Weight may have been a factor in Perilous Plunge death

Ok, I'm a guy who is about 6'2" and about 260lbs. I have had no problems due with my "width", only height. I think it is unfair that a company has to put any height or weight restrictions on a ride...There are people other than the average, and we need to accept that.
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MillenniumForce04 Would rather be riding Millennium Force than sitting in front of his computer...

M.Force04,

How would you suggest a design that would incorporate all of the extreme sizes (small, tall, heavy, skinny)?  Should the rides be equipped for people with no arms or legs? 

I am colorblind.  As such, I am not allowed to fly commercial planes nor become a licenesed electrician.  There are limitations in every facet of life and amusement parks are no exception.

That doesn't mean that parks and manufacturers should not be held accountable.  If there are limitations then they should be made known and followed.

I am a large person and I love being the way I am. I love Perilous Plunge and I ride it every single time I go to Knott's (This is about every month). Every time I ride it, I notice that each seat is checked twice. They check for the seatbelt, as well as the lapbar. Now, I don't necessarily know what this person did, but I heard somewhere that she stood up about 95 feet from the ground, and it really isn't all that hard to get up a little. Everyone knows that when you adjust the lapbar to a certain point, it will fit snug. Now if this person didn't pull the lapbar all the way down, it still has a little leeway, meaning that the bar shifts when it isn't tight. She could have easily not put the seatbelt on right, and when she got up at this height, all she would have had to do was move a little and she would have been knocked out just by the brute force of the ride. It most likely is fault for both parties in question (The rider and the operator), but moreover the rider. What I think should be done to fix it, although highly unprobable, is a self adjusting mechanical lapbar, like someone said earlier, similar to the ones that they have for the Hammerhead, but in lapbar form instead of OSTR. It clamps down HARD on a big person like me, but it makes me feel real safe. They should do the same to PP. (Vertigo will kick a**!!)

Well, that's going to damper a lot of grossly overweight ACEr spirits when CoasterCon comes to Knott's Berry Slaughterhouse next year and they can't ride PP.  ACE does stand for "ALL you CAN EAT", after all. You hearing that, Regan?

*** This post was edited by Turd Furguson on 9/26/2001. ***

I don't think we'll know for sure until we hear an official statement.  The article seems to be speculating on one of MANY possibilities.

Once the cause is found, it will no doubt be taken care of one way or another.  If it's found to be a design flaw or ride failure, it will be corrected so that it will not happen again.  If it's ride op error or rider error, that will be addressed as well.

Either way, it's sad that this woman died in the manner that she did...

im sorry and i know this sounds harsh but its plain and simple and i said this to my freind a while back how it could happen on sudden impact.she was a very large woman so what happened was she moved in her restrainet so guess what moves along with the rest of her body ? her stumich therefor leaving alot of room for her to move around then when it went down the drop plain and simple the fat of the victom shifted prop over the lapbar and was way over the seatbelt and she flew out the ride.i seen the same thing happen on real tv when a woman was riding a sling shot ride and she was heavy set and when the negative G forces kicked in ,the seatbelts shifted around her body and she went under them,thankfully she held on the ride and dident fall out.

Well, SFDL (and all other Intamin Coasters I am aware of...) installed Seat Belts after the incident which happened in the begining of 1999. I read the article, and it did mention that a seatbelt is in place in addition to the lap bar, so I think this is kind of a fluke incident. In a way I guess it "could" be a design flaw, but yet, in another, I think its more about the ride ops.

Regarding the size, if the seat belt doesn't fit, you can't ride. Also, if you are believed to be a little too "large", they have some type of rule regarding the belt having a certain amount of slack (or somehting strange like that) which is checked using the ID cards of the Employees. I am not exactly sure what thats all about... but I've seen them do it.

So technically, Intamin "did" something about it, but yet, I really don't know who is to blame.

Alan Jacyszyn

chris, you ask, "Dave - But shouldn't the restraint system prevent that (standing up) regardless of size?"...

Well, that's true. At least, that's how we tend to look at the situation. But Intamin has show us several times that they design their restraining systems with the assumption that the rider is going to act in a reasonable and prudent fashion. Hence the lack of a between-the-legs safety belt on their feet-dangling rides because they make the assumption that the rider will remain back in the seat even though the restraint does not enforce that proper riding position.

