A return of the OTSR's?

With all the coasters equipped with the lapbars/seatbelt combo that allow more freedom of movement, (see also MF,TTD,SROS etc..) do you all think that ride manufacturers could possibly make the move back to putting OTSR's, or designing new coasters with them, on? (Heck it really doesn't even have to be OTSR's for that matter.)

Don't get me wrong, I like them just the way they are and wouldn't change it for a thing, but with recent events that have happened, and concerns over guest safety, one might think that parks might start asking for OTSR's in the design of their sit-down coasters.

I know they're(OTSR's) a pain in the butt and uncomfortable at times but if guests of larger sizes keep getting booted off rides, they're gonna have a tendency to perhaps stay away from the rides/parks all together. And with the new 2" rule with seatbelts on MF (for example) larger guests may be in some trouble. I'm not saying that only large guests visit amusement parks by any means, but the fact remains that Americans in general are getting heavier every day/year.

As a guest of some size, I'd personally wouldn't mind seeing this trend start up so as not only to allow for more "lee-way" (for lack of a better word) but to create a safer feeling environment. I'll probably get flamed to death over this but oh well! :) Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?

Why? It seems to me the opposite trend is in line, given the Premier retrofits.

And show us the looping Premier coaster someone's fallen from.

Maybe what I'm fishin' for in my post should be entitled-Do you think that parks might start "catering" more to bigger guests by switching to alternate restraints?-.

I think/hope not.

I think that eventually we may see seatbelts that are locked and released like the other restraints. I don't know when that will happen, but that seems like a logical step to me.

^^^Thank you. That needed to be said. I've said it before and i'll say it again, I am sick of people who are too selfish to follow rules and feel the world needs to cater to them. Lifes tough, and if your not like the average joe, theres just some things you can't do. Its not fair that people who follow the rules need to be punished for the few that don't want to. Notice the trend here people? Fat people fall off of roller coasters...its the plain truth. When are some of you going to learn that to be safe, some people just can't ride? Its ruining coasters' reputation because a few people decide THEY should be the exception.

Hey, takes ONE person to spoil it for the rest of us... even if there's millions of us!

Obese people... it's their own fault. They can control their weight problem if they put their mind to it. So if they're booted off a ride for being too "large", it's their own damn fault... not the ride-op's, not the ride manufactures for making the restraints "for normal folks".

I like the trend of more lap-bars than OSTR's, but I also like advances in technical achievement, where-as it's more safer for the rider altogether. Dispatching the train should only occur if every restraint has reached a certain minimum locking point, and all seatbelts are sensed that they are locked & secured. If they aren't, there should be a sensor that restricts the train from dispatching.
Whatever happens to the rider after the ride dispatches, is really the riders own fault... if they decide to wiggle out of the restraint, or unbuckle the belt for their own pleasure... blame should not be put on the ride-op as they did their job, and definately not the manufacture for providing a safe product when used under their guidelines.

Those warning signs they put out in the front of the queues & sometimes station houses aren't there for decoration, ya know!

^^^While it would be nice to just blame a group of people and stating that they COULD help it, it isn't completely true.

You see, obesity and overeating truly isn't a complete control/choice type matter. It is an addiction, your body does truly crave food in ways you probably don't understand. I myself am not obese or overweight, but I have done lots of research for my health classes and food has the same effects of several drugs.

If you are lucky enough to have stayed thin and not become addicted, don't rub it in other people's faces. A lot of obesity is genetic as well and people's metabolisms are dangerously slow. Therefore, in many cases they are not to blame.

Also, I'd like to see the reports that say all of the victims who have been thrown from the train were obese. I'm not saying it's not true, just want to see proof.

Oh, and Dawgbyte, I like your ideas for a safer ride, I do agree that if people are overweight, they really should check with the seat at the beginning of the que (when they do have one) if they don't fit comfortably, they shouldn't wait in line and hope the ride operator won't notice it, that's just stupid.

Food addictions can still be identified and controlled. True, the solution is a little different than 'just stop eating so much,' but it's still up to the individual to find it...and riding roller coasters is the last reason to do that. What about your joints, your heart, your respiratory system?

Nevertheless, my 7 year-old doesn't need to go flying from a ride just because the average US adult keeps getting heavier and heavier. I hope the Swiss, Germans and Yankees maintain the same point of view.

