Safety Features on Floorless'?

I was wondering what kind of safety features are on floorless' (e.g.: all restraints must be closed before the floors can retract) and stuff like that.

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SFNE drops the "floor" on SFNE for 2002! Visit my new site, www.geocities.com/sfneguide for some great pics of SFNE and lots of other info.!!!

The most critical is that there is a light curtain near the floor on either side of the train; that must be clear for the comb to open and the train to move. Geauga Lake also has switch mats for all the operator positions since they had an operator fall through the floor.....

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

What are "curtains" and "switch mats?"

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SFNE drops the "floor" on SFNE for 2002! Visit my new site, www.geocities.com/sfneguide for some great pics of SFNE and lots of other info.!!!

Basically, the light curtain is like a photo-eye (or even a small laser i guess you could say) that detects if something or someone is on the retractable floor area. Switch mats are small mats on the floor that a ride host or operator stands on, which tells the computer where the employees are. If they try to dispatch a train with someone off their pad, it wont go anywhere. It's just a safety measure so that noone else falls through the floor!

Also, the restraint must be closed, or atleast have the minimum click for the train to be dispatched. All the parks I've been to with floorless coasters require all the seatbelts to be ckecked and locked, even if noone is in that specific seat. Safety is no accident!

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Corey
"Have you ever tried backing out of a drive-through bank?" - George Carlin

*** This post was edited by rOLLocOASt on 4/11/2002. ***

Do the floorless rides check restraints? I didn't think they did. The B&M inverters don't, the hypers do.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

At Medusa East, they have to lock all of the restraints. I've seen at least one person who could not fit the restraint be removed from the ride (and the restraints checked again) over the past few years. The dispatcher shook his head at the girls checking the restraint at the time while they were trying to push the restraint down, so I'd assume there is a sensor on the ride for the restraints.

*** This post was edited by thrillfan on 4/11/2002. ***

As Iain Hendry once said:

"OMG, I just thought of something, though! What if, just what if there was an earthquake, and part of the train went down, and then suddenly, suddenly, the floor went up! I BET THE STATION WOULD EAT THE PEOPLE AND EVERYONE WOULD HAVE NO LEGS. And then, everyone would go to school, and get called Mr No-Leg head. And then they would eat paste and wafers."

I knew I'd be able to quote him on Coasterbuzz one time or another.. haha.... as for your question, I have no idea....

B:KF's safety mats don't work (Or at least most of them don't). They just use regular carpets, or I've seen no mats sometimes.

I'd love to talk more about that accident at the park when an employee fell through the station into a work area under the platform when she gave a thumbs up clear while STANDING ON THE FOLDING COMB, but that would be going against company policy at Six Flags regarding accidents, in which accidents are considered confidential, and are not to be discussed.

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Jes
Jes's Roller Coasters DJ Jes MCS Please, Feel Free To Call Me Jes!
"Thank You Jeff Putz"