Cedar Point: Man killed at Raptor trespassing in restricted area

[The Interpreter]

Early "facts" often turn out not to be.

[KI FANATIC 37]

Such a shame. My thoughts are with his family.

[upstop]

So very tragic and unnecessary..... A life is worth so much more than a STUPID CELL PHONE!!!!!!!!

MANDATORY.......NO LOOSE ARTICLES POLICY.....WITH FREE LOCKERS!!!!!

it can be done..... It is being done at at least one park.... And it is working....

[The Interpreter]

At SFOG, it was a hat.

Should there be a no hats policy, too?

[bjcolglazier]

People are really stupid breaking the rules and jumping the fence.  Period.  But who among us couldn't jump the fence and NOT get hit by the coaster?  I'm guessing pretty much all of us.  Drugs, alcohol?  Are people THAT incoherent naturally?

[WindingSon]

People underestimate coasters and overestimate their own mortality. Unfortunately.

[The Interpreter]

Jumping the fence is dumb.

It's a restricted area for a reason.

It's not "Look Out For The Coaster."

It's "STAY OUT."

[TheCandyMan]

As someone I know always has famously said:

 

Respect the Rides, they do not respect you.

[bjcolglazier]

Wasn't trying to say jump the fence and then watch out...I'm just dumbfounded by the idiocy.  You have to be a fool x100 to jump the fence AND get hit.  Or, you're impaired.

[dtk1378]

I wouldn't even jump the fence of the Great Pumpkin Coaster to get a $100 bill, things can wait and it's not worth putting yourself and others at risk.

 

Thoughts and prayers to the family and anyone involved.

[ethancoaster]

I feel horrible for the family but now everyone who visits the park within the next week has to miss out on the best ride at Cedar Point because someone wasn't smart enough to stay out of a RESTRICTED AREA. He wasn't killed by Raptor, he killed himself the second he stepped over that fence. He endangered the riders and put his family through hell over an object that could've been easily retrieved after park hours. I want to feel bad for him but I just can't. He should've known better.

[rhyano]

I feel horrible for the family but now everyone who visits the park within the next week has to miss out on the best ride at Cedar Point because someone wasn't smart enough to stay out of a RESTRICTED AREA. He wasn't killed by Raptor, he killed himself the second he stepped over that fence. He endangered the riders and put his family through hell over an object that could've been easily retrieved after park hours. I want to feel bad for him but I just can't. He should've known better.

I can't feel bad for him, it is clearly marked "stay out"

[Kat]

So sad that this happened. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved, especially passengers and witnesses to this tragic occurrence. What's even more sad is this wasn't even a teenager but a grown man!! No cell phone or any other object is worth risking your life for.

Baby Crawford coming 2016!

[ethancoaster]

^ That's what bothers me the most, his age. Teens are pretty materialistic these days so I'd expect this to happen to a seventeen year-old (though I don't know why I'm talking about teens that way considering I'm only 14). But this happened to a 40 year old+ man. Even if he thought he could dodge Raptor, he broke park rules and that's setting a terrible example for his kids if he had any. Adults should know the difference between right and wrong. Anyone with common sense should know that no material is worth risking your life for or ruining the lives of others. I was honestly shocked when I learned his age. And it made me even more disappointed that I can't expect grown men to behave themselves anymore than teenagers at an amusement park.

[rcwizard13]

I feel horrible for the family but now everyone who visits the park within the next week has to miss out on the best ride at Cedar Point because someone wasn't smart enough to stay out of a RESTRICTED AREA.

Could it really be closed for the next week? I can't see how it should be closed for longer than a day at most. The ride didn't malfunction or anything. A human was stupid, which unfortunately is happening far too often in today's world.

[calakapepe]

Unfortunately, not that I have any merit, I would not be surprised if it were closed for a couple days for investigation or for a desire to put up absurd amounts of signs before reopening?

IMO it shouldn't need to be closed for too long, long as the ride train or track segment wasn't damaged.
Though, I do worry it will be closed for longer than some would expect.

