Death on a Roller Coaster...

It could be any of the above.

The one that happened yesterday, apparently the woman expressed concern to the ride operator before the ride began that her bar wasn't working properly. The worker ignore it, apparently. I imagine there will be a big lawsuit.

If I were a passenger and I didn't feel that the safety restraint was sufficient, I'd get out and wait for another open seat with a properly functioning device.

I fault the lady...if she felt unsafe GET OFF THE RIDE. I've told attendants I wanted me and my son off cause I didn't feel he was safe on the ride. Unfortunately she chose to stay on, and yea it's sad she died but that kind of stuff happens.

I believe it was a tragic accident. It is all over our news since I am located in the DFW area. We've had season passes to 6 Flags in the past but no one in our family is a roller coaster fan.

Our news has witnesses who were in line behind the woman saying that she questioned the attendant because she didn't feel like she was securely locked in. The attendant supposedly said something to the effect that if it clicks you are in. Then the ride started and she flew out.

Of course we are only hearing from witnesses and hearsay. It will be interesting to see what the investigation determines. I feel so bad for her children who saw it happen as well as all the other people.

I do think employees need to be trained better. If ANY person were to question their security in a ride, I believe the attendant should acknowledge that, go back and completely recheck and confirm security. This attendant did not do that.

This is not the first fatal accident at 6 Flags. We have not been in at least 3 yrs. and will probably never go back because our daughter is 18 now and over that type of "fun"

I notice that many folks are using the term "freak accident" for the Texas death.

A "freak" accident would be one that was completely unforeseeable and unpreventable, to me. A bolt out of the blue, so to speak.

In this case, assuming reports I've seen were accurate, the woman "felt unsafe" and believed that the bar had not latched, and she told the attendant so. The attendant either did not latch it right the first time; ignored the woman's clearly expressed concerns; or the bar was defective even though the attendant might have done the latching procedure correctly.

None of those would be a "freak" circumstance to me. They would be circumstances of negligence -- the park's negligence in inspecting that coaster or the attendant's negligence in operating it, or the park's negligence in training the attendant....Time and a huge investigation will tell, but this isn't at all my definition of "freak" accident. There is real responsibility, and liability, somewhere here, and it could be foreseen that a failed or improperly latched bar would cause an accident.

Potentially preventable -- especially if, as reported, the poor woman tried to alert the attendant -- so therefore very much not a "freak accident."

It makes me angry. She felt unsafe, she said so, she died. There needs to be responsibility assigned for this -- and consequences.

My sister and her daughter got onto a coaster about ten years ago. The safety bar did not settle properly and my sister yelled for the attendant to not start the ride but he ignored her. The bar never latched and she spent the ride hanging onto the car for her life. When she got off she caused a tremendous scene insisting that the ride be stopped for repairs. Management called security on her and while she was talking to them they ran the ride again. The woman in the seat fell out and died right in front of my sister and her daughter. I still let my kids ride on permanent park rides, but I go everywhere to check their safety records and spend the whole time terrified. I think of it as like driving in a car. You're more likely to be killed driving in a car than on a roller coaster. I just really avoid those traveling ones. I just struggle to see those as safe enough.......

I worked one summer at Six Flags Fiesta Texas on one of the big coasters...the biggest one in the park...

You never ever signal all clear to depart until you and your partner have physically pulled on each lap bar in every car to make sure they have locked in place.

And if any guest asked to be checked you double checked and even let guests off the ride if they were demanding to get off one the whole thing was locked down.

I took my job very seriously, and we had tons and tons of training...actually when I worked at the park it was before Six Flags bought it...but still...

I have to wonder what went wrong when there are so many pairs of eyes checking and double checking each car everytime you send the coaster out.

For the most part rides are pretty safe, or else you would hear about deaths and injuries daily with all the parks and traveling carnivals we have around. That said, anytime you get on a large moving machine you assume a certain amount of risk, you assume the same risk every time you drive your car.

I heard about that accident at Six Flags - sounds tragic. I think we will have to wait for more details.

I'm a huge coaster nut, but it has occurred to me on some of the high end coasters I am basically trapped in that seat (when they have the overhead restraint that also latches). I'm more afraid of being trapped in than coming out of the seat generally speaking. It sounds like the Six Flags coaster had only a bar restraint (didn't invert). I'd like to know more about what happened.

The only time I've gotten really bent out of shape about one of these accidents is when a kid died at Disney's Rockin' Roller Coaster and they apparently didn't have a defibrillator close by (the kid had some sort of heart condition that he didn't know about?). I would think all of the major coasters would have defibrillators within easy range.

These events are always tragic but what is the alternative? No coasters? I do think the theme parks have to do everything within their power to train and prepare their employees.

Interesting question.

Most of these are freak accidents and you really can't train employees on how to handle them because they are freak accidents.

On this one I would say wait till the investigation is over. For one it sounds too dang much like the accident that happened on a roller coaster when I was a kid working st Six Flags Mid America. After the investigation it turns out the husband murdered the woman and he was charged.

I tried to find a link to the outcome but can't find any, I guess because it was from 1984. Pretty much the restraints would hold her in but not tightly because of her weight and shape. He pushed her out to collect on a life insurance policy he took out a couple months earlier.

