Intamin restraints called into question after recent accident

What kind of restraints is Storm Running using?

I believe Storm Runner is using OTSR restraints...am I right?

(and is that the right shortcut to say "over the shoulder" - OTSR?)*** This post was edited by BigJim4Life 5/4/2004 9:56:56 PM ***

Yes, Storm Runner is using OTSR.

In more recent updates, I was watching the local news and they reported that Superman at SFA along with all other Intamin rides across the country will remain closed until they can each be investigated on a case by case basis as requested by the manufacturer. I'm guessing, this means we'll see a lot of Intamin coasters down this upcoming weekend.

Cedar Points ride op training for the t-bars is this...

Lapbar sits on top of thighs + rider fastens seatbelt on their own = ok to ride

Lapbar sits on top of gut = can not ride

Rider cannot fasten seatbelt on their own = can not ride

The Intamin restraints work well when these guidlines are followed. The big problem is all of the judgment in the hands of the ride operators. If employees do not use good judgement then an accident can result. I wouldn't say that Intamins restraints are faulty, but I still think that a redesign would be the best thing for these rides. Take away the guess work for the ride ops.

This is training week at Cedar Point, and I'm sure that the employees at Millennium Force and TTD are getting an earful on how important it is to not allow large guests to ride. Examples will be given on what they should look for and the stories will be told about the other incidents.

I was working as Team Leader at Millennium Force when the Knott's P.P accident happened. The very next day, management had a long talk with all of us stressing how the lap bar must be against the riders thighs and seatbelts should not be streched to secure the rider.

Better to tell someone they cannot ride, than to have an incident.

So to answer everyone's TTD & MF questions about these two coasters being open it looks like the answer is no.

Just out of curiosity would that include other Intamin rides at SFA such as TOD & TSC?

sorry i was realy pissed when i posted that. I didn't mean to sound like a jerk. Just that dude has pissed me off for years. I ment no disresept

Batwing Fan, why answer "everyone's question" with the wrong answer? Where do you get your info from?

Cedar Points has this to say....

"The recent accident at a Six Flags park in New England will have
no effect on the operation of The Millennium Force and Top Thrill
Dragster."

I agree with Crashmando. Although it is not possible to say it was or was not the restraints fault, millions or at least thousands of riders ride these rides every year and nothing happens. Very similar to air travel. As I said before, it is impossible from the information available to say it was or was not the restraints. But from pure speculations of the facts that are available, it seems as though it was rider error. And if it was rider error, Intamin needs to make it so rider error is impossible to achieve.

I am a soon to be 50 year old coaster enthusiast. I am also disabled and a somewhat large guy. I have been disabled since 1997, so most of my coaster riding years were before that, and since then, I go to the parks on my scooter (mobility cart) but even with "head of the line" priveledges, do not ride a coaster any more in a typical day at a park than I did before. I have ridden a vast majority of the coasters that exist. My screen name references the first large Coaster I rode and grew up with, The Comet, of Crystal Beach Ont., and now of the Great Escape, have rode it there too. When I first rode the Comet at age 7 or 8, there were virtually no restraints. Just a bar to grab on to. One could have turned around, stood up, or stood on your head for that matter. Nobody to my knowledge fell out. Granted, though the Comet is still a great ride, coasters have grown in size and speed, and therefore the restraint systems have become more, well, restraining. While I am not myself an engineer, I would hazard to guess that no restraint system is made where the engineers say "good enough". The rides just cost too much, the insurance premiums too high. Other than the ride just plain breaking like in the Thunder Mountain Railroad accident, other incidents, such as this unfortunate one being discussed, are likely cases of rider error, whether it was doing something wrong during the ride or putting oneself in the wrong place. I have ridden SROS DL, a similar ride, many times, and since it opened post 1997 (my beginning year of disability), all my rides on it have been in that status. I have NEVER felt uncomfortable or unsafe on it, even in a "hands up" mode, and I must say that I can only see where it might be possible to be unsafe if I tried to be unsafe. I would say that goes for ALL other coasters older and newer, Intamin, Vekoma, B&M, PTC, whatever, I've ridden them all. Let's keep it in perspective. A death on a coaster, not to trivialize it at all, like death in an airplane crash, makes news. Any one of us is exponentially more likely to have an accident travelling to and from a park than in a park.

Rihard: there's new information now available as of today that Intamin has requested "all" parks nationwide that operate their coasters featuring the T-bar style restraints.

Yes this does include rides such as TTD,Excelerator & MF....so now you know that the order to close these similar rides goes beyond just the SF chain.

BATWING FAN SFA,

I would appreciate it if you could post a link to the article or press release featuring the "new information" you speak of.

Thanks,
Rich Genthner / PTC99

I would like to know where this info is coming from too. we have a trip to CP in 2 weeks and called them about TTD and MF. they told us they have no intentions of closing the rides because they observe all safety precautions and restrictions.in fact, i just called them back and they said the safety devices on TTD and MF and similar, but not the same and CP has heard nothing about shutting down intamin coasters of any kind, other than what they are doing in MA. they are running normal, standard tests on the rides and proceeding normally.*** This post was edited by COASTINGTHRU 5/5/2004 1:28:24 PM ***
*** This post was edited by COASTINGTHRU 5/5/2004 1:34:35 PM ***

Thats promising.

I'm going to Darien Lake for my birthday party next saturday the 16th. I hope sros is open

6th incident was longer ago, when the unconcious girl was tossed from the Intamin Flight trainer. That indeed was determined to be Intamin's fault in restraint design (namely for not having sides on the seats to prevent a rider from slipping out of the restraints sideways.

Fact is, too many people have been tossed from Intamin rides recently. The restraints are minimal which may be part of the problem.

There really is not a whole lot to grab onto on an Intamin hyper if the restraint does fail during the ride either.

Intamin does have a problem. What was once viewed as a quality manufacturer is now becoming viewed as unsafe and rushed, often non-operation design (recent launched coasters).

Batwing Fan SFA, is that information you got today from Intamin directly? It seems that Cedar Point is still saying that the rides will be open.

Cedar Point must be telling lies and talking about things they don't really know.

One of the posts said that the Seatbelt AND T-Bar are "critical" components of the restraint system.

Let's not forget - SROS @ Darien Lake ran a WHOLE season without seat belts! They were added later.

Just go over to thrillnerds & check out Coasterlover's thread on the investigation to find out more on the information that I submitted in this thread....it's in the roller coasters forum.

Coasterlover got the information from a report shown on the local news the other day regarding SFA's decision to close their Intamin hyper(I however missed the report) so you might need to take it up with him as to the validity of the information.

I'm just the messenger here & didn't write the message myself you know.

BatwingFanSFA,

Have you heard of Cut and Paste instead of sending a bunch of people to another website to obtain information.*** This post was edited by coasterguts 5/5/2004 5:33:48 PM ***

Fubar,

Darien's S:RoS debuted on 5/15/99 and was retrofitted with seatbelts sometime between the ejection accident on 5/16/99 and its reopening on 5/21/99. BTW, welcome to the forum. ;)

BATWING,

I think it's obvious at this point that Coasterlover either misinterpreted the news report or was the victim of inaccurate reporting.

Rich Genthner / PTC99

Now I'm confused! I distinctly remember riding SROS Darien Lake without seat belts - during normal park hours. Maybe I just happened to be there on 5/15 or 16?? Really don't remember.