[Tanna]

Standing in the line for Banshee, I wouldn't jump the fence for a million bucks. The ride is somewhat built around you when you stand in line, and that thing zooms and roars. Being in the safe zone, you can see how dangerous it would be to venture past the fence.

[Magenta Lizard]

I would assume the train that hit him, and the area of track nearby, would need to be intensely cleaned and checked for any possible damage caused by the impact. That would take a couple days alone, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was closed a little longer out of respect/ to allow feelings to settle down.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

My thoughts and prayers for the victim's family, and for the first responders, park employees, Raptor riders involved. This is tragic.

 

RANT: While many news outlets are being responsible with this tragic story, dangerous incompetence passing itself off as journalism is predictably sensationalizing the story, which serves no purpose but to exacerbate public ignorance (and not help in showing the danger of entering restricted areas)! A National Cable News Network and a Detroit Newspaper are reporting that the "coaster struck and killed a patron," with the Cable Network's online story burying the fact that the victim was in a restricted area two paragraphs below the sensationalistic opening. One paper reports that a teacher, who had "just gotten a dream job," has been killed by a Cedar Point roller coaster. 

 

Another cable news outlet just joined in the criminally ignorant (my opinion) frame-up of the story, sounding like the guy was just trying to find his lost cell phone. Oh, ok, in the last 10 seconds of the story, the restricted area piece is finally mentioned. AAAAH! I could throw my shoe at the *#@%!! television!

 

This is how public opinion is molded, folks. This is why we must think critically, observe all the facts, and communicate and teach what is really true. /RANT OFF

 

[Existential]

I'm with dude above, and was going to post the same exact thing:

 

Once one makes the dumb decision to jump the fence, how does one make the greater mistake of not avoiding the coaster?

 

It be like to trying to cross the freeway with two cars coming by every 60 - 90 seconds running the same exact route.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

So many factors are involved. Illusions of how much time is available to move in-and-out of a small area, how much distance there is between the ground and a potential object, how sound travels (especially on a steel roller coaster, in a park with other loud attractions, music, crowds, etc.), and perhaps very powerful consternation about sensitive information that a person doesn't want falling into the wrong hands being on that phone, could all potentially come together to form such a catastrophe.

 

Such situations beget adrenaline and hyper-focus, which distorts peripheral attention. It's how wide receivers make mind-blowing catches in triple coverage. They're aware of the impending impacts coming from any number of directions, and with any degree of severity, but the objective of catching and holding on to the ball outweighs the tendency to brace for and/or avoid the outside threat. The distortion affects timing. The timing of the catch is spot-on, but then readjusting to the timing of the secondary objective of returning to safety has been dangerously -and tragically- underestimated. Without practice (which no one does in this particular case (i.e., illegally retrieving an object between coaster cycles)), it is impossible to execute all of the maneuvers in such a confined, restricted space.

 

1. Fence jumped. You hear rattling and roaring, but you "just gotta get that stupid phone." You have 30 seconds to live.

2. Phone recovered. Relief, but limited by fear. Gotta get back out of this area before you're caught. You have 15 seconds to live.

3. There's the fence, but no, that's too high. Gotta find the best route back out of here. You have 5 seconds to live.

4. You hear a sudden, loud mechanical rush behind you. You begin to turn around-

[Existential]

See, taking into account your very well thought out analysis, and me, being slightly above Darwin award intelligence [i hope]...

 

I would have landed on the ground beyond the restricted fence, assumed the prone position on my belly as tight as possible, and recreated storming the beaches of Normandy avoiding Axis fire envisioning the opening scene to Saving Private Ryan.  All the way to the rally point thus ensuring victory.  Before climbing, I may have even smeared some mud over my face to avoid detection from the station.

 

[devil's advocate out].

[Steph88]

I wish the news articles, and Cedar Point for that matter, would repeatedly remind everyone of the procedures for a lost phone. They can survive without it a few hours until closing, and go to Guest Services and ask if an employee can retrieve it after ride shutdown.

[calakapepe]

My thoughts and prayers for the victim's family, and for the first responders, park employees, Raptor riders involved. This is tragic.

