Can You Say Unsafe? - CoasterBuzz

I just got back from SFAW (I noticed park improvements), and across the street was the rodeo carnival. Is it just me or do tose rides looks scary! Anywayz, I saw a portable free-fall ride. Is it just me, or does that seem unsafe? I saw it get stuck twice! Astroworld was somewhat nicer, by the way!

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Superman: Krypton Coaster----Just Ride It

1.) Millennium Force 2.) Superman: Krypton Coaster 3.) Steel Eel 4.) Raptor 5.) Mantis

No, portable freefall rides are not "unsafe" just because they travel. Why would that make them any more dangerous?

In fact, Fabbri's portable MegaDrop ( http://makeashorterlink.com/?C1BA212C3 ) is by far the best drop ride I've ever experienced, portable or not.

-Nate

Define "unsafe"...

According to the appropriate website, the carnival is operated by Ray Cammack Shows, which I was under the impression is a pretty well-regarded show.

You say "unsafe" because the rides are portable? Has it occurred to you that first of all the rides are designed to travel, and second, that some maintenance and inspection can only be done when the ride is taken apart, which means there are parts of rides that get far more attention on portable rides (that are taken apart every week) than on park rides (that might get partially dismantled once a season).

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Portable rides are not inherently less safe or safer than fixed rides. The maintenance and operation of the rides makes far more difference than whether they are portable or fixed. I've seen traveling shows that had rides among the best maintained and operated that I've seen anywhere. I've also seen some portables that I wouldn't trust as much. There is also a fixed park that I won't ride at due to safety issues.

I have to agree with RideMan. most Portables are safer than Park models in the respect that they get alot more "attention".

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Loyal fan of Nolimits.
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stoogemanmoe.

Miss coastergames.net? Here is a good site.

Hey stoogeman,

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Track Record: 164
Favorite Wood: Phoenix at Knoebels
Favorite Steel: Millennium Force at Cedar Point

That drop ride stays up at the top for about 3-5 min. I rode that last week and I agree with coasterdude, that was one of the best drop rides ever!
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Texas Cyclone- 100% better then ever!

stoogemanmoe said:
I have to agree with RideMan. most Portables are safer than Park models in the respect that they get alot more "attention".
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Loyal fan of Nolimits.
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stoogemanmoe.
Miss coastergames.net? Here is a good site.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that most portable rides are safer than fixed rides. Yes many of the portable rides get more attention then fixed rides, but taking them apart and rebuilding them increases the chances of things going wrong. The government didn't decide to oversee traveling carnival rides for no reason; at one point in time the traveling rides weren't being inspected and maintained they way they should have been and are today.

Most everyone have said what I was going to (and many people have heard me say this several times before). Lance, just because a ride is in a park does not make it inherently safe and because a ride travels with a carnival doesn't mean it is unsafe. Obviously with both styles of operations there is a range of safety. I have been to carnivals I would consider unsafe and I have been to parks that fall in that same category. As Dave said RCS is playing Houston and all thier rides, and the people who book on with them like Bishops Amusements, take VERY good care of thier equipment and take safety seriously.

As Nate said, if you pass up the Fabbri Mega Drop because it is portable you are doing yourself a dis-service. I have been on most every style of drop ride in the states and find it the best of the bunch. The airtime is sick and it is one of the few that still make me nervous. No, it isn't gigantic, about 35 meters, but that drop is great.

In addition, if you don't ride portable rides you might want to take a look around Astroworld. From the pictures I have seen the Chance Yo Yo (Gunslinger) is a modified portable model and the Texas Tornado was portable (and the restraint problems did not come from the fact it was portable). In addition, if you go to several other parks in Texas you will find portable rides, both in big theme parks and small family ones.

Adam
*** This post was edited by LONNOL 3/11/2003 5:29:18 PM ***

I think a great deal of the time the appearance of the ride operator has a lot to do with how people percieve the safeness of a ride. Because generally at carnivals and the like, the ops look, shall we say, unsavory, the rides get a bad rep even if they are religiously inspected.

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:)

Yes, but go with your gut. Look and see if things look right or not. If things Just Don't Look Right™, you might reconsider that ride.

Jerry Dorf had an interesting experience with this sort of thing; you can read my recounting of the story and its implications here.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
edit: Fixed link so that it works for people not located inside the capital.edu domain...
*** This post was edited by RideMan 3/12/2003 11:39:27 AM ***

RideMan, the link you provided gives a "Cannot find server or DNS error" error message when clicked on.

coasterdude318 said:
No, portable freefall rides are not "unsafe" just because they travel. Why would that make them any more dangerous?
In fact, Fabbri's portable MegaDrop ( http://makeashorterlink.com/?C1BA212C3 ) is by far the best drop ride I've ever experienced, portable or not.
-Nate

I only wish that the OTSR's didn't block so much side visibility, as there are no lateral forces on this ride.

But as far as the trailer, tower, catch car and drop carriage is concerned--clearly, the ride is very safe since it even uses a magnetic braking system to slow the drop carriage down, and there are also shock absorbers at the bottom where the drop carriage comes to a complete stop.

Depending on the operator, the hold at the top before dropping can get a bit long, not so much that it's a scary feeling (it's only about 40 meters high) but I start getting impatient--DROP ALREADY!

And, the drop itself is pneumatically boosted to produce a -0.5 G sensation during the actual drop--this means airtime--and it drops without any slowdown until the moment the drop carriage reaches the magnetic brakes, which means there is airtime all the way down the drop!

The actual magnetic brake deceleration near the end of the drop is very rapid and can reach 5.5 G, but at the same time, the deceleration is very smooth.

And one other note, if there is no Pay-One-Price available, I've the ticket cost for this ride as high as 8 tickets (at about 70 cents per ticket).

Whoops! Somehow, my new browser (Opera 7, which I am not entirely sure that I like compared to 6...) lopped off the domain name from my homepage. I fixed the link in the message (above).

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I was probably just over-reacting because I have never seen a portably free-fall ride. Some of those rides look crazy, and I was only basing the unsafe-ness on the fact that most amusement ride accidents (I think) happen at carnivals and such.

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Superman: Krypton Coaster----Just Ride It

1.) Millennium Force 2.) Superman: Krypton Coaster 3.) Steel Eel 4.) Raptor 5.) Mantis

Rides aren't unsafe, the people who neglect to maintain them are set them up correctly at carnivals are. However, almost all ride accidents are rider malfunction.
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"Here's my ten cence, my two cence is free"-Eminem

"I was probably just over-reacting because I have never seen a portably free-fall ride. Some of those rides look crazy, and I was only basing the unsafe-ness on the fact that most amusement ride accidents (I think) happen at carnivals and such."

No problem. When I first thought of visiting carnivals I thought most were dirty, unsafe and badly-run. I have found that they really vary and some, like Ray Cammack (the one playing by you), Farrow Shows, Spectacular Midways, and others really are lots of fun and (if you like flat rides) offer things you either cannot find in parks or are better-run than in parks. Of course, I have run across some carnivals whose rides I wouldn't step foot on, as Dave said, "If things Just Don't Look Right™" use your judgement.

Even if you just like coasters and drop rides RCS travels with the Hi-Miler (a sick Miler coaster with lots of airtime), the Wild Mouse (a great Maurer Soehne mouse with some nasty laterals) and the the Fabbri Mega Drop. Add in the and Fabbri Booster, the Bussink La Grand Wheel, the new pimped-out KMG Tango, a KMG/Tivoli Spin Out and others and it is a lot of fun.

Shameless plug, if anyone wants to know more about flat rides and carnivals be sure to check out my new site: http://www.absolutelyreliable.com/adam/ .

Adam

There aren't any exact, comparable numbers available, for determining relative accident rates of portables vs. fixed rides. However, the information that is available indicates that the rates are probably of the same order of magnitude.

Making an exact comparison is almost impossible since we don't know things like, "Are people more likely to report a Bo-Bo at a fixed park or at a carnival?"

Right, Jim; also remember the varying recordkeeping and reporting requirements. For instance, records for New Jersey are almost useless because of over-reporting, records for Ohio are almost useless because of under-reporting, and records for Texas are almost useless because of no reporting at all.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I have always felt a little uneasy with carni rides but that has never stopped me before. ;-)

-Tina

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