Baltimore News Station Does Roller Coaster Segment

I can't directly speak for Sam, but I think what he's saying that if someone were to shake the airgates enough, it could cause the computer to sense that they're open, and wouldn't allow the train to drop. I saw this happen on S:ROS one day. One airgate out of place, and no rides for everyone. If you've never heard the announcement, they are always telling people not to shake the airgates.

CoasterGuts,

Have you recieved any word from the news station saying that it is on the site now?

Thanks

"While the NJ numbers include all amusement park ride violations, it should still seem to support the fact that 70 some violations over 2 years for 11 coasters in Maryland isn't really that many by comparison..."

While there probably were a lot more in NJ, it is important to note that since amusement ride regulations can vary greatly from state-to-state it is hard to compare two states' safety records by putting thier respective park's violations side-by-side.

Adam

I agree with Sam and Intamin Fan... I have seen this on Roar. One train was leaving the station, another one pulling into the station, kid leaning on the air gate, the next thing you know everything is stopped and we are waiting on maintenance to show up. A few minutes later, everything was running again.

slightlyt OT: I have to give credit to the Wild One crew this year. They are having fun and enforcing the rules. The ride op was having fun on Saturday getting everyone to the Hokey Pokey, he tried the Oscar Meyer song with no success he kept trying different songs until he got one everyone started singing
together.

Back to the topic: I haven't heard anything more from WMAR TV. When I do, I will let you know. You can check the website yourself if you like, www.insidebaltimore.com. Select Video, abc2 news online, click the "ABC2 News Investigative Reporting
With Tisha Thompson" link.

So I'm not the only one who's been extremely pleased with the crew on WO? they were doing an outstanding job on my last visit to the park & gave us some great after hours rides that night.

Of particular interest is how the lead op was enforcing the rules about not leaning on the gates...she was instructing all guests in line to remain behind the red zone,which extends from the edge of the platform to just behind the gates.

Perhaps maybe they should add a red zone to Roar & S:ROS as well & maybe that'll keep the "gate crashers" in their proper place...it seems to work wonders on WO so maybe it'll have the same effect on the other rides as well.

Actually, yes, they have been enforcing the red zone on Wild One and they were doing so on Saturday.

The video and article are now up!

Thanks for letting us know SixFlagsAmericaFan...

I never received a message back from Tisha...

I think it was a fair and balanced report. Seventy safety violations in a year is a pretty small number and like the report said, the inspector willn't put her seal of approval on it until those violations are repaired I noticed the state stickers on all of the rides at SFA and everyone of them is usually dated within a couple of weeks of the park opening.

Kudos to the reporter for pointing out you should follow the rules, the only death was the result of someone not following the rules and pointing out everyone should follow the safety signs and you are safe as long as you follow those signs. Especially about the heigh requirements for kids. I was at the park on Saturday when some lady was upset because the attendant wouldn't let you kids ride the ride even though she met the requirement based on the measurement pole of the ride. She didn't understand that she was concerned for the childs safety.

*** Edited 5/11/2004 11:58:12 PM UTC by coasterguts***

Nice news segment. I'm glad they pointed out that Two-Face kept the riders safe because of the failure and that there was no danger. This is a common misconception among the general public.

They gave a pretty good report on their inspection procedures & it's a good thing for us that Maryland has the most toughest inspection regulations of any state in the country.