Boy hurt after bouncing around in cage of fair ride

I in know way want to justify what happened, but if you see the restraint fail, why the hell would you let your kid get on the ride?

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com - Sillynonsense.com
"The world rotates to The Ultra-Heavy Beat!" - KMFDM

Um, actually, Jeff, she was told that a similar incident occured "after" her son came out, so I ask this question: Why in hell did the operator not close off those seats? In order to slip out of one of these seats, that restraint has to come up enough to let someone slip out. It is a problem with the locking mechanism.

I've been on the skymaster before and the only difference of the front seats compared to the middle seats is the leg room, but surely, that should not at all have effected the reason he came out or not. This ride uses a similar OTSR as any other looping ride, and has never had an occurance like this that Im aware of. The ride needs torn down and inspected before this happens again.

*** This post was edited by john peck 3/18/2003 10:06:06 AM ***

" In order to slip out of one of these seats, that restraint has to come up enough to let someone slip out. It is a problem with the locking mechanism."

Actually, this is something that has come up on this board before. The ARM/Fabbri/Sartori/Preston & Barbieri versions all feature restraints where it is possible to get out of if you are small. IIRC the excessive footroom in the front of these rides does make it possible to wiggle out under a restraint if it is locked a peg or two above your legs. However, I think the Vekoma/Mondial/Huss versions of this ride are either different in the shape of the car, the restraints, or both.

Adam
who has only found the Huss Ranger to be fun...the rest are just painful

I've ridden one of these rides at a local carnival before & there isn't all that much in the way of security with regard to the restraint system.

The restraint system consists of a non lockable OTSR which is held in place by only a lapbar,which in turn is held in place only by a small pin,at least on the particular unit that I rode & if the operator had said that another rider managed to slip out of the restraint either due to too much clearance between the seat & the passenger or an all out restraint failure then that ride should've been shut down immediately,it's yet another reason why I just don't trust these portable carnie rides at all anymore.

"it's yet another reason why I just don't trust these portable carnie rides at all anymore"

What does this have to do with this ride being a "carnie" ride? The exact same rides appear at Libertyland, Scandia Fun Center, Miracle Strip Park, Martin's Fantasy Island and several other parks. It seems the restraint problem is a design flaw that affects riders at parks and carnivals, not just riders who only get on them when the carnival comes to town.

Adam

The restraint on that ride is terrible. Any rider who isn't morbidly obese is going to bounce up and down in the seat, suspended only by his chest and clavicles. Any rider who can slide forward just a little can slide completely clear of the restraint. It's a nasty, painful ride, and I don't care whether we're talking about the Fabbri version or the ARM version.

I'm with Adam, except that I'll allow that the Larson Ring of Fire is OK, and the Eyerly Loop-O-Plane should be OK.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Reminds me of the Skydiver. I came out of that ride's restraint when I was 5. I was tumbling around in the car. Not a very fun experience.

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"Know thyself!"

Looks a lot like the Skyflyer we used to have at La Ronde (removed this year to make room for the Discovery I heard). Its was by Vekoma and used these restraints: the cage around the riders... and instead of a harness, a weighted lap bar that comes down on your lap. You feel really secure in it.

I think I saw the same kind of ride before in a fair that came to my town (not the same company through) and one look at the restraints... didn't look too promising.

The shoulder bar on a Skymaster or Kamikaze is supposed to be a hydraulic lock similar to the Intamin bars, but with a release handle right over the rider's head.

Absmillard, that Vekoma ride you describe sounds like one where they actually got it right! So that means Eyerly, Huss, Larson and Vekoma did it right; ARM, Fabbri, and Larson all screwed it up. (Yeah, Larson has done it both ways...)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I'm addressing three people in this post--Batwing Fan SFA, Rideman, and LONNOL.

Batwing Fan SFA:
The OSTR restraint *does* lock--twice even. The first locking point is indicated by an audible "clink" After that, the second locking point is the very audible ratchets. Note that even when the ratchets are released at the end of the ride, the overhead lever still has to be pulled to release the bar from the first "clink" locking position. Therefore, if your particular OTSR was non-locking and held only by the lapbar--then your OTSR was broken!

As for the supplemental lapbar on the rides that have it--the lapbar also locks at two points. The first point--a spring-loaded peg--locks into the side gate on the side where the gate does not open, and that locking point can be released by sliding the lever on the lapbar. The second locking point is another peg that is secured when the side gate that does open and close is in the closed and locked position--and it doesn't appear that this second peg can be released unless that side gate is actually opened.

Rideman:
I am aware of a second generation of these OTSR restraints--they have a crossbar going across the chest and seem to have a larger lap portion. The padding looks a bit softer as well. At least one local amusement company (Christensen Amusements) has a travelling Kamikaze with these new restraints, as well as the supplemental lapbars. To me, their ride looks very safe with the newer OTSR's plus lapbars.

I also found that in the middle rows, but maybe not in the front or back, there is a crossbar that runs across the seat in front. Whether or not this was an intended restraint--it doesn't really matter. Go ahead and stick your feet under that bar, and it helps in bracing when the ride is in positions that would force you out of your seat. At the very least, your legs do not lifting up as much when the gondola is inverted.

LONNOL:
If among the other parks you mentioned, you are referring to the Scandia Fun Center that is the home of the Scandia Screamer? I think that Scandia may be the exception as far as the ride restraints go. I remember seeing that Scandia's (single-gondola) version had the first generation OTSR's, but also added seatbelts, instead of the lapbar. That might have been their way of solving the restraint design flaw, and if so, it seems to be an effective way of solving the problem--a snug seatbelt would prevent sliding out of the seat as well as shoulders rising up into the lapbar.

Note: the post above dated 3/19/2003 12:13:46 AM was made by LiftHillFan. Due to some sort of error, my name does not show up on that post.

And, since I was unable edit the post--since it has no name associated with it--I'm making another post so that the post above is correctly identified.