-'Playa

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CoastaPlaya said:
What about your joints...

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Uhh... are you referring to where you bone connects to another... or... the other kind of joints ;)
Because I don't think you can ever be too large to enjoy the other kind of joints

Dawgbyte's remarks show quite a bit of ignorance. Let's keep in mind that the most recent victim had a disability, for which his weight may be attributed. I do agree that you cannot design every ride for every different body type on the planet.

I also agree that an electronic check of seatbelts (like on Star Tours) and lap bars would be optimal but I don't know the logistics of that. A coaster car goes through some serious vibrations...even the steel coasters. What effect that would have on an on-board computer and the associated electronics is anybody's guess.

From a purely business perspective, it makes NO sense for the park to start disallowing larger people to ride (within certain limits, obviously). Just look around a park and think about how much business would be lost.

(devils advocate mode on)
Playa, So parks and coaster designers should be the "favored" class and make rides designed to your daughter doesn't "...go flying from a ride".

What about the larger guests? "Sorry, Sir, because you like many Americans are getting larger, you cannot ride this ride because CBaby and Da Midget need to fit in it too."

I am not only speaking of weight, I know some taller people who cannot ride V2 and DejaVu because they are too tall. What should we do with them? Chop them off at the knees?

The average Human height in general has increased more than four inches in the past 100 years with a majority of that growth "spurt" occurring in the last 50 years.

Am I wrong in recalling that many Beemers have some kind of electronic check at the station to see if the OTSR is far down enough? I recall when I gained enough weigth to almost not--quite-fit BAtman:The Ride, the dispatcher told the attendants to come over and check that I was in despite the click. I managed to get the next click point in so the light was green and we could go from there. Fortunately, it spurred me on to losing weight, so I will fit most rides this year, if not all of them.

I also thought that MF had something similar, based on their reputation to overly-protect riders for a safer environment, but I am probably wrong.

I also believe that if I can't fit on a specific ride due to whatever circumstances created it that way, then I can't ride. Period. I'd rather know I was safer not attempting to defeat the restraint specs than to tempt fate and try to get on anyway.

OTSRs are not necessarily being safer.
I'm a rather tall and skinny person, and the only coasters I didn't really feel safe in so far where the Vekoma SLCs - all the time I felt like I could get out of my seat and off the train easily of I wanted to.
But maybe that was just my impression - of course I never tried.

Exactly...this has been discussed ad nauseum around here. A proper lapbar setup (Premier, etc.) can be substantially safer than an OTSR setup. I've seen MANY people slip out of OTSRs and other lapbar setups like PTCs. Strap 100 people into premier trains or a tight B&M clamshell and I bet none can get out.

Wahoo your take on the whole vibration thing & adding computer back ups to the train might just explain why the flying dutchmen have so much downtime.

Batwing vibrates so darn much that it's no wonder why it breaks down after about every half hour or so of continual operation.

Anyhow we do need to lose some weight in this country because we are fast becoming a nation of large people...most of these rides are manufactured in europe by skinny europeans who don't really have any large people within the population to model a restraint system around & even if they did it still just isn't safe for someone to ride if the restraint cannot fit them properly.

It's this same basic reason as to why we have minimum height restrictions that guests must meet in order to ride....if you're too small,or too large the restraint can't properly function & do it's job which is to keep you secure in the seat at all times during the ride.

The premier belly-bars seem to be pretty secure. 1. They are a tight fit, so very large people that would not be secured will not fit. 2. The idea of this bar is that it goes against the abdomen, not the thighs. So as long as it is tight against the body, the rider is secure.

Both of these seem to be flaws with the intamin restraints. People who are too large for the restraint still fit in the seat and that the bar can be tight against your body, but if it is not tight against your thighs it is not safe.

As far as who the rides should be designed for, i do not think it is practical (as apparent from the intamin accidents) that rides can accomodate both very large guests and smaller guests and be safe for both. The parks are going to have to decide who their main target market is and priority of design will be to accomodate those guests.

*** Edited 5/10/2004 4:23:16 PM UTC by super7***

According to this article on CNN, there are 1.7 billion overweight people on the planet. Given there are only 300 million Americans and not all of them are overweight, it looks like there's a world-wide case for the manufacturers to accomodate larger guests. Does Richard Simmons even ride roller coasters?