Roller Coaster Saftey

Hi, I'm writing this post as a open question to a Coasterbuzz members. This is in no way intended to make anyone mad or to spark a vicious arguement. A simple question: Do we rely on ride engineers too much? The answer is yes. I love roller coasters probably more than anyone here, and My favorite activity is riding on them. But how many times have we all seen a roller coaster that has been closed for repairs or has gotten stuck? ( I was stuck on Batman for 30 minutes!) The point is that in some cases, we entrust our lives to regular people, people like you and me, and as you know, all people make mistakes. All I am trying to say is we should put more trust into God, and have fun riding. It is a terrible shame when someone dies on a coaster due to a mechanical malfunction. A case where a mother and her daughter died because the ride owner replaced the anti-rollback with a old one. So in short, everyone keep safe, and keep on riding.
------------------------
Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?

As an engineer who has taken an oath to defend the public via ethical and competent work, I kinda take offense to your post. You make it seem as if we are not capalbe of doing our jobs. If you believe that a deity is ultimately at the source, well that's something to discuss elsewhere, but us engineers do our best.
jeremy
--Who believes that God can make him healthy, but still goes to the Doctor...

Just a quick fact : you have a 1 in 250,000,000 chance to get injured on a rollercoaster, So do you think your in danger ? you have a better chance of winning the lottery.

I'm not trying to offend anyone, I have a brother who is a structural engineer, and I am studying to become an engineer. All I am saying is that engineers are people, right? And people will ultimately make mistakes. That is all! I'm not saying I'm in danger, I'm just saying accidents do happen, and in most of them , it is the riders fault. And yes, God can heal all....

-------------
------------------------
Mindbender...Can you hear the Riddler chuckling?

To answer your question, yes, but rightfully so! They deserve our trust due to the incredible reputation that they have for endless safety innovations. As far as trusting in God goes, that sorta the theme for my life ;). But relating to coasters, if He wants you to make it safely, you will. It's always comforting knowing that.

-------------
Six Flags America? No, no! My name means "Sarcasm-For-All"

If what Callahan said is indeed true, than what do we have to worry about. As long as we obey the rules, we are not likely to get hurt. The people who get hurt are the ones who don't obey the rules, either goofing off or having a health problem they choose to ignore.

But when it comes to mechanical failure, something on the ride has gone wrong. It has no trace of human error. I believe that rides have gotten safer, but the accidents may just be seeming worse.

-------------

Let the bears pay the Bear Tax, I pay the Homer Tax.
*** This post was edited by Coaster Xtreme on 6/9/2001. ***

i dont belive the 1 in 250, 000, 00 million chance cuase i got injred on Canyon blaster and Viper same day. :(
-------------
the return of Intaminrocks

well Good job thats 2 in 500,000,000 !
but i ment a fatal injury , not "oh my head got banged hard against my shoulder restraint"
The statement I made, I got from a thrill ride show recently aired on TLC . So if you believe T.V. believe this. Well then, that changes my thoughts mabye it isn't true. ;)

-------------
Kraken count : 138 6/2
Go to Alans SFDL site ! http://sfdl.coasterbuzz.com/home.asp
*** This post was edited by Callahan on 6/9/2001. ***

Do we trust engineers "too much"? Depends on your perspective.

The cars we drive are made by engineers as well. The failure rates on those is actually pretty high -- how many recalls have we had in the past year?

Yet people get in cars every day and think nothing of it. And when you're driving, you're not only trusting the trained engineers who designed the cars, but you're also trusting the other drivers to not plow into you willy-nilly, you're trusting who knows what condition of cars facing you on the roads, and so on.

In the face of that, the "trust" implied in getting on a roller coaster, where the rides go through tons of design reviews and testing, pales in comparison.


Or, to look at it another way. I'm a diabetic. I wear an insulin pump. This is a small computer that automatically supplies me with insulin on a regular basis. Great, no shots! BUT, improper dosages of insulin (over or under) can be fatal, VERY quickly. My life is in the hands of the hardware and software engineers who designed this thing. When I first got the pump, my fellow software and hardware engineer friends thought I was INSANE to do so, because ALL software has bugs (as one of them put it -- "You WRITE code for a living and you STILL trust it?!" ;-)

6 years later, I'm on my 2nd insulin pump (warranty ran out on the first) and loving it. Again, the risk of riding a coaster is less than the risk associated with the pump. Big deal.


-------------
--Greg

http://www.pobox.com/~gregleg/

I totally agree with 2hostyl, Everybody relies on us. no matter what you do. Cars, Airplanes, Trains, Rollercoaster, etc......... I am a very religious person. I do beleive that people really need to rely on God, But they also must rely on US, The people that make the world safer, and better. We are the few, the proud, the Engineers.

p.s. you probaly all think that I am some dumba** who doesnt know a thing abou coasters. Well, I am a member of A.C.E. of 10 years.

Hey it wasnt headbang i got back injury from Canyon, and some neck from Viper.

-------------
the return of Intaminrocks