Person Dies at Schlitterbahn Kansas City

[presto123]

   I read a story that said the kid's brother saw him die. So sad. He supposedly told somebody that worked at the park " thanks to your attraction, I just saw my brother die" or something like that. Found the link:

 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/kansas-waterslide-death-decapitation-schlitterbahn-park-verruckt-caleb-schwab-a7184601.html

[King Ding Dong]

The KC Star has a great piece on the construction and approval process. Mr. BAlvey thinks it makes his "dumbest posters" look good. As of this post he has not disputed any of the facts presented in the story.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article95562432.html

[The Interpreter]

Two Women In Same Raft As Ten Year Old Boy, Father Speak Out:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/women-raft-10-year-boy-killed-kansas-waterslide/story?id=41480735&google_editors_picks=true

[The Interpreter]

Legal Implications And Consequences:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/article96777077.html

Article is HIGHLY recommended.

[rlentless]

Article concerning industry safety standards written after recent accidents.  There are 6 states that do not require any inspections but left up to the insurance companies to set the criteria according to the article.

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/thrill-ride-accidents-spark-demands-regulation-145059427.html

[RailRider]

Legal Implications And Consequences:

http://www.kansascity.com/news/article96777077.html

Article is HIGHLY recommended.

 

Great article and the one take away was this is why a park like Action Park existed in New Jersey and why Verruckt was built at the Kansas Schlitterbahn.

 

I am typically one who advocates for less government involvement but the fact Kansas only audits to confirm ride inspections and that they leave actual inspections up to the parks is concerning.  Seems like a conflict of interest when the ride inspector is hired and paid by the park.  Good for businesses but provides little protection for the consumer and especially tax payers of the state. 

[Oldschool75]

Either way, this ride will close. If the park chooses to close it. If a settlement agreement forces them to close it, or the public close it by not riding it anymore.

Sent from my iOS 10 device

[RollerNut]

Article concerning industry safety standards written after recent accidents. There are 6 states that do not require any inspections but left up to the insurance companies to set the criteria according to the article.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/thrill-ride-accidents-spark-demands-regulation-145059427.html

"In 2010, there were an estimated 5,419,000 crashes (30,296 fatal crashes), killing 32,999 and injuring 2,239,000.[2]"

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_motor_vehicle_deaths_in_U.S._by_year

As compared to 4,400 injuries of probably nearly 60 million visitors to amusement parks nationwide.

Source: "Dr. Gary Smith, director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, analyzed the data from between 1990 and 2010 and estimated that an average of more than 4,400 children per year are injured on rides at amusement parks and water parks."

From the article you posted. My point being accidents will happen no matter how much regulation there is, furthermore what percentage is rider error.

[Tanna]

But each ride has such a huge amount of variables involved in each accident, to pin down the exact cause of each of the numbered accidents would be an astronomical feat, unless all the accidents happened in the same park, the same ride, the same operator, and Egad- the same rider.

Accidents do happen, but it happens more often when there is less oversight and regulation.

I don't like regulation in my life, but when a park inspects it's own rides, there's a lot more "Eh, it'll do." Than I'd like.

[King Ding Dong]

Verruckt will be dismantled. The tower will remain, presumably for future development.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article116542643.html

[TombRaiderFTW]

Good. I think that's the most responsible thing that Schlitterbahn could do in this situation.

 

Hopefully, the family and witnesses have found closure.

[Rivertown Rider]

I agree.  That's the most responsible thing they could have done.

[rhyano]

agreed, good for Schlitterbahn, the slide was a huge mistake from the start, considering rafts were flying off the thing when it first started testing 

[BoddaH1994]

Settlement has been reached, no details disclosed yet:

 

http://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/01/11/family-of-boy-killed-on-water-slide-reaches-settlement-with-park/21653192/

[malem]

Settlement total nearly $20M.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article148513129.html

[Shaggy]

No amount will ever replace their son.  I feel awful for this family.  I cannot imagine their grief.

[BloodBlade21]

Criminal charges have been filed against Schlitterbahn & their Director of Park Operations.

The former operations director for Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas City, Kansas, and the water park itself have been charged with manslaughter in the 2016 death of a 10-year-old boy on a water slide.... In addition.... both were indicted on multiple counts of aggravated battery and aggravated endangering a child (and)... interference with law enforcement.

http://6abc.com/news/water-park-ex-employee-charged-in-10-year-olds-2016-death-on-ride/3251969/

The fact that criminal charges are being brought is stunning. Many amusement park accidents only result in civil settlements & fines from the governmental agency overseeing amusement parks in their state. There must be some seriously darning evidence to lead to these charges being filed.

[silver2005]

^Well, unlike most parks, Schlitterbahn often makes their slides in-house.  No third party designers like Pro-Slide, so they have no one to scapegoat.  

[KIghostguy]

Full indictment here: https://localtvwdaf.files.wordpress.com/2018/03/2018-03-21_indictment__miles_swkc__filed_redacted.pdf

[TombRaiderFTW]

Horrifying.

Absolutely horrifying.

I am nauseous. I don't even know what else to say in the wake of that.

[fryoj]

Wow. Just wow. I read that whole thing and the lengths that guy went is just mind boggling. I mean, I get the thought process behind designing their own ride. It's stupid, but I get how it happened. But repeatedly ignoring the flaws and problems, then intentionally suppressing injury data is just stupid. He deserves to have the book thrown at him. 

[jcgoble3]

Wow is right. It really drives home just how dangerous Verruckt was when they assert that it qualifies as a deadly weapon in the list of charges.

[Magenta Lizard]

I knew the entire situation surrounding that ride was bad. I had no idea it was that bad.

[coasterfanatic83]

Wow... it might be best just to shut the park down at this point. So sad.

[Imperial79]

That is really shocking, omgosh.  I thought the indictment would show some problems with the ride, but it had tons of problems!!!   I can see now why criminal charges were filed!   Terrible!

[CoastersRZ]

If this kind of thing was happening on this ride, just think of other incidents that might have happened on other rides at that park that have been suppressed...

[silver2005]

There's also a whole chain of these parks (4 more in fact).

This might have quite the ripple effect. 

https://www.schlitterbahn.com/

[fryoj]

3 hours ago, coasterfanatic2012 said:

Wow... it might be best just to shut the park down at this point. So sad.

 

2 hours ago, silver2005 said:

There's also a whole chain of these parks (4 more in fact).

This might have quite the ripple effect. 

https://www.schlitterbahn.com/

Yeah, this company is done. This opens lawsuits from anyone who has as much as stubbed their toe at any of the parks, so financially they won't be able to continue. Also, since the company is named in a criminal complaint, I don't know if they can even continue if there is a conviction. This will either lead to the company folding or sold off. If someone buys them, or they somehow restructure as a new company, any rides they built themselves would probably have to be removed. I'd say it'll come down to a park by park basis as to what happens. 

[jcgoble3]

Honest question: exactly how do criminal charges against a business entity work? I assume you would have the standard legal process, the same as for an individual defendant. But then what happens if the company pleads or is found guilty? How does sentencing work? You can't exactly throw a company in prison like you can with a person. Do they just get massive fines instead? Can the judge force the owners to shut the company down or sell it to an outsider?

[fryoj]

28 minutes ago, jcgoble3 said:

Honest question: exactly how do criminal charges against a business entity work? I assume you would have the standard legal process, the same as for an individual defendant. But then what happens if the company pleads or is found guilty? How does sentencing work? You can't exactly throw a company in prison like you can with a person. Do they just get massive fines instead? Can the judge force the owners to shut the company down or sell it to an outsider?

A quick google search says fines and probation, with the court overseeing the business.