Man claims injury from safety gate at Cedar Point, park says he tried to squeeze through closing gate

Sorry for your problems, dude, but considering the millions upon millions of people who make it through the loading gates unscathed, the odds are not in your favor.

I just don't understand how you have that kind of injury with gates that have round edges. The gates don't move all that fast... if you're gonna get stuck, it's because you created that situation.

He said he's been a passholder for 14 years. He should know how the gates open and close. Something about this story doesn't add up. They offered to pay his hospital bills and that still isn't enough for him. He still is threatening legal action.

Sounds like an entitled goon now trying to cash in on his own stupidity.

I've seen quite a few pictures of him floating around on Facebook from various sources. It looks like he was out at the bar right after he got his stitches, so it obviously didn't hurt him THAT bad.

Well... yeah. Probably celebrating his survival. He's probably going to show up at the park in the future wearing a Raptor shirt because he 'survived it.'

Oh, is that why the park had a press release out, calling Sunday "A day that will live in infamy"?

Something about the biggest tragedy on the water since Pearl Harbor.

Not only did this guy get hurt there on Sunday, but another guy got arrested for using counterfeit money.

Oh, the huge manatee!

I like how the article has a graphic content warning a paragraph below the picture. What good does that do for someone that didn't want to see the image?

"WARNING: Viewers may find the above photos graphic."

Injured by a safety gate....the comedy writes itself.

Seriously though, let's say the man (using the term loosely here) is awarded a considerable amount of money. What would parks have to do to secure the ride platform without becoming liable for injured guests unwilling or unable to comprehend "stand back"?

He's ruined it for everyone.

If only the ride ops had done a visual scan before closing the gates, none of this would have happened.

If only they had metal detectors, I'm sure this could have been prevented....

Oh yeah, and not serve alcohol too.

"Please stand behind the yellow line. The gates are now closing."

See that yellow line? Stand behind it. How hard is that to understand? You have been going to the park for fourteen years on a regular basis as a passholder. You should plainly understand how this works. You should plainly understand the timing involved with the operation of the gates. It's not like they bust open and closed. They move slowly. You have warning before they are completely closed.

What would Judge Judy say to this fella.

I'm not sure she'd say anything at all. She might just give him a withering look...

Clearly, each gate on each platform at each coaster will need to have an employee assigned to it, who will take the guest by the hand, tell them the gate is opening, then lead them to their seat and fasten them in. :-)

I've worked on a ride where something very similar happened, it was unfortunate and preventable.

I'm not sure what B&Ms do, but this particular ride I was working on didn't have any means of sensing something was stuck in the gate (or that the gates had taken longer than they should have done to close) - so it kept trying, until the crew (who were checking restraints) alerted the operator to the fact that this was happening, so they could reverse the gates.

The solution in the above example was to have the batcher allow only 24 guests (a train load) into the station, rather than double up behind gates. Then, when the 24 riders were getting into the train, close the gates, allow 24 riders to stand behind the closed gates. Therefore it removed the possibility of a late comer trying to enter through the gates unexpectedly.

It didn't affect capacity, but it could do on a ride that hauls trains out of the station like nobody's business.

I doubt it has anything to do with B&M other than some interlock or sensor that tells the control system "the gate is open or closed."

The "please stand behind the yellow line" will now be located on the midway.