Jury orders Great America to pay $442,000 for 1998 incident on Demon

I can't believe I'm reading some of these posts -

I'm just about as anti-lawyer and anti-lawsuit as they come, but there is absolutely NO justification about the patrons accepting some sort of risk by hanging upside down for two hours.

This is completely unacceptable and falls outside of "accepted" risk, which for the most part I happen to agree with, (but not in this instance).

As a controls designer, I see this boils down to one of two things - either a) poor engineering of a wheel mechanism or b) poor preventive maintenance of a wheel mechanism. Either way, the park is ultimately responsible and should be held accountable.

*** This post was edited by Mango Madness on 1/15/2001. ***

I don't blame the tourists- I mean I would do the same thing. I blame whoever settled to give them that much money. That's pathetic. They get hurt and the get thousands of dollars?!? That's like going to a grocery store and having some soup cans fall on your head and sueing. $1OO,OOO would have been a great deal for these riders. $442,000 is just way too much.
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Jack, who can't wait for Opening Day 2001...

the people on in it in my opinion pardon my french but they are f*cken P*sses they should stop whining

Why can't I shake the feeling that this 'psychologically damaged' family will celebrate their court victory with a visit to IOA?

Hoping some tabloid snaps a photo....

-CPlaya

What? I don't think the people that were stuck on the ride should've got any money. I mean what about the people that were stuck upside-down on Boomerang at SFMW? They didn't complain, they got an apology, they never sued, and they just went on with their lives.

I think this ruling is stupid and another example of people on juries buying sob stories and sticking it to a big company who they feel has deep pockets. Anytime you are on a ride or device that has moving parts it could break down. From reading other articles about the suit nothing was shown or proven that six flags didnt properly maintain the ride and it was just a accident that couldnt have been prevented. Everytime you go on a ride the possibilty exists for a breakdown so every time a ride breaks down should everybody on the ride sue? Another example how stupid people and money grubbing lawyers are ruining our great country.

$442,000.00 for a whole trainload of people is not unreasonable. Rollercoasters are not supposed to hang people upside down for two hours. With this amount of an award, the people getting the most money are the lawyers. SF should maintain their rides better. I'm glad these people got the money. Had I been on the jury, I think that I may have given it to them also.

I cannot believe how many of you are that heartless towards these people. They were stuck upsidedown longer then what would be considered reasonable. This ride only has OTSRs so that means that all of your body weight is pressed on your shoulders against the restraints. The father who filed the suit was with his 8 year old son. Imagine trying to keep your child that young from freaking out for that length of time and yes an 8 year old is tall enough to get on the Demon because the height restriction is 42 inches. Think as average people and not coaster addicts and you might see the other side of the story.

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"DONT FIGHT IT, RIDE IT",,,,RAGING BULL

I am very surprised it was ONLY $440,000.

I would have to agree that $440,000 is alot of money to get for hanging upside down. But It would hurt, I mean come on, after the first hour upside down you would be thinking, ok, this sucks. But after 2 hours you would probably start thinking about how much money your going to get for this.

Don't worry! My model will NOT get stuck upside down!

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www.angelfire.com/oh4/tk173
First rule of Stormtroopers: Pee BEFORE you put on the uniform!

The Coaster was stuck up-side-down for 2 hours and the people were rushed to the hospital and some were in intensive care for a long time. There was too much blood drainage to the head and it deformed their head! There eyebrows are very high because they were pulled that way. It was horrible, I don't believe they deserved that much money cause if it was a small park they wouldn't sue for that much. But that is America forya the happy sueing country!!!


PS Someone who knows about Drachen Fire Info, answer my question under BGW's Drachen Fire!

i swear that older people and other people in authority are becoming such big wimps these days. Trust me, i aint no wimp... i rode son of beast in its early days and i wasnt seen complaining about the pain. it should be your own responsibility when you board a roller coaster because it was your decision to go on the ride and the park didnt force you to go on it!

so dont be a wimp...board at your own risk!

paladin, are you seriously going to compare being stuck upsidedown for 3 hours over a ride on SOB? When coasters stop it is usually on a lift hill. I have had my share of lift hill stalls which included myself being stuck on the Demon. If anyone here on this site can say that they have been stuck upsidedown on a coaster and make a case of how cool it was I want to know who you are. If you cant make that claim , then you need to realize how traumatic this can be. They showed a picture of two 6 year olds stuck on the Demon loop in terror on the front page of the Chicago Sun Times. If I were a parent I would be worried. Like I said on my previous post, get over the coaster addict mentality and realize what the general public thinks of this.

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"SAVING THE WORLD BEFORE BEDTIME" Powerpuff girls

Recap:
Trapped in a coaster upside down for over 2 hours, No bathroom breaks, Blood rushing to your head, Summer heat, Lawyer fees, Travel expenses, lost wages and or vacation time due to court appointments, Having to split the money ?? ways.
$442,000.00 NOT ENOUGH MONEY! I couldn't imagine being trapped upside down for that long especially while trying to keep my child calm, who by the way would probably never step foot on another coaster after that experience.

$442,000 is just a drop in the bucket for most parks. Since most states do not have safety guidelines and maintenance requirements for parks to follow and OSHA in most cases is the only agency that keeps these parks in check. And OSHA can only step in when and employee has filed a complaint.
I think a larger fine would compensate the victims better and help the park to beef up its preventative maintenance program.

You take the risk if you are going to ride the coaster. Don't get me wrong it is unfortunate that it happened, but I do not think every thing in society should always be looking for an opportunity to sue someone for money. I feel that they were awarded fairly. In the end all this is going to do is hurt the people that will patronize the company in the future by increased prices by the judgement and the court costs. It is good that this is behind the company though so they do not have to be brought down with the lawsuit.

I think that what happened to those people is sad, but you have to forget about it. I was in the station to go on the ride when the American eagle crashed after the car separated back a few years. People I know that were with me in line tried to get free stuff from sfga and they got season passes for the next year and for the rest of that year because (like these people on the demon) they make stuff up like being traumatized. I think they will do anything for people to shut up about it and they have the money to give, so I say give the wining babies their money and drop the issue. It's bad publicity *** This post was edited by LocoDiablo on 1/27/2001. ***

they get all that money!! not fair i got stucm upside down on the scream machine is sfga in nj for about 20 secs but they where life altering! tey exsilerating! it happend in the pretzil knot type inversion towrd the back of the ride in 97. we got free sodas and plush toys and food . i gusse they prided us with those cupons. lol well thats all and ill tell u one thing those arrow harnest hurt when haning in them!

p.s igot stuck becuase of somones hat! ANOTHER PERSON WHO DONT FALLOW RULES!

UMmmmm... That was a whole family that got stuck on the Demon!! There were two kids, the one that was eight years old has cerebral palsy. The famlit knew he had the condition, but hey would you tell your child, "no you can't ride a coaster" , he had cerebral palsy? This family loves this child and would do anything for him. After he got out of the train, he said "that was cool".