Man enters restricted area at SFMM and struck by Ninja coaster

Yup. Shake your head in disbelief, but it happened AGAIN, another man was struck by a roller coaster after hopping a 6 foot fence into a restricted area...

Instead of in Atlanta, this time around it was at Magic Mountain. However, he survived --- he was found unconscious, but still breathing by Magic Mountain medical staff.

The idiot (for lack of a better word, because victim isn't appropriate) attempted to retrieve a hat he lost on the ride, according to his friend.

His condition is unknown.

http://www.hometownstation.com/local-news/magic-mountain-ninja-2008-08-30-08-07-3.html

Vegas should start a line "how long till another person gets hit by a coaster train".

What the hell is wrong with people? I hate to talk about people who die and I don't know if that's the case here, but come on. Do parks have to install guard towers or roving fence patrolers?

If my kids ever tried jumping a fence I don't know what would hurt more. My hand or their rears. *** Edited 8/31/2008 8:28:46 AM UTC by Winston***

at this point parks should just ban hats, or anyone who comes into the park sign a waiver...

I was going to say anyone under 18 but this guy was 20....

*shakes head*

Forgive me for assuming;

But if he wasn't allowed to wear his hat whilst riding - he wouldn't have lost it & wouldn't have tried to retrieve it?

R.

I have seen on many occasions where hats were not allowed on the ride, but still people took hats with them on the ride. They sometimes purposefully hide them from ride ops.

.......What a donkey!

First of all WHAT AN IDIOT!! But I do hope he is OK.

Yes a hoffman50 you are so right. I see people hide hats, sun glasses, cameras, all the time from ride ops. As soon as the ride starts they pull it out, put it on, use it, etc... A classic example is watch the dragster in the takeoff position you see it there all the time.

Wow, another shining example of theme park stupidity.

If only the fence was a foot taller. ;)

So my question is whether the blame should be put on the ride operators for not spotting the hat/camera/whatever or the rider because it is a personal responsibility to follow rules.

IMO, the ride operators are there to ensure safety of guests, otherwise no one is needed to check lapbars. Part of this job is making sure loose items are not taken on the ride if that is the park's policy. However, if the rider purposefully hides the item and the ride operator is not able to see it without doing a full body search, then the responsibility shifts to the rider. Ultimately, it is the rider's responsibility to ride safely. This includes personal safety and the safety of those around.

I find it a bit ironic that in the year that Six Flags implements the new locker policy (supposedly to cut down on loose items in the station), two people are hit by a coaster trains while supposedly trying to gather a lost item. I know that there have been other reasons given, but I am not convinced that the Georgia one was not to retrieve a lost item. *** Edited 8/31/2008 5:18:36 PM UTC by a_hoffman50***

Correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't been there, but I thought most of Ninja is hidden in the trees. And why should ride ops have to monitor areas secured by fences with "keep out" signs?

Personally, I don't think they should have to monitor those areas. But they do have some limited responsibility of what leaves with the train out of the station.

I thought the SFoG incident resulted from a kid trying to take a shortcut back into the park from a picnic shelter, not retrieving a hat?

I am not convinced that it was not to retrieve a hat. Not that I have to be convinced, I could care less.

Perhaps parks should install a sensor on the tops of their fences that notify the ride operators that someone has entered a restricted area. Or some kind of sensor in the restricted areas, of course this wouldn't work due to wildlife, so nevermind....

---

Jeff said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, because I haven't been there, but I thought most of Ninja is hidden in the trees. And why should ride ops have to monitor areas secured by fences with "keep out" signs?

---

Yes, most of Ninja is up flying through the tree tops...however, there are a few sections that very low to the ground and there's one particular bank turn that flies right by a maintenance path that's probably the area that 20 year old guy hopped into:

http://members.tripod.com/heylownine/images/ninja.jpg

^Copy and paste that tripod link if it's not working for you.

---

Perhaps parks should install a sensor on the tops of their fences that notify the ride operators that someone has entered a restricted area.

---

But that would prevent the natural process of evolution of which this event is evidence of.

OhioStater, not to be trite about a sad event like this, but it's not Darwinian selection until the guy dies or is rendered unable to reproduce . . .

I'm pretty sure that hats are allowed to be worn on Ninja... Even if they aren't, this is in no way the fault of any of the ride operators.

I find the whole "Darwinism" idea to be mean spirited, like a lot of talk on CoasterBuzz.

If I didn't follow the news this morning, and there was a warning not to drink the water due to some kind of contamination, am I stupid and deserve to die if I take a drink of water?

Do firefighters or inner-city police officers deserve to die just because they chose dangerous jobs?

This guy was ignorant of the fact that he was in danger. He didn't believe the signs of falsely believed that he could somehow time his actions in such a way that he could dodge danger. His ignorance doesn't mean that he deserves to die.

He may have been very intelligent and simply made a mistake.