Injuries at Six Flags in dozens each year

http://www.star-telegram.com/743/story/548652.html

I don't think this article really tells you anything other than a) some rides throw you around and b) people aren't following commonsense rules meant to protect them such as not playing around on queue rails

I can't say I'm too surprised at the numbers for Runaway Mountain at 12 injuries, and not because it's a violent ride. There's the one drop early on in the ride that does take you by complete surprise as it twists and drops underneath itself. It also has a very compact layout extremely similar to a Windstorm, so you know the drop I'm talking about.

I was however surprised by the numbers for Titan at 22. Even though it's a fast ride, I don't remember anything jolting about the ride. The midcourse takes care of lessening some of the speed later in the helices.

^I'm guessing there were some blackouts on Titan that counted as "injuries."

Hey, at least the media has gone from breathlessly reporting about deaths at parks to breathlessly reporting about injuries at parks. That's progress.

The media knows it can drop stats like that in an article with absolutely no context, such as how many injuries occur at grocery stores or malls in a given year. Guess which would have more? But no one will read a story about injuries at grocery stores. Well, unless it involved Britney.

They don't say that the dislocated knees is because some slipped on wet pavement, and that's why they did that. They want to blame the rides. How about giving me statistics about regular ordinary parks in your hometown? How many injuries occur there?

For Titan, it's probably blackouts like Goliath at SFMM.
For Texas Giant, it's Texas Giant. I imagine that's where the strained necks come from.

For Runaway Mountain, they could be hitting each other in the face on the ride because they are in a dark tunnel, and they at least don't feel they are under any supervision. Maybe, they also injure themselves in the line because it is made of rock work (like a cave), and you know how teens can be.

For Roaring Rapids, how do you really get injured on that? I could see the only way would be them hitting the round ring in the middle of the boat with there head. Is it entering the boat, and they slip too? That's just stupid dumb stuff that has nothing to do with the ride itself.

Do people ever get injured at a grocery store? I imagine they do. No one cares about that because they aren't dealing with rides even though half the time, I doubt people are getting injured because of the ride themselves.

^You'd be surprised at the amount of injuries on white-water rapids rides. For the states that do report them, it's quite high. Most of it is due to unexpected changes in direction from the rapids or water obstacles.

The pressure (which is obviously great) forces the riders upper bodies into the rider next to them. I doubt there's anything too serious except a minor bump on the head. Sadly though, in the Roller Coaster Rollback we just passed the anniversary of the fatal accident on Roaring Rapids where a boat flipped over--sadly not an isolated case (the boat flipping over, not the fatality).

I just wanted to make a correction about Runaway Montain Spinout and make the distinction that they are not in a tunnel. As with almost any ride in the dark, the front is simply a facade, and the rest of the ride is a warehouse. *** Edited 3/27/2008 8:08:08 PM UTC by Intamin Fan***

The breakdown by age and gender is interesting. Adult females had more injuries than any other group in both locations. So you can't necessarily say it's reckless kiddies, rowdy teens, or guys trying to act macho.

SIX FLAGS OVER TEXAS

Types of guests injured 2005-07

Females under 18 - 40

Females 18 and over - 48

Males under 18 - 34

Males 18 and over - 27

SIX FLAGS HURRICANE HARBOR

Types of guests injured 2005-07

Females under 18 - 9

Females 18 and over - 25

Males under 18 - 17

Males 18 and over - 14

Averaging 50 injuries a year isn't bad at all for the amount of guest that go there daily.

I like to see how many injuries occur in grocery stores and fast food places a year.

Wow, dozens a year with a 50 million visitor base. That equals people injured from falling on the sidewalk on any city street.

Statistically your safer at a park than not and getting to one. Well..............

I think the statistics for females over 18 makes a lot of sense. Women as a whole tend to be shorter, have lower bone density, and are not as muscular. This leads to a lesser control of the body versus a male.

I'm still surprised by the numbers on Titan. I know Texas can get extremely hot and the location is out in the open sun, but still...

Dehydration can cause you to gray-out, but I doubt anyone's actually blacked out to the point of sustained unconsciousness. Those are two different scenarios entirely.

I've grayed-out on numerous coasters: GASM at Gadv. (before they added the first loop trim), Laser at DP, S:ROS at SFA (first helix), Two-Face the Flip Side (more times than I can remember), B;TR at Gadv. etc.

I wouldn't count any of these incidents as injuries, so it's my opinion that there is something more to the injuries on Titan that we don't know about.

Chuck, statistically 'this,' 'that.' or 'another' thing which may have higher numbers, ultimately it doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The local person tripping on the sidewalk doesn't determine how much insurance rates are for the rides at a park or the addition of a trim brake, seat dividers, removal of elements etc.

Also according to the stats, there were as many injuries in line (32) or getting on and off rides (39)as there were during the rides themselves (69).

So the high speed rides with laterals and multiple g-forces are only twice as dangerous as the queues, which are stationary and are subject only to the earth's normal gravity. Hmmmmm.