 

RANT: While many news outlets are being responsible with this tragic story, dangerous incompetence passing itself off as journalism is predictably sensationalizing the story, which serves no purpose but to exacerbate public ignorance (and not help in showing the danger of entering restricted areas)! A National Cable News Network and a Detroit Newspaper are reporting that the "coaster struck and killed a patron," with the Cable Network's online story burying the fact that the victim was in a restricted area two paragraphs below the sensationalistic opening. One paper reports that a teacher, who had "just gotten a dream job," has been killed by a Cedar Point roller coaster. 

 

Another cable news outlet just joined in the criminally ignorant (my opinion) frame-up of the story, sounding like the guy was just trying to find his lost cell phone. Oh, ok, in the last 10 seconds of the story, the restricted area piece is finally mentioned. AAAAH! I could throw my shoe at the *#@%!! television!

 

This is how public opinion is molded, folks. This is why we must think critically, observe all the facts, and communicate and teach what is really true. /RANT OFF

 

 

 

 

 

Very important. If only this site were observed by non-park enthusiasts also. (regularly, that is)

[jdawg1998]

Since I always have issues with putting text in quotes on this forum, I'll just explain.

 

That Washington Post article is ridiculous. It says: "While that sounds incredibly thrilling - and possibly dangerous - Young's death seems to have been totally unrelated to the Raptor's design." Are you kidding me? Raptor sounds dangerous? And it "seems to have been" totally unrelated? It was completely unrelated! He entered a restricted area! That part of it is barely even mentioned in the article. It is said once, wedged in between "he had his dream job as a teacher" and explaining how dangerous-sounding the ride is.

 

The part that really gets me is: “He just hopped over the fence and thought he’d grab it,” Brenda Young said. “I know he’d never in a million years thought that something like that would have happened.” Really? You're telling me that climbing into a restricted area underneath a super-fast roller coaster and then being hit by the coaster is surprising? 

 

It's horrible what happened, and I feel terrible about it, but this article really just angers me. Instead, we should be focusing on reiterating safety precautions at amusement parks and spreading the word to NOT go into a restricted area. Not fear roller coasters. 

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Ok. I edited my rant. In the heat of the moment, I just called out names as I saw them. That might not have been very wise of me. I love this site too much to cause any discord among any 'outside observers.'

[SOBwasaSOB]

As previously stated this guy deserves a Darwin Award. I feel horrible for his family but the dude was clearly a selfish idiot. He ruined more than just a day for many people, of that I am sure.

[shark6495]

Soooo I'm confused at what people are upset about. The man was struck and killed by the Raptor. That's a fact. Also a fact he entered a restricted area.

It's a horrible freak accident and of course they interview his family and friends. (I'm guessing the park won't comment)....

How is it irresponsible to state that he was struck. It's no different than if he walked across 75 and got hit by a Walmart truck...

And what other safety stuff would you like the reporters to put in the reports? Hey don't climb a fence and break park rules?

I notice on here hat anytime someone mentions a park we all get worked up over it. A ride gets stuck and we scream it's a safety thing. The news reports hey it's a safety thing and we scream why are you reporting this.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[malem]

Raptor has reopened. I just rode it.

[bkroz]

Don't misunderstand - this is news and should be reported on.

 

I think those who are defensive here about the topic want to make sure that the delivery by the media is clear, direct, and sure: this is an individual who entered a marked, restricted area and the ride / park were without fault. 

 

The problem is stuff like the quote mentioned above:

 

“He just hopped over the fence and thought he’d grab it,” Brenda Young said. “I know he’d never in a million years thought that something like that would have happened.”

 

 

We would, of course, expect family and friends to feel that way / report that. We'd equally hope that they or the reporter would be clear: that was incorrect, foolish, and deadly. This was "user error," not the fault of the park or the ride. To prevent this in the future, we must make sure that no one would expect that this is an option; that you can simply hop a fence to retrieve a lost item real quick.

 

For those asking how this could happen and how he couldn't avoid the train, that's damaging. Most of us are "experts" at these coasters, and still - plopped down in the center of the ride layout - might not be 100% from which direction the train was going, which elements around us were entered in which order, etc. And a massive train flying toward you at 60 mph would look very different from that view.