3/14-Fatality on Pigeon Forge Flat Ride

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coasterfreaky said:
* The investigation after the 2004 accident revealed that the safety system was circumvented. The owners were having trouble with the rides safety system alarm going off, and so they 'corrected' this by rewiring the system useless.

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To me, THAT is what explains the more serious charges...and I'd like to rescind my earlier statement...

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rollergator said:
2) improperly performed ride maintenance which resulted in a catastrophic failure of the restraints.

Right now, I'd bet on #2.

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It doesn't sound like *improper maintenance* anymore, it sounds like the restraints were INTENTIONALLY short-circuited to prevent the ride from shutting itself off...and knowing how rides work, IMO that sounds like enough to levy the MOST serious of the charges. How that'll go over with the jury, too early to tell.

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"Mace and Butler described how their safety harnesses came loose shortly after the swinging ride started. Both said they feared they would fall out before The Hawk came to a stop."

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More on this story in today's Tennessean:

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/05/03/69397473.shtml?Element_ID=69397473

Quote from the Knoxville News Sentinel (5/13/05)...

"Park owner Jerry Lindsey in 1998 saw The Hawk at a trade show in Florida and later purchased it, Delius said (defense attorney). A ride manual was not in print at the time. When the amusement park operators received a manual, it mentioned that there might be unspecified "anomalies" with the ride, Delius said.

Shortly after the ride was set up, a mishap occurred in which the machine crashed into its platform. Zamperla engineers made alterations to the ride by rewiring some sensors on the platform, Delius said.

Also, Delius said Pigeon Forge Police Department investigators zeroed in on Martin as a suspect without considering Zamperla's role in Alexander's death."

You'll have to register, but here's the full article...

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_3774267,00.html

Could Zamperla be just as guilty as the manager? What about the owner of Rockin Raceway - is he not liable also?

The defense is now blaming Zamperla for the fatality:

http://tennessean.com/local/archives/05/03/69440600.shtml?Element_ID=69440600

Wow...watching the trial on Court TV, and I really want to know who bypassed the safety system on the Hawk and why...Obviously the control box was a mess and was being used as a storage bin. That woman never should have died, because the ride should never have left the platform. Someone is responsible, and it seems now that the defense is trying to bring Zamperla into it...doubtful a company as large and successful as they would do something so stupid. My theory...Mr. Martin is covering for one of his employees, because he never thought this would go to trial. Supposedly he is noted for helping them out with money, etc. Interesting

I herad them say today that this case does not belong in criminal court. It certainly does...depraved indifference. They knew that they had rigged the control panel from the case w/ the first man back in 2004. They didn't maintain the computer system as they should have, and this woman died as a result. If the manager didnt do it himself, he is still responsible for what his mechanics do to "repair" rides. I worked many years at an amusement park and saw first hand what can happen when short cuts are taken

The park operator was sentenced today to four years probation plus 200 hours of community service work and avoided any prison time.

You can read more from WATE-Knoxville.

http://wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=3640269

This is the conclusion of the criminal aspect of this 'accident'. The civil side is still pending. *** Edited 7/26/2005 8:13:20 PM UTC by coasterfreaky***

Actually the original murder charge did make sense. There is legal precident for murder charges when the degree of indifference reaches the point that a fatality becomes inevitable rather than just a statistical possibility. This has been done with industrial accidents when conditions were absurdly dangerous. I suspect that given the condition of the ride and it's safety systems, that may well have been the case here.

From everything that's resulted, I think in the end there was no PROOF of who circumvented the safety system...so they settled on punishing him for "failure to make himself aware of the jumper wires"...

In either case, to me the punishment seems insufficient given that the actions resulted in a fatality, but without knowledge of WHO placed the jumper wirse, there's not that much to go on...