UPDATED: Man dies after being struck by Kings Island's Banshee roller coaster in restricted area

I can be sympathetic to his family, but what he did is a special kind of stupid. He neglected to engage in even the most modest critical thinking, and believed that some how it was OK to scale a fence with warnings all over the place. He believed the rules didn't apply to him.

A bad decision is leaving for work at the height of rush hour, or buying a McRib at McDonald's. This is in a completely different category.

I haven't seen anyone in this thread call him names. Plenty of references to his behavior being "stupid", but that isn't name calling.

To put it in terms that super7* would understand, closing a park early for low attendance and blaming it on the weather is a bad decision. Entering a restricted area under a ride to retrieve your lost keys is stupid.

It’s not a bad decision, it shouldn’t have even been a decision, it’s just something you don’t do for any reason.

Waiting for the inevitable family files suit for injury under Banshee article. Which if that happens is absolutely insane.

TheMillenniumRider:

Waiting for the inevitable family files suit for injury under Banshee article. Which if that happens is absolutely insane.

What grounds would there be for a lawsuit??? Cedar Fair(soon to be Six Flags) did absolutely nothing wrong. They in no shape, fashion, or form encouraged or even permitted this individual to enter a restricted area underneath Banshee. Judges in Hamilton County will laugh in their faces.

If this had happened at Carowinds, the park would have closed early and that man would still be alive today!

#ClosedRidesSaveLives

Coasterhound36:

What grounds would there be for a lawsuit??

Not saying there is, nor should there be. The doesn’t mean they won’t try, and in doing so waste time and money which ultimately increases cost of things for everyone else.

You can sue anybody for anything at any time. Whether it’s productive to do so is another matter.
Hamilton County is Cincinnati. Kings Island is in Mason, Ohio which is in Warren County.

What has seemed strange is the almost complete lack of national coverage. From the park's perspective this probably isn't a bad thing, but it is weird. Even the park goers trapped upside down got a lot of play, and the Raptor incident was all over the national news for days. This incident only got a brief mention on our local news (we are in NE Ohio) the day after.

Not denying this guy's death (I'm not sure how one would survive) via the family member, but it seems equally strange that local news around Mason hasn't picked up on it as far as I can see, especially since it dominated coverage shortly after. Only some dude on Twitter named Steve Norris is reporting on it. I have no idea who he is but it seems like he is probably known down in the Cincy area.

Also, when you visit Patricia Thomas' (the woman consistently linked to the news of the man's death) actual Facebook page, there is no post about anyone related to her passing. Her last post in on June 16th wishing her family members a happy Fathers Day. Maybe people living closer to KI are experiencing different news.

Man struck by Kings Island roller coaster last week has died

That’s awful, and I’m so sorry. When anything like that happens, it (no matter who’s at fault) puts a lasting blemish on everything.

Wow. Horrible. Yea. Puzzling lack of national media attention. Maybe they will latch on now since the man has passed away.

When this happened years ago (I think in Georgia), the person in the train also broke their leg. I wonder if there were any other injuries?

I still think this ride needs deep magenta with fog light show. Just think of the boost to such a plain ride (sorry Banshee fans).

Apparently rollercoasters do not have a monopoly on stupidity

Shades:

Apparently rollercoasters do not have a monopoly on stupidity

Wow. I don’t get it? What’s the point of doing that and risking your life? The pic would be just as good in front of the barrier.

OhioStater:

What has seemed strange is the almost complete lack of national coverage.

Considering something normal like a lift stop on a coaster can become a national story, it is odd nobody has picked this up beyond local news.

The_Orient_of_Express:

I don’t get it? What’s the point of doing that and risking your life?

I have a photo of myself on a precarious ledge at the Grand Canyon, with a drop of far enough to kill me. It makes me sick to my stomach to look at it now. When I was young and dumb, I was young and dumb.

In my defense, there were no physical barriers to hop, just the extremely low barrier of a 22-year's brain.

We hiked Devil's Bridge when we visited Sedona. Everyone else in my family walked right up and sat down on the edge for a photo, while I stayed right smack in the middle of the arch, becuase I was NOT doing that.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/rec...ecid=55292

One of those people was someone afraid of roller coasters (!) I asked her later why she walked right up to the edge of a 50' drop on a sandstone arch, when she refused to get on Millennium Force. "It was perfectly safe."

I later decided it was the (illusion of) control. She thought falling (or not falling) was something she could control on the arch, while it is not something she can control on the coaster. On the other hand, I know that I'm an idiot and incapable of keeping myself safe, while rides are over-engineered for safety.

I think that's why people have a fear of flying yet have no fear of driving, even though the latter is far more dangerous, statistically.

I've had that conversation more than once. It turns out "You're more likely to die driving to the airport" is not the comfort I assumed it was. ;-)

Yea. I’m more afraid of water slides than roller coasters. Because I feel like there’s always a certain unpredictability with a water ride, as opposed to a ride on a track.