bit much. I really don't know what she was thinking posting it.