It is TF;s recount of the person behind her saying she questioned the restraint. It is just they don't, they never, ever, let the guest do their own restraints and assess when they are secure. Regardless of whether a guest buckles themselves the ride operator always! pulls up, out, whatever is the appropriate direction, to ensure they restraint is properly engaged. After this process is completed by all ride operators they raise their hands to signal the driver.

I worked there for three years, as a ride operator, and have had season passes ever since. I have never seen this procedure skipped and find it doubtful it was skipped that day.

Every morning maintenance checks the trains and the tracks, the ride foreman walks the tracks with maintenance. I can attest that for someone afraid of heights there is nothing scarier than walking the screaming eagle's tracks.

From my experience those rides are safe so I have to believe this is a freak accident or something else.
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Oh, the reason TF's comment made me think of that accident was the husband kept going on about how he didn't think the restraints would hold. Oddly, no one ever makes that comment getting on a roller coaster.

It sounds like it was just a freak accident, and accidents happen. Maybe when they did the harness check, it felt like it was locked in place but it didn't actually snap and lock properly. Or maybe it was defective and a fluke.

I'm sure the investigation will help them figure things out. I don't think that it's a reason to stop going on the rides or lose all faith in the employees, maintenance, and the training, etc. I do think that paying attention to particular parks' safety records is important. There are certain parks I'll go to, but not others.

I think the permanent parks (such as 6 Flags) have much more regulation and maintenance than many of the traveling carnivals, which are under less scrutiny. In the traveling carnivals, rides are broken down and set up over and over, and many of the "carny" jobs are handed down to family members of other carnies. It's a tough life, traveling from place to place and while some of the workers are very dedicated, the rides are moving into new jurisdictions all the time and are subject to the review of a different group of inspectors every week or so. In general, I think the larger, permanent parks are safer. That doesn't mean there's never an accident and never an oversight, of course. Many of them have seasonal employees, but quite a few parks especially in southern states are open year round. I don't think you can generalize about park employees. And let's remember there were design flaws on the Space Shuttles, airplanes and trains - tragedies are terrible and should be investigated, but I don't think it would keep me off a ride at a big name park.

No, it doesn't. Stuff happens.

Should the employees be better trained in handling emergencies? yes.

It was most likely a freak accident. It's not like it happens every day, once a week or even once a month.

Was it preventable? Who knows! Was she strapped in properly? I don't know. I know that when I went to Busch Gardens in May - the roller coaster did NOT leave the platform until every person was secured in their seats. And they went seat by seat.

here's the link for others who might not have seen it.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/flags-texas-W.-dies-riding-texas...

My worst fear realized!

The thing is, it could be any number of reasons.
Maybe the biggest reason is accidents happen.

No matter what, we can't obtain perfection. We can't rule out anything, even if every procaution in the world were taken.

Things break down, oxidize, fall apart. Left to themselves, things decay.
Software gets buggy.
Our back up safety is humans. We make mistakes. Sometimes they have terrible consequences.

The rides you are talking about, are inherently dangerous. There are layers of protection and precautions but on occasion, they are going to fail.
You take risks everyday. It's part of living.

Stuff happens. But a safety harness should NEVER release during the ride. That's so scary I'm sick.

If it can happen once...well, I don't want my family going to these places. I hear about too many deaths that should not happen.

A 3 YO died on a coaster near us. A kiddie one. Fell out. Just not worth the risk. Though I realize that's different. He didn't stay put. But with this woman, she just fell out due to the safety bar malfunction???? That is so scary.

Living just minutes from Six Flags TX this has been major news over the weekend. My oldest son has a season pass for 6 Flags this year. This is the one ride he hasn't been on yet since the line has always been too long to ride it. I am so thankful ! Before he goes I will be talking to him about making sure all the safety bars are latched correctly. I don't know about the accident at Cedar Point but from what I have heard and read about on 6 Flags I believe it was the carelessness of the employee. My understanding is the woman told the employee it wasn't latched correctly and the employee told her it was fine. (All the other bars clicked 3 times - hers only clicked 1 time.) It may have been employee training also. But I do believe this was a preventable accident.

Amusement parks are just dangerous places, but it doesn't get a lot of publicity.

"Between 1990 and 2000, around 82,000 children under 18 were taken to emergency rooms after suffering injuries from amusement park rides. An additional 11,000 suffered injuries on rides located outside of amusement parks, such as those found at local malls, restaurants, or arcades.".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusement_park_accidents

And that's just child injuries - add in adult injuries and the injury rate numbers must be higher.

It's a combination of things.
Sometimes lack of maintenance is a problem, sometimes it's user error (kid thinks he's big enough to ride a ride but isn't and the restraint doesn't hold him in) or sometimes it's something else.

I love amusement parks but I've got to a point where I can't see paying a really big entrance fee so I can wait in line all day.
It use to be not quite so crowded and it was enjoyable.
Now everyone has their eye on the profit margin/bottom line and maximum advertizement/attendance/occupancy and minimizing operating costs and it's just not that much fun anymore.
If a big crowd is going in one direction, it's a good idea to head the other way.