Knott's plans additional restraint for Plunge, Intamin says it isn't needed

But it wasn't the witnesses' duty or obligation to decide if the woman fit. It was the ride operators'. It is going to be a judgement call on any ride that doesn't connect a belt between the seat and restraint, especially when it comes to fat. As theorized in previous articles, fat can and does move around seperate of muscle mass and bones. Again, I've seen people "fit" into Superman who could not ride.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

But wouldn't a system that doesn't rely on a judgement call make more sense?

The non-op witnesses observations are relevant because they reflect the flaw in the system: Someone who appears to be safely secured (from the guest's perspective) is not. I know that making this call is what the ride operator is there for, I just feel that a "go," "no go" system like the B&M Hypers (sans seatbelts) makes more sense and eliminates confusion.

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"He's blazin' away like the stars in the universe.." A. Vega + M. Rev "Ghostrider"

Someday there will be something here.

according to intamin, a 5'8" person should be less than 236 lbs. to ride. no one over 6'4" should ride, and persons in the back 2 rows should be less that 225 lbs. to sit there. at least knotts is keeping the ride, unlike vertigo.

4-point system...doesn't that seem just a little to major for this ride? It will keep you in and covered a lot. Also I can only imagine geusts trying to figure out how to adjust them...I have seen geusts struggle with seat belts on normal coasters let alone a 4-point system.

Given the choice I would opt for a minimum locking position and not some 4-point locking system. I know for sure I wouldn't want to put on some wet cloth like thing covering my body on a park water ride. Let's hope if during testing of this device they find it to be too complex and well...not something needed.

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Knott's Unlimited
http://www.knottsunlimited.com
"Your Guide To The Farm"

I think that is so dumb. What's next, restraints on a log ride, or sholder harnesses on rapids rides?

Well, its either this or your standard OTSR. Unless of course you want them to tear it down all together.

For some reason, this doesn't seem all that bad. Sure, the ideal situation would be to leave it as is with a weight restriction. But since that just can't happen, we have to make some compromise in order to keep the ride...

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Xcelerator-
0-82 in 2.3 seconds! =Wow!

I never knew there was a six flags in New York.

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Six Flags Marine World..... Wild Life AND Wild Rides!

Darien Lake near Buffalo. Back in 1999, a large guest was ejected from Superman: Ride of Steel when it hit the brakes. This led to seatbelts being added to the Intamin Mega trains.

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-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew *** This post was edited by MDOmnis on 5/10/2002. ***

"That's complete bull crap for a Shoot The Chutes ride! "

ya, a shoot the chutes that is 115 feet tall and has a 78 degree drop. that's steeper than most coasters, so i don't see why it's so blatantly unreasonable to put OTSRs on it. i definately think it would be very annoying and bad for load times, but cedar fair has to do what they have to do, and ultimately it's up to them. obviously, they're choosing to play it safe.

I am not ashamed to say there goes another good ride down the drain due to excessive restraints(revolution @SFMM being a good example).
Overkill sux.

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* * * * *
Remember The Future?

A point that is being overlooked here is that some "fat" people will have no problem fitting just about any ride and some "fat" people of other proportions can't. I am by no means morbidly obese but at 5'10" and 228 pounds under these guidelines I would be excluded from the back 2 seats because I weigh more than 225. Yet the only ride I have ever had trouble with fitting properly on is Raging Bull because I have very large thighs(not all fat,mostly muscle) . I had a difficult time getting the red line to show and almost gave up. Having a weight restriction on a ride is ridiculose and short of having a scale on the station platform is left once again to ride op "judgement". Many people can't believe I weigh almost 230 pounds but I do, and yet some people who weight the same or less look much heavier. As a ride op do you want to be the one who has to tell the 210 pound lady who looks 245 that she cant ride because she weighs too much? I'm not an engineer or a physics major, but there has to be a better way to do this!

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other than the back two rows rule, if a person is slightly obese (say 260 lbs for a 5'10" person), they should still be able to ride as long as they fit.

Remember, up to now the rule of thumb was "if the safety restraint locks, you can ride" Apparently the PP incident shows that this guideline isn't enough.

Thats why several rides have had seatbelts installed, sure they are a nice backup to the lapbar, (and some companies insist the seatbelt is more important than their lapbar), but often times the seatbelt is used to measure riders. Think about it like this.

Engineer: The maximum rider girth (not height or weight here folks) is 48".

Designer: Okay lets make the seatbelts so that the loosest the belt will get, will exactly accomodate a person who is exactly 48"

Problem is that seatbelts wear out and need replacing, and the parks may not be so careful in making sure all belts are the magic length, or parks may arbitrarily lengthen belts to make them easier to work with in the station, or may shorten them to prevent damage to other parts of the ride.

Then there are the belts on several rides that would do nothing to hold a rider in, and are purely a measure. (Wicked Twister and Flight of Fear spring to mind)

All that theory said, I don't think the alleged 4-point racing harness is for measurng purposes. The ride was equipped originally with seatbelts, if they wanted to measure riders they could just have ripped out the current belts and installed new ones that were the magic length.

The 4-point harness is purely 'showmanship'. I.E. we have to show the lawyers, the state, the injured parties, the general riding public that we are doing something about this. I feel for the ride ops who will have to try to adjust the innermost shoulderbelt on an 'inside rider' (Or worse the innermost lapbelt) (Since a lot of these 4 point harnesses have 4 adjusters for a custom fit. (I.e. you cant just have one lap adjuster because it might not allow the other shoulderstrap to 'fall; into the right place on your chest.) So much for ride capacity, that line is going to move so slow, but then there might not be so many in line after they see the harnesses. Maybe PP should be retrofitted with double loading platforms

And the article says that this decision may carry over to Xcelerator, let's hope this decision remains only in parks with California jursitiction.

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David Bowers
Mayor, Coasterville

Xcellerator is not going to have OTSRs or a harness. The cars are in and it's an MF car with Fenders and Flames.

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I wonder how long it will be before we hear of someone breaking their collar bone, or getting major whiplash from the ride in it's new state?

Then I wonder how many people will blame Intamin for putting those restraints on. It's a viscous cycle.

Honestly, bulky OTSRs wouldn't work too well because the rider would get slammed forward into it, and I really think these 4 point harnesses are going to put quite a strain on people.

buzz head, it sounds like xcelerator has THE yellow millenium force train which has been not running. it is just like the intamin stadium seating hyper coaster trains, but not used. the ride has a completely oppisite breaking system (fins on track) and it needs to attach to a laaunch mechanism. also, the train is purple or red, not yellow. the yellow is an airbrush job.

The yellow MF train was on the transfer Friday (5/10/02) night. They were just slow in getting it together. However, that probably didn't stop maintenance from taking a long hard look at the train and restraint design for the guys out at KBF.

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Scott W. Short
mailto:scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

what is this Millenium force train being used on xcelerator?

there is no yellow xcelerator train!

As a practical matter for operators, and for the parks and builders protection in the long run; rider limits have to be defined by quick, simple, and non-intrusive checks. This rules out weight (time comsuming, complex hardware), girth measurement (sooner or later you will get sued by someone who thinks or claims that the operator touched them inappropriately), etc. What it leaves is a simple height check and restraint limits.