safety question

I was just wondering how certain lifts get by with such little regard for safety.

http://americacoasters.com/Photos/LC/Photos/skyride1.jpg

I realize belts or bars can complicate loading and unloading tremendously, but they otherwise seem to have the potential for trouble. You can just imagine one of the above kids horsing around and ending up on the rocks below. Disney's lift at Blizzard Beach (http://www.travel-affiliates.com/images/img-chair_lift.jpg) has a bar and when I was there the wait was usually well....not worth it. I hope common sense wins and people simply behave on such rides; otherwise I imagine they could cease to operate as they are. Also, would there be different restrictions regarding ski locations as opposed to amusement locations?

I'm not sure what you're implying with the first picture. The angle may be bad and you aren't familiar with it, but there is a swinging bar that you might not notice. The car just behind has the bar up (look near the top of the car itself and leading down to the seat with a hings about halfway). The bar easily swings down and up so you have that bar to hold onto.

oops....kill this topic....8^)

They are as safe as any other ride that the person riding it has the ability to unhook the saftey device during the ride. Whip, Flying Scooters, Scrambler, etc. They can run years without an accident it just take the right or should I say wrong person to do somthing stupid.

------------------
Signature will be closed today. Sorry for the inconveinance.

I might mention (as a former ski buff), that most chair lifts at ski resorts do NOT have a bar which would hamper loading and unloading. Admittedly, even though the smaller kids who ride them are taught how important it is to sit still on one, one cannot expect the average amusement park goer to be as knowledgeable.

------------------
I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
http://www.webtechnik.com/ebony/CPLady.htm

Actually, the problem isn't the average amusement park goer, it's the one idiot in thousands. How many people have you ever seen try to change boats in the middle of the ride on Splash Mountain?

Also, this lift probably doesn't come under the category of an amusement ride. More likely it's classified as a transportation device, as are most ski lifts I believe.

This is just a standard four place chairlift, of the same type found in ski resorts all over the world. Some of the longer lifts include footrests, and some don't have any type of restraint at all.

I think some states do classify lifts as transportation devices, New York for one, because they have so many of them. In Ohio however, that same people that inspect amusement rides also inspect the ski lifts. Two resorts near Cleveland use no restraint bars on the lifts. I would bet the inspectors just look at the mechanical safety of the lift, not the actual design.

------------------
I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.