Shoulder harness or not shoulder harness?

Speaking of the reliability of stand-up restraints, was it ever determined how that man got free of his OTSR on Shockwave at PKD last year? It was a terrible thing to happen, but what Dave said about the restraints reminded me of it.

I think it was his own fault Camel. I heard something like witnesses (on the coaster) saw him wiggle his arms out so he could hold them up in the air. They went through a loop or something and he flew out.

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Shawn Bailes
Webmaster of Coasters R Us
http://coastersrus.home-page.org

hockeyman: Indeed, safety belts have been added to the B&M stand-up coasters (too-short safety belts, in my personal opinion...) Mantis being the first to get them. But until last season, the B&M stand-ups did not have safety belts.

Camel: If I remember news reports correctly, I thought the guy slipped out and exited the moving train, striking the maintenance catwalk on his way out. I don't have any more detail than that. But having ridden a couple of Togo stand-ups (King Cobra at Kings Island and Skyrider at Canada's Wonderland) I can tell you there is absolutely no way to 'accidently' come out of that restraint if you ever got your arms into it to begin with...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Yeah, I have ridden the King Cobra and I agree. I think it would be difficult to purposefully exit the restraints. Last year after that happened everytime I rode a coaster I thought about how I could get out if I wanted to (not that I would want to). I came to the conclusion that it would be extremely difficult (on steelies at least).

As far as at what point in the ride it happened, I remember hearing reports that the guy fell out at the crest of the first hill. *** This post was edited by Camel on 8/25/2000. ***

i have an idea for sholder harnesses, make it so it ajusts to everyones height, so for short people it would go down all the way to their sholders, and not to their head, so that way the ride would be less painfull. who arees with me?

Speaking of the chairlifts, I don't even use the bar!

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Phantom of the Opera?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Phantom's Revenge
Oh I knew that!

Now wait a minute, all the OTSR's that I can think off have there lowest point practically adjacent to the riders thighs (except stand-yps that is). Therefore if a rider got stuck upside down, the majority of their weight would still be supported by the thighs NOT the shoulders. If anything they weigh would be distributed between the two places. Case-in-point: I was on one of those 'Kamikazee' carny rides (similar to looping starships) and they can (and do) actually stop the ride upside down. Now on that ride, the OTSR's were about 6 inches away from both the tops of my shoulders and the tops of my thigh. So as I was hanging upside down (for about 20-30 sec) some of the pressure was on my thighs, and some was on my shoulders. I can remenber the exact distributions, but there was no excessive pain on either point.

Intamin lap bars and trains are great :) Lots of freedom to move, and alot to view :)

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Alan Jacyzyn

The Thrill Seekers Guide To Six Flags Darien Lake:
http://sfdlinfo.tripod.com

I agree the Intamin hyper trains are without a doub the best trains I've ever been in.

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CP's Overrated

B&Ms hyper trains are pretty sweet as well.
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"DONT FIGHT IT, RIDE IT",,,,RAGING BULL

What I meant by no OTSR on a Inverted is a new type of restranit. I think a lap bar would work with a seat belt like on a chair lift. If you think about it all inverted coasters are is chairlifts from hell!!

Todd

Riddler's Revenge: THE MOST UNDERRATED RIDE IN THE WORLD!

I was thinking, imagine going through a B&M zero-g roll with no shoulder harness, just a lap bar. How would you ever get that zero-g feeling without it being unsafe. You would literally have to be pinned in the seat with lap bars to make it through that inversion. Shoulder harnesses give your upper body the support so it feels like your floating inside the harness.

Couldn't the restraints that Vekoma uses on Stealth be adapted for an invert or stand-up? I know capacity might be a problem, but that would still be more "free-feeling" than the OTSRs.

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-Dave Rutherford
*If things seem under control, you're just not going fast enough*

I thought to go through the inversion without an OTSR, because there was no head banging int the rest of the ride.