Are Seat Belt necessary?

What is Cedar Fair's obcession with seat belts? At Cedar Point, even the Woodstock Express has them!

How can rides like the Phoenix and Grand National with their awesome ejector air not need seat belts while Blue Streak and other Cedar Fair woodies do?

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It's about redundancy. If one restraint fails, the other is still there. It's not a conspiracy intended to piss off enthusiasts.

In fact, I seem to recall Dave mentioning that PTC considers the seat belt to be the primary form of restraint:
http://www.coasterbuzz.com/forums/thread.asp?ForumID=11&TopicID=9418

I've never encountered a belt that interfered with a ride. It's just one more thing for enthusiasts to cry about so they can sound knowledgeable about something (kind of like trim braking).

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Jeff (who found that thread quickly because the new search engine rocks when you throw things like "PTC seatbelt Althoff" at it)
Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com
"From the global village... in the age of communication!"

THey need about 2 or 3 seat belts on the mean streak.

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Cedar Point, it doesn't get any better then that:)

I don't mind seatbelts, in fact I prefer them. The only seatbelts that have me scratching my head are the ones on the Swamp Fox at Myrtle Beach, I do not like a single seatbelt for both passengers with a single bar and seat dividers. You have no sense of security like you find on some other seatbelted rides. I'm no fan of resraints, if they go so could you, the backup is awesome, and you cannot tell when you have one on.

If seatbelts allow a coaster train to have single lap bars instead of individually ratching bars, I'm all in favor of the seatbelts. Hate it when the individual bars self-staple during a ride.

In general, this is a park-by-park decision. Astroworld doesn't have seat belts on their coasters (consequently, on two of the Schwarzkopfs you can't have single riders), while a couple hours away Fiesta Texas has them on the Rattler.

I agree in some areas. I say seat belts for hypers no seat bealts on wooden coasters. But the only reason is in case the lap bars my fail and open up during the ride thats why belts are placed.

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Inverted coaster coming soon to Valleyfair!
*** This post was edited by VIPER on 8/3/2001. ***

I think it lowers CP Insurance with all the seatbelts on the coasters.

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Roller coaster of Love ~ ooi ~ ooi ~ ooi

Ever notice that by the time you get back to the station, the seat belt is a little stretched out from the forces your body puts on it? Mine always seems to be a half inch or so looser than when I fastened it. The system used to tighten and loosen the belts isn't that advanced, and there is a lot of play during the ride. It seems to me that this would be go against the idea that the seat belts detract from your ride.

Side note: Is it just me, or is there something up with the "Wildcat" coasters? Both that I've been on (HP and MA) have had really short belts. Oh well, I managed on both of them. I just thought it was a weird coincidence.

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"Whatever gets you through the night, well that's all right with me." Neil Young

I would think they would get some kind of insurance break for the seat belts. They are a secondary security system. Backup security, not a bad idea at all. They do not change the rides one bit.

On the other note, while CP has the extra safety of seat belts, it's odd they do not have air gates on most of their coasters. That blows the insurance discount theory, cause i would think that safety feature would give an insurance price break also.

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The only seatbelts that have me scratching my head are the ones on the Swamp Fox at Myrtle Beach, I do not like a single seatbelt for both passengers with a single bar and seat dividers.

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I found myself pulling my seat belt as tight as possible on Swamp Fox, but even that couldn't keep me from almost being thrown from the car :)

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Top Gun: The Jet Coaster Flights in 2001: 58
Coaster Tracks Ridden: 53
www.starcoasters.com

On Rampage at Visionland i rode with a loose seatbelt and i won't do that again!
I felt like I was gonna die on the hill after the first drop
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A lap bar is all you need!

I'd Rather slam into a seat belt than a lap bar. On Phantoms Revenge though I slam immediately into the bar since its right there. Oh well.

Hey, Raging Bull doesn't have seat belts, same with Viper (SFGAm), and Arrow looper coasters don't have seat belts.

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Current Favorite Coasters:
1)Raging Bull 2)Millennium Force 3)Medusa (SFMW) 4)Vertical Velocity (SFGAm) 5)Incredible Hulk, The

No, because they have OSTR's - except for Viper - great ride by the way. I don't think woodies need them.

The only seat belt I thought got in the way was on Phantom's Revenge because you can't have it loose.

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I like the seatbelts on Millennium Force, makes me feel more comfortable.

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Millennium Force: The Future's Riding On It

Goliath doesnt have them, and to me it adds to the thrill.

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"ok everyone go ahead and pull down on your shoulder restraint so you feel nice and stuck!"

Well, on Desperado, I felt like the lap bar wouldn't have helped me a bit. It only came up to my mid-thighs, but the seatbelt held me in as tight as I wanted. All the lap bar ended up doing was giving me bruises. So I guess that for tall people (I'm 6'1", BTW), the seatbelt can help hold you in more. Some of the smaller guests I saw had the lap bar touching their chest, so that could be one possible explaination on this ride.

Overall, though, I'd be inclined to go with the redundancy theory of Jeff's: If on restraint fails, then the other can back it up.

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If bees make honey, then do earwigs make chutney?

Well if you're on Shivering Timber, you will be glad that there is a seatbelt. If there wasn't then you'd be flying out of the car(No joke intended). I don't feel as safe with CCI's restraint system as I do with Intamins, ect.

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Don't fight it, Ride it, Raging Bull!
Webmaster:SFGAm 2001
http://www.angelfire.com/extreme/Coasterz

I feel safe with every restraint except two...

Boomerangs restraints, if they had the seat belt, I would be fine.

& Power Towers restraints, there is nothing to hold on-to, and they are not bulky. Considering this is the only ride that scares me (down side) but I still love the rush!

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"Villain-Once You Drop, The Fun Don't Stop!"~SFWoA Rules In 2001~X Marks The Spot In 2001(SFWoA)~With SFWoA ANYTHING Is Possible!

I know The Shockwave at SFOT has seat belts on I believe the last two or three seats on the train. Of course this intamin has only lapbars and has two very tall inversions back to back, the back seat you get a bunch of airtime( I love the airtime on it:):):))so I am thinkin' the belts are just a safety precaution in the back cause the amount of airtime!!I love that ride- back seat is the best!!:)
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TITAN CRAZED!!