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"We are deeply saddened to share that earlier this evening an adult woman died in the park while on the Texas Giant. Park medical staff and local paramedics responded immediately. Since the safety of our guests and employees is our number one priority, the ride has been closed pending further investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends during this difficult time."

I read a follow-up somewhere that she may have been there with her son. My wife and son were there just last weekend. This really shook me. My heart goes out to her family.

This is why I try to avoid roller coasters. Yes, injuries are rare, but they DO happen.

Sad story

glock27 wrote:Sad. I wonder if it could bave neen from natural causes... o remember years ago one of the river rapids had a death as well

I suppose it is possible that she had a heart attack before being flung from the ride, but I am guessing not.

Word is the restraint came loose and she fell. Will be interesting to see if it failed, was not properly engaged, or somehow disengaged it.

Wow...this is out of a nightmare.

MadMonkey wrote:This is why I try to avoid roller coasters. Yes, injuries are rare, but they DO happen.

Sad story

It is a sad story. I just avoid roller coasters because they scare the bejabbers out of me and make me puke churros onto the shoes of whomever is standing closest to me.

And to be perfectly honest, I think that most people who have been chucked out of roller coasters to fall to their deaths have all been pretty overweight people, and I'm pretty overweight. I'm guessing that some people get on those things and they are large enough that either the restraining mechanism never really latches properly, or their mass overcomes the strength of the mechanism under certain amount of negative G loading. To me, it's a miracle that more people don't die on those things; but I don't think it's as much an indictment of the equipment as it is an indictment of how out of shape so many of us are. I know that most of these rides require you to be over a certain height before you can be permitted onto the ride, precisely because the safety equipment doesn't work as well for shorter people. Maybe they ought to weigh the prospective passengers as well.

I honestly don't know if the victim in this particular case was overweight or not. These are just my recollections about previous victims at other parks during my life.

The Annoyed Man wrote:

MadMonkey wrote:This is why I try to avoid roller coasters. Yes, injuries are rare, but they DO happen.

Sad story

It is a sad story. I just avoid roller coasters because they scare the bejabbers out of me and make me puke churros onto the shoes of whomever is standing closest to me.

And to be perfectly honest, I think that most people who have been chucked out of roller coasters to fall to their deaths have all been pretty overweight people, and I'm pretty overweight. I'm guessing that some people get on those things and they are large enough that either the restraining mechanism never really latches properly, or their mass overcomes the strength of the mechanism under certain amount of negative G loading. To me, it's a miracle that more people don't die on those things; but I don't think it's as much an indictment of the equipment as it is an indictment of how out of shape so many of us are. I know that most of these rides require you to be over a certain height before you can be permitted onto the ride, precisely because the safety equipment doesn't work as well for shorter people. Maybe they ought to weigh the prospective passengers as well.

I honestly don't know if the victim in this particular case was overweight or not. These are just my recollections about previous victims at other parks during my life.

Hey! I take offense to that!!! Round is a shape too, you know!

On a more serious note, I hope they quickly figure out how this tragedy happened.

The Annoyed Man wrote:I just avoid roller coasters because they scare the bejabbers out of me and make me puke churros onto the shoes of whomever is standing closest to me.

Yeah, that part. Even as a child, I never understood why people wanted to ride roller coasters. Or even worse, things that spin you around in circles! Ride, puke, feel like crap for the rest of the day. Where is the joy in this?

I do get that some of you people do not have the same response. More power to you.

Crossfire wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:I just avoid roller coasters because they scare the bejabbers out of me and make me puke churros onto the shoes of whomever is standing closest to me.

Yeah, that part. Even as a child, I never understood why people wanted to ride roller coasters. Or even worse, things that spin you around in circles! Ride, puke, feel like crap for the rest of the day. Where is the joy in this?

I do get that some of you people do not have the same response. More power to you.

This is a very sad situation. In reading the news article pointed to on the Drudge Report, it appears that the woman's safety bar failed even though she notified the ride operator that it didn't seem to be working properly. It will be interesting to see how the investigation unfolds. According to that news report, at least one of the woman's children was on the same ride. I cannot imagine that awful situation. My prayers go out for the woman and her family.

Many people ride coasters because of the feeling of their stomach dropping out. I don't do well with that so I limit my coaster riding to ones like Judge Roy Scream rather than the Giant. Like many other things, a lot of people have a lot of fun until something like this happens. Then the whole idea of riding coasters gets re-examined.

chasfm11 wrote:Like many other things, a lot of people have a lot of fun until something like this happens. Then the whole idea of riding coasters gets re-examined.

Not me. I reexamined the idea thoroughly after the first time I rode one as a kid. It has not needed reexamining ever since. The thing I don't get about them, although it is only tangentially related to this thread, is why anybody needs that adrenaline rush to have happiness, serenity, and joy in their lives.

When I was young, I partook in risky activities—most prominently roadracing open-class motorcycles in sanctioned roadracing events. But even that left me in full control. I only had to go as fast as I was willing to go, I had full control over the throttle and the brakes, and I could always exit the track when I decided to do so. Rollercoasters are like skydiving. You have to commit, because once you're rolling or out the door of the aircraft, there's no "getting off" until it's over; and if the equipment fails during the experience, there's a reasonably high probability of death or dismemberment.

Furthermore, those kind of moments do weird things to the chemistry of the brain. If you have an addictive personality, you can get addicted to that kind of rush, and then you seek more and more opportunities to have it. One might argue that the actual odds of catastrophe are pretty low each time you do it, and I have heard people make the (false) argument that repetition does not up the odds because they remain at whatever they are at for any individual given event like it. But any actuary will tell you that is false and that the more you expose yourself to an unchanging risk factor, the higher your individual risk becomes......not to mention that people who take such risks regularly are also likely to take risks in other areas of their lives, which are not nearly as public or offered up for discussion. Exactly zero people who don't jump out of perfectly good airplanes were killed in skydiving accidents, but skydivers get killed every year. (STATS) Roller coasters are statistically safer than skydiving, actually by a good bit, but I don't need that rush. I want a calm and serene existence. Roller coasters are neither.............but that's just me.

It's not that I am totally risk averse. Life is full of risk just in the day-to-day and mundane. Driving to the store carries an element of risk, etc., etc. I don't want to seal myself up in a vacuum just to avoid risk; but neither do I want to add to my risks unnecessarily by taking on activities which will significantly increase that normal risk of daily living. YMMV.

I like roller coasters. I think they are fun. Sadly as I get older my body does not think they are so fun. The quick turns and hard stops have made my neck hurt. As I do not have the luxury of injury I have to limit my rides to two in one day. I am do so sorry for this woman and her family. A very very sad day.

Crossfire wrote:

The Annoyed Man wrote:I just avoid roller coasters because they scare the bejabbers out of me and make me puke churros onto the shoes of whomever is standing closest to me.

Yeah, that part. Even as a child, I never understood why people wanted to ride roller coasters. Or even worse, things that spin you around in circles! Ride, puke, feel like crap for the rest of the day. Where is the joy in this?

I do get that some of you people do not have the same response. More power to you.

My little sister is braver that you guys. I'm pushing 30 and I still love roller coster. The faster the better.

I love roller coasters, but can't get past having to drive to Arlington and paying outrageous admissions prices. Very sorry for the lady that died and her family, when she said the restraint wasn't working they should have taken her seriously.