Presumably (and my experience on Darien Lake's Superman when I could have easily slid out from under the lap bar seems to fit with this line of thinking) if you remain seated under the Intamin lap bar, you will not come out of the seat because your thighs will catch on the lap bar. The design does not prevent the rider from maneuvering into an unsafe position, but the design is such that an unsafe position is not a reasonable position for a rider to assume during the ride.

The problem is, not all riders are reasonable.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Who, in spite of those comments, is still not entirely ready to blame anybody for this incident.

What should we do, put a bathroom scale in each row? Not very realistic, is it? And just like in the UK, most parks I've been to talk about large chest measurements on their warning signs. Of course, no one thinks it applies to them.

By the way, when did it become acceptible not to capatilize your I's and first letters of your sentences? Is it just laziness?

Dave - I see what you're getting at, but I'm still a little skeptical of the Intamin design. It seems like the design may allow too much "chance" for error. From the descriptions I have read, I'm under the impression that one could get into an unsafe position quite accidentily. On the other hand, the two incidents very well could have been flukes. Unfortunately, I don't have any first-hand knowledge, and that's why I questioned you about it specifically.

Are the floors on the Intamin rides raised (like SOB) to keep the riders in position? This may be a relatively simple solution.
*** This post was edited by chris away on 9/26/2001. ***

If weight is an issue, looks like I may have lay off the Big Macs

John, that exactly what I have been saying [about the woman]. *** This post was edited by sfmmman2001 on 9/26/2001. ***

There's nothing else I can say that hasn't been said allready, but more coasters/water coasters-whatever should adopt seatbelts like those found on PR. I forget the technical term for them, but they are similar to the ones found in automobiles. They automatically adjust to your size, instead of you having to manually do it.
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Assistant Webmaster
Kennywood Park Unlimited
http://www.kpunlimited.com

Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am an overweight person. I weigh less then 250 lbs ( It's been a long time since I've weighed myself) am 5'10" and 17yrs old (yes I know it's bad to be overwieght). And as one, I have never came accross a problem with any roller coaster. Sure, V2 @ SFMW was alittle tight but I still fit. I also fit in PP and had a great time. I remember when Stealth first opened and I was checking PGA's website and it said there was a weight limit. This scared the **** out of me because I thought I might not fit on the ride. When The time came, I weighed 10 lbs over the limit and still rode, Safely.

I don't think there should be a weight limit but a weight advisory and the ride-ops should make jugment calls (VERY CAREFULLY CONSIDERED!) about if the rider should go on. Not every one is built the same. If the op feels it is going to be a problem, then they shouldn't let the person on. I know some will be mad but if they put signs everywhere they can be sued about a "Large" person being turned away from a ride because they don't fit, but they probably wouldn't win.

Dont some rides have weight and height restrictions?

What happened at Darien Lake?
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I Survived Millennium Force!

1.) Millennium Force 2.) Raptor 3.) Mantis 4.) Magnum XL-200 5.) Texas Cyclone

Chris away-The cas on MF for example are flat. However Rideman did propose raising the seat fronts a bit which I guess they did on MF. So the knees would be up and above the bar when it comes down, therefore making it impossible to get out (at least i think that's what he's getting at)

Beeman65- I believe the term is retractable seat belts (although there is maybe a more fancier term for them). They are great on PR because there is no way to loosen them and they are easy to find :). I believe it was discussed that the belts are pretty much the primary restraint on PR.
 

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Save Cheese on a stick!

If you cannot be secured in the ride, from being too small or too big, then for your own saftey you shouldnt ride..

yes a case by case basis..this should be enforced.. I do not want to discriminate against people because of their size..but I think if you cant be secured safely..then too bad...

no one freaks out over the minimum height requirements..that is for rider safety too!

eg: All those signs that say you must be "this" tall to ride...

I do not think a height/ weight chart like the military is appropriate.. once again, it should be the ride ops call when checking the passenger's restraints... if it isnt fitting right..for what ever the reason..then they need to be asked to leave the ride, unless they insist and sign a disclaimer that frees the park from responsibility if there is an accident...I know that is unlikely...but it is a fair way to solve the problem if they insist on riding...

She wasn't checked.

I've stood up on MF before. I got a couple inches between me and the lapbar. If I hadn't stood up, I'd would have felt much less secure. It's like the reflex of putting your hands out if you are falling. I had my seat belt tight enough to be safe, but it was a freaky feeling. That was the most airtime I'd ever gotten on a coaster, and I didn't touch the seat on the lapbar on the 3rd hill. I was just floating between them. It was one of the most awesome feelings I've had in my life.

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