Woman dies riding Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas

I am envisioning a lap bar that has many moving part and is adjustable for a lot of different body types. I wonder why these designers don't do anything like that.

It's 2013, and people are still being tossed from roller coasters.

LostKause said:

I am envisioning a lap bar that has many moving part and is adjustable for a lot of different body types. I wonder why these designers don't do anything like that.

Because you're shifting the responsibility to the attendant to make a safety call. That's disaster waiting to happen on so many levels.

Tyler, the verdict is in. You're not too thin to ride, however you are too skinny to post.

^^Exactly. You don't want the ride op to have to do anything more than push a single degree of freedom restrain until it stops and check to see that the light is green. If those simple conditions are met and a rider still gets ejected, absent a mechanical failure, it's a design flaw.

I wish I could show you all my design idea in my head. It wouldn't need any more looking at by an attendant then they do now. I see more moving parts as possibly causing a problem though, because there could be more room for mechanical failure. I'm not an engineer, but I have an interesting idea.

Phantoms revenge, for example has more movement in the lap bar than other rides. It swings over the rider's lap, but it also lift or lowers according to the size of the rider. My idea is something like that, except more like Diamondback's restraints.

If there's more moving parts, there's more variation in how it could be applied and more chances it's being applied incorrectly.

That's my problem.

It's not so much moving parts as it is degrees of freedom. All restraints that I can think of have only one degree of freedom: they can pivot about a hinge. This gives them a limited range a motion that is predictable and easy to handle. For each degree of freedom you add, you're not only expanding the range of motion and the possible locations that the restraint could end up, but you're also adding that many more locking mechanisms.

Same idea - you explained it much better than I.

Then we must be in some kind of alternate universe. :)

LostKause said:
...

Phantoms revenge, for example has more movement in the lap bar than other rides. It swings over the rider's lap, but it also lift or lowers according to the size of the rider. My idea is something like that, except more like Diamondback's restraints.

I really like the design of S&S restraints featured on Powder Keg and the Screaming Swings. It has deep, reclined seats and the lap bar comes down directly onto the riders' thighs.

I get very scared on the Screaming Swing because of the ridiculous airtime I get and the lapbar being as tight as it can go and still not being tight enough (never thought I'd have that issue on a ride). How people have not been ejected from that ride is beyond me.

But you and another poster brought up an interesting point: a multi-directional lapbar. I think that would be helpful, but I don't know HOW much safer it would be, if at all. They should try something like that on a ride sometime.

bunky666 said:

How people have not been ejected from that ride is beyond me.

Read through this thread and it won't be.

It's not about how tight the lapbar is, it's about the position the lapbar is in.

Hence, being stapled on your gut can result in an ejection while having room on your lap has been 100% incident free.

And clearly because Tyler has never been ejected, no one else ever will be. Because it's all about him.

I'm not implying that at all. You probably knew that.

You think the solution to the Texas Coaster is to refit the cars and add seats with a seat belt and the lap bar? Hopefully not and over the shoulder restaint?

It looks like Iron Rattler is open again...

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20130816-six-flags-reopens-fie...tality.ece

that's about iron rattler opening after the park added seatbelts to the trains which is probably the same thing they will do to Texas giant.

It would look like Texas Giant is open again... if you didn't read the article.

It states clearly that Texas Giant remains closed.

Thanks RCMAC. I did read the article, but mistyped. Thanks for for the unneeded sarcastic reply though ;-)

Sarcasm is never unneeded, and always welcomed.