UNSAFE: Great American Scream Machine

"To my absolute horror, they diagnosed me with a ruptured ear drum."

Get off your soapbox kid... Like someone said above take some advil and get over it.

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Stop_unsafe_coasters said:

To my astonishment, a few of my friends who were sitting behind me came out of the ride with a sprained neck and a banged up head as well.

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I've been on a lot of headbangers with Flashback at SFMM probably being the worst of them. I've been on this GASM many times as well and never noticed it to be any more brutal than the average Arrow or Vekoma ride with OSTRs. Since most parks tend to avoid litigation and attention getting injuries on their rides....

"oh muh gawd there's so much drama in this post..it's like a drama post."

Steer clear of Ninja @ SFoG, then.

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Stop_unsafe_coasters said:
But within the first 5-7 seconds of the ride , I knew that this was not normal. My head was being banged all over the place and my left ear smashed into the shoulder rest a few times. It felt like someone just smacked me a few times in my ear.

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I dunno, that seems entirely normal for the average Arrow multi-looper.

Sorry to hear about what happened man. Don't let it stop you from going to parks and riding more coasters! I wish you a speedy recovery. :)

GASM has beaten me a few times but the only time I've ever gotten put out for the day was after riding B:TR. I hadn't eaten that morning and it was our first ride. I had forgotten how forceful that ride was!

Welcome to the boards! Don't worry about stuff like this:

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What kind of a name is "stop_unsafe_coasters" anyway, your too whiney. Quit pressing our buttons, Get over it, and pop some advil.

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Despite some bad apples it's a great community.

Get well soon! :)

I would have posted sooner, but I stubbed my toe at Target and was busy leaving Post-It notes in the Target parking lot in the hopes that someone who works at Target would see one.

sigh, I wish all people were more friendly. If this is or is not false, either way, you should be nice and welcome him/her to the site. Although, I would suggest a tamer user ID next time. Anyhow, best wishes on a speedy recovery. Be sure to avoid Head Spin at Geauga Lake. It really lives up to it's name. I had to take a long break after that one.

When I ruptured my ear drum, my doctor told me to go ride SoB and my concerns about my ear would be forgotten.

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Antuan said:If you haven't filed a complaint to the park, I would suggest you do. While I am certain that you didnt sustain brain damage...

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Don't be so sure, 'Tuan....hehehe. :)

Nice SN, too, you're going to make LOTS of friends here. Might I suggest you make friends with ASO, they seem to be of a similar mindset... ;)

While Arrow mega-loopers from the pre-TT era have beaten the daylights out riders for 20+ years, a ruptured eardrum, that has GOT to be "pre-existing+ or have another cause. Unless you ARE the one-in-a-billion, and somehow the OTSR and your external ear combined to do something *magical*, I'm thinking there's more to the story. I do NOT <3 Arrow megallopers, but they're FAR from "unsafe"...and that word around these parts needs to be used with EXTREME caution...

*** Edited 5/13/2006 1:32:12 PM UTC by rollergator***

Perhaps he meant that his university group took a group of graduating HIGH SCHOOL seniors on the trip???

You assume the risks inherent in riding a roller coaster each and every time you ride. I am doubtful you have much to fall back on regarding your ruptured tympanum.

The fact that you haven't contacted the park makes me want to cry B.S., and your credibility is not helped by the fact that you signed up here for the purpose of slamming the park. Not saying it isn't possible, but there is a lot of poetry in that post.

I guess they don't call it a Scream Machine for nothing.
I had a neighbor that got hit with a water balloon and blew an eardrum. It wasn't even thrown that hard, but stuff happens.
I hope you feel better soon.

Maybe coasters aren't your best bet.

I rode orGASM in 2002, and I don't remember experiencing any headbanging at all. I'm surprised it changed so much in 4 years, but then again, it is an Arrow.

Ok, so this may be embelished or it may be false. But give the guy the benefit of the doubt and try and have some sympathy. He didn't come on here and start flaming people back and forth. He's been very cordial-sounding, and some of you still have the nerve to get on his case with some of the typical harshness that floats around here.

I appreciate those who have actually been nicer to this guy and shown some sympathy. I hope and pray that you will heal fine and that nothing like this happens to you again. It's a good thing Viper doesn't exist anymore.

I've ridden GASM many times and, while it does have the typical Arrow headbanging (or neck or shoulder pain-inducing, depending on how tall you are), I do find that it is more intense than many of the other Arrow loopers out there. If you honestly don't know what to expect, then you could end up getting hurt. Though I don't think that I've ever heard of anything this extreme.

Now that I think about it (and not to belittle this guy in any way), do y'all remember the woman who wanted to sue SFEG for memory loss after riding the Mind Eraser? Sounds a bit ironic considering the name.

Now I don't post here much, but I felt I just had to reply.

Ruptured eardrum - I call BS. Wouldn't you need to hit your ear hard on a smooth flat surface to "seal" it, letting the pressure pop your eardrum? Don't manufacturers cut grooves in their OTSRs just to eliminate this from happening?

I could be an idiot, but this just doesn't seem right.

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Number 9 said:

... Ruptured eardrum - I call BS. Wouldn't you need to hit your ear hard on a smooth flat surface to "seal" it, letting the pressure pop your eardrum? ...

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Well, probably not. I do know of an actual retinal detachment a rider suffered after he rode Steel Phantom at Kennywood. He had pre-existing retinal disease. He didn't hit anything other than his head on the OTSR's.

If you can get a retinal detachment, why not a ruptured eardrum?

Retinal detachment seems like it could come from blunt force (in the right place). Not sure ruptured eardrum would be the same way, considering its in a somewhat protected part of your head.

So is the retina.

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Number 9 said:
Now I don't post here much, but I felt I just had to reply.

Ruptured eardrum - I call BS. Wouldn't you need to hit your ear hard on a smooth flat surface to "seal" it, letting the pressure pop your eardrum? Don't manufacturers cut grooves in their OTSRs just to eliminate this from happening?

I could be an idiot, but this just doesn't seem right.

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Take a look at arrow OTSR's as opposed to the OTSR found on an SLC or an invert...the arrow OTSR is typically flat,not rounded around the shoulder/neck portion so there is really nowhere for the rippled earpad to be placed.

On that same note since the padding isn't oversized there's really not as much surface area to even bang one's ear on unless they were to tilt their head at an odd angle,not saying that it couldn't rupture an ear drum but it would probably take some odd positioning of the head on the rider's part for it to happen.

HOw would you hit your ear on the bar?

Unless you're really short, your ears are ABOVE the Arrow OTSR.