"Opening Restraints" Phenomenon

Chuck, when this happens do you mention it to any of the ride operators. Anytimes a thing like this happens although rare, you should mention it to the ride operator so maintenance can have a look at the restraint and make sure its working properly.

One of the reasons I like the idea of a seat belt is for this reason. Its a good idea to have some form of secondary restraint if the first fails. I think adding seat belts to almost all PTC trains after the Raven accident was a good idea and a necessary one. It might hinder capacity and the overall operations to some degree, but its much better to have the seat belt in case a lab bar does fail. The people who complain about seat belts, seat dividers, individual lab restraints seem to be not considering safety.

Yeah, my cousin experienced a non-locked OTSR on Screamin Demon at KI (when it was there). Going down the first hill she pushed outward and the bar went out. So as they entered the loop she held it back tightly and notified the operator on the other side to lock it before the return trip.

The Revolution (Looping Ship) at Great America, Santa Clara, had half the lap bars open on a full upside-down boat while I was working there in 1990 or thereabouts. Fortunately, the ride also has shoulder harnesses.

Had my restraint pop a few notches on the first drop on Raptor a couple weeks ago. Scared the hell out of me, but it locked back down at the bottom of the drop.

Most likely it was just between notches in the first place, but honestly, it was the scariest ride I've ever taken on an invert.

I've had it happen personally at the base of the lifthill on Fire Dragon @ IOA. The restraint raised until the seatbelt caught it, but when I pulled it back down it locked again and stayed that way throughout the ride. I've also seen it happen to the rider behind me on Cornball Express. I found out about it because the kid freaked out, leaned forwards, and grabbed onto me in an effort to stay in the train.

PTCs seem to come up pretty often... coincidence?

On B&M coasters it would alert the ride op if it wasnt clsoed all the way right?

Are other manufacturers coasters like this?

For some reason I was too focused on surviving the ride on ME to report it to the ops afterward,on that last ride I took though I tried to signal the ops that I wanted off when my restraint wouldn't lock tightly but alas they'd already moved on to checking the rest of the train by then.

On the SLC/invertigo they need to have ratcheting belts like the ones on PKD's woodies....that way it will stay in a tight position should the restraint pop open.As it stands now the current belts vekoma uses simply have too much slack & are in a sense useless during a restraint failure.

Just do what I would do if I were in that situation- wave your arms and yell. Last week I couldn't get OUT of the ME (the OSTRs stayed there), and I made sure I got their attention. I told the rideop I wouldn't mind another ride, but not like that. She just pushed it down as far as it could go, then it opened right up.

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RLRCSTR FAN said:
It seems that the ride-op never locked our car. We were all very uncomfortable until the ride stopped at the top of the lift hill and a person climbed up to say sorry and lock the restraints on our car.

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Impossible. The Steamin Demon (and other Arrow loopscrews) have a device near the beginning of the lift that automatically cuts the power to the lift if the restraints have not been locked. It's a manual failsafe that cannot be deactivated.

I believe the ride op could have forgotton to lock the train, but you would have stopped near the bottom of the lift, not at the top.

Back on topic, PTC lapbars are notorious for popping open mid-ride. I have no idea what causes it, but I'd be very interested in finding out.

-Nate

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coasterdude318 said:

Impossible. The Steamin Demon (and other Arrow loopscrews) have a device near the beginning of the lift that automatically cuts the power to the lift if the restraints have not been locked. It's a manual failsafe that cannot be deactivated.

-Nate

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Hmm... I specifically remember watching the Demon - Great America Gurnee - run it's course with 4 harnesses open all the way. Back in the early 80's when they had the original thinner black harnesses. It looked funny.

If there is a failsafe trigger to stop the lift, perhaps it was removed from this demon.

I have never personally had this happen nor have I heard a reliable source tell me this has happened. I think if this is happening it is due to the harness not being properly checked initially.

Another reason this may happen is enthusiasts leaving the restraint on the first click intentionally. This practice is just outright dangerous and I can't believe people do this on purpose. To me the safety systems are in place for a reason and should be used properly.

As we have seen in the past it only takes one mistake to completely change the industry worldwide. It would be sad to see this for that reason.

Well it happens let me tell you. I actually have video from that day at GL and Double Loop, but I don't care to put it online since I run a website that promotes GL. So I don't want to really put the rides in a negative light. But if you live in my area your more than welcome to stop by and verify it for yourself.

First off, let me mention that there were no riders in that paticular car, the front seats of the car were taped off with the orange tape, while the back seats were open to ride in. It however was the back seats where the restraint popped up. The others were visably still locked as they jumped with the hill as well, but obviously didn't move very much since they were locked.

I first attributed it to the ride-op not locking the foot pedal, but after realizing the others were locked, then I knew it couldn't have been that. Never happened again though the rest of the summer.

That's not really true, Joe2149. I've seen a checked, fully lowered PTC lap bar pop open (Thunder RUn) I couldn't believe it! *** Edited 9/28/2006 7:39:48 PM UTC by Peabody***

I always thought these *restraints releasing* was mostly fiction myself...until it happened to me....on a B&M. Thankfully, MOST all restraint systems have appropriate back-ups in place.

Forced to wonder at what rate the lapbars release, and is it more likely, or less likely, to happen with individually-ratcheting bars vs. the old-style buzzbars...

Last summer I went on Mine Ride at CP and the lap bar came open about mid way through the ride. Its hard to get those one size fits all lap bars to lock at times. I pushed it back down and it locked again.

I was the same way, Gator....I thought it was just rumor and legend. But, after seeing it happen with my own eyes and then hearing it also from people I trust, I started to realize that it truely does happen from time to time!

I a good friend reported that his OTS released on PCW's Top Gun (SLC), and held by the seat belt. I never thought that would happen, but that's obviously why they have the seat belt. He immediately reported it to the ride ops -- the coaster was down for nearly an hour after the incident. Of course PCW maintenance staff insist that nothing like that could happen on any of their coasters because they can only be released in the station -- "The most guest will experience is one click loose. But every time we get a report of a restraint releasing, we test everything and run a few cycles before putting it back in service."

My mom had the shoulder harness part of her restraint pop open on King Cobra at PKI. This was a few years after it opened, so there was no seat belts. Luckily for her, it was after the loop, so she just had to hold on for dear life for the rest of the ride.

She never said it fully opened, but she sure acted like it. She was still reminding us of it til the day the ride closed..

I had a bar pop open before at HP on Great Bear. The attendant failed to check the seat correctly. Most times when a seat is going to pop it is one click. If you get more than that either something is wrong, or the attendant didn't push down pull up on the restraint.

I had heard people tell stories of their lap bars popping open during a ride but I never believed it untill now. If a restraint is only down one click and you have a person's body weight pressing against the bar going over an airtime hill, I could easily see the bar being forced open. I have no idea how an over the shoulder restraint could pop open though. Any ideas?