Woman hit in face by object on El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure

There's no question that something hit this poor woman, but with that kind of force, I would imagine that it had to come from the ground, or something not otherwise on the train. Any object carried on the ride would be going the same speed as the train, and I would think that in theory even pitched off the top of a hill would have enough horizontal momentum to not do that kind of damage. Well, maybe it would, but I do imagine it would have to be near the top of a hill. At the bottom, dropping most anything would likely bury it in the seats.

I got hit by a pair of sunglasses on Diamondback being held by a woman in the row directly in front of me. It was toward the end of the ride, so we weren't at top speed. It hurt like hell. El Toro has some crazy dynamics. I would imagine a cell phone could do quite a bit of damage.

"There's no signage to educate" Yeah, because that would have helped.

No doubt it was a cell or camera, thats why you have to pay attention when riding.

Perhaps Fabio's nose finally fell back to Earth.

When I ride El Toro it's normally back row and yes I've dodged many an items. Glasses being the most usual. I came close to catching a hat once. I'd bet this was a camera or cell phone.

Too many idiots have them out on the lift hill anymore on that ride. Some get caught and they stop the ride and use the speakers to tell the offender to put it away but I wouldn't be shocked one got past.

I once got hit in the face by a park map on Magnum. Some guy in the front row was holding on to it with his arms up. We got to the turnaround section and he let it go. It was off-season so no one was sitting between us and I was in the back. It hit me right in the eye. I completely lost sight in one eye for about 5 minutes and lost control of my tear duct. I remember distinctly freaking out and feeling like I had lost an eye, because I had no sight and all I could feel was warm wetness spreading in every direction. It was one of the worst and scariest experiences I've ever been through. I spent the entire ride screaming in a panic (and I am not the type to do so, trust me). Worth a laugh now, but it caused some substantial damage.

I had a shiner that went from under my cheekbone all the way around my eye and up onto my forehead. It was deep purple and yellow, and my entire face was a mess for over a week. I ended up sitting in their first aid area for an hour or so with an ice pack on my eye while we waited for my sight to return. To their credit, CP offered to send me to the ER, an optometrist, pay for any overage needed on my stay, and refund our tickets (I did none of this because I didn't want them to be held responsible for some idiot's actions. So I took some pain killers they offered, kept the ice pack, and went immediately to get back on Magnum so I wasn't a wuss about riding it in the future). I was really impressed. The lady who attended to me said that had that map hit me on the side of the map, on a fold, or in a corner it would have been devastating. I remember her saying "imagine if this had happened on Dragster. People need to learn to stop hanging on to crap on rides." She was right. I got lucky.

I don't find this really hard to believe.

Wait,... There's painkillers? Really?

Did you kick the s outta that guy?

Jeff said:

There's no question that something hit this poor woman, but with that kind of force, I would imagine that it had to come from the ground, or something not otherwise on the train. Any object carried on the ride would be going the same speed as the train, and I would think that in theory even pitched off the top of a hill would have enough horizontal momentum to not do that kind of damage. Well, maybe it would, but I do imagine it would have to be near the top of a hill. At the bottom, dropping most anything would likely bury it in the seats.

Roller coasters have many complicated forces occurring in quick succession, it's completely plausible, and to me, more likely than not (based on El Toro's layout), that this was a loