1. Insurance companies: Many of us seem to forget something about insurance companies. Insurance companies employ people called actuaries. They also employ safety inspectors, risk management specialists, and underwriters. The insurance companies probably know better than almost anybody else what makes rides safe, because they study this sort of thing. What the insurance underwriters really want and what you would expect the underwriters to want are often two very different things. Based on loss data, I'd expect that insurers would be encouraging parks to convert from shoulder bars to lap bars.
GP: The "GP" think that looping coasters are supposed to have shoulder bars because when Arrow introduced the Corkscrew in 1975, it had shoulder bars. These people have no idea what is really required to secure them in a coaster train because they never thought about it. These are the people who, by and large, when faced with a 4-point belt on a Go-Kart, will invariably tighten the shoulder straps first so that the lap belt rides up around their sternum. It's all about appearance, not safety, I guess. But there is hope. These people line up in droves to ride Flight of Fear. I had to wait in line for Lazer, Sooperdooperlooper, Scorpion, and Doppel Looping so the lack of a shoulder restraint obviously didn't scare people off from those loopers. People look at a ride and realize that so long as all the people who get on also get off, it's probably safe to ride.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
