Not sure whether to laugh..

I found this video on youtube, and before you yell at me just take a look and tell me what you think.

Does anyone know what ride this is? It appears to be a skyscraper.

It's kinda of funny until he starts to fall out..

Any thoughts?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HzS-OdWVpHo&mode=related&search=

Word the the Mothership: Pugsley should not ride bungee devices.

Man, that strap on the left got thin on him. I thought he was going to choke big time.

Yeah, I bet it hurt. Makes ya wonder if the kids that die of weak hearts look like that before they pass.

I saw that on America's Funniest Home Videos. I felt awfully sorry for that kid. He could've been seriously injured or killed. I really wanted to smack the woman with him! I sure hope it wasn't his mother.

Would so many people find this funny if it were a skinny or average-sized kid? Heck, maybe being heavier is what helped him to stay in the restraints at all! As I mentioned in other posts, I was a skinny (but tall) kid, and had a lot of trouble when I was younger with sliding out of restraints. Of course, riding with a responsible adult might've helped...! :) I *just* told my mom about the incident with the Jack Rabbit when I was a kid (long story short-- rode it with my cousin and almost fell out because the seat belt wasn't tight enough and she made me ride on the outside) and now I think mom would like to thump 'cuz!

Poor guy.

CatPurrson

I don't see anything funny to be honest. The kid could have been seriously hurt or killed. Just because the kid is overweight is no reason to make fun of him. I'm sure he gets enough of that at school from the other kids. He was jsut a poor boy who was really scared.

I don't think that was his mom. He kept calling her by her name, that isn't normal for most kids. Not that it couldn't be his mother, because it could, just not likely.

I didn't think it was funny, but I don't feel bad for him. I thought it was a good example of why you should actually read the freakin' safety signs.

I definitely didn't laugh. I'd be horrified to be on a Skyscraper and have that happen. A Skyscraper is scary enough as it is. And let's not blame the kid mudinthevayne.

The operators should've been trained enough to know whether the belts were secure enough around him. This does potentially show a huge flaw in the Skyscraper belt system and why the Zamperla etc. versions that use OTSRs are better.

The part I find really apalling is that someone (I'm guessing the kids parents) probably found it amusing enough to send it in to the t.v. show. You know, the video didn't get there by itself.

And I know the media are fairly stupid, but how hard is it to figure out that the ride isn't a roller coaster?

Fat kids flopping around screaming "stop it stop it!!" make me giggle. I like beer.

I didn't think that was funny at all. I would have been terrified if I were in that situation. Catpurrson, I agree with you: that woman needed to be smacked. *** Edited 3/1/2007 4:32:06 AM UTC by CoasterfanPN***

Looks more like a Sling Shot (local name) though. What is the actual make and model of these rides? Some have OTSR and some have seatbelts.

http://history.amusement-parks.com/Extreme/eject/tech2.jpg

You can clearly see that kid wasn't going anywhere. If you look close enough you can see that there was the a belt that went accross his lap, and between his legs, therefore, I found it to be funny. Just a terrified kid on an amusement ride.

What an insensitive B....

The kid is screaming "IT HURTS". That isn't funny. Very obviously one safety system failed because he was hanging on barely by his chin it looked like. Who is to say that the other system around his lap and legs wasn't going to fail also?

Intamin Fan is right, someone had to send that video in. If it was the parents, then I feel bad for the kid. It was probably the lady he was riding with, who I still don't think is a parent. She was probably trying to make a quick buck off this kids pain. Horrible.

This is different then some kid falling down on his ass in his backyard. This is a terrified kid who could have potentially been severely injured.

That was horrifying. I just wanted to punch that lady. Just think, that kid might never get on another ride for the rest of his life. To say nothing of the humiliation of having his terrifying experience played for the entire world.

As best I can tell, that was one of the "Ejector Seat" type rides, and *not* a Skyscraper. The most important difference being that I've ridden an Ejector Seat but wouldnt ride a Skyscraper-type ride in my dreams (nitemares?). ;)

That being said, why are y'all jumping on the woman? Once the ride started (assuming it is indeed an ejector seat) there was nothing she could have done anyway. Screaming fearfully is almost to be expected so I'm sure she didnt think anything out of the ordinary. When the kid said "I'm falling", she did look over and grab at the kid. I'm sure she could tell that the kid was still safely secured.

I dont see anything on that video that leads me to believe that the kid was in danger. The fact is, he never came out of the restraints. So all this "He could have been killed" is sensational speculation.

And for all we know, the kid himself might have sent in the tape. Maybe he got a big laugh out of it later on. I know I screamed for my 'mommie' when I went skydiving, but I laugh about it now. Hell, after my first real rollercoaster ride, I sat in the train as it entered the station exclaiming "I'm alive!" (which those around found amusing). Also, I dont think the kid being fat was the funny part of the vid. If it had been a skinny child or even a regular-sized adult screaming like that it would have been just as funny.

As for the vid itself, I found it midly amusing. Not laugh out loud funny, but I definitely wasnt horrified like some of you all.
lata, jeremy
---resident heartless bastard

Yeah... that's really not very funny at all.

I don't think any of us can say if the kid was in any danger, but it is reasonable to assume at that point that he was being secured entirely by the crotch strap. The upper body belts were not supporting his weight at all.

I don't think he was gonna die...but he was too short for the restraints and it just plain wasn't funny. I mean, what?

-'Playa

Considering all that was going on, I don't think the mother knew what was going on with her own son while the ride was in motion, and I definitely don't believe that she did anything wrong because she didn't know that was going to happen. Want to blame a parent for doing something wrong? Look to the mother of that 200+ pound 8-year old in England, not this one. Give me a break.

Was it funny? I'm not sure. It wasn't funny to see the kid in a situation where he could have gotten hurt, but people screaming in fear on a ride IS usually funny, so I guess it depends on what "level" you're viewing it from???

Okay, my mother screaming like a lttle girl on Magnum that's funny.

This kid in the video: not funny from one end, disturbing from another because the ride op should have made the belts tighter, and from a third end, funny.

It's really a matter of what makes you laugh. When I was little, my grandmother would laugh when us kids would fall and bang our heads on something. All I'm saying is that what one person finds disturbing, another finds slightly humerous.

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DS said:
You can clearly see that kid wasn't going anywhere. If you look close enough you can see that there was the a belt that went accross his lap, and between his legs, therefore, I found it to be funny. Just a terrified kid on an amusement ride.

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The kid was obviously safe. My mom screams "it hurts" on coasters too, because she hates that butterfly sensation. This video is so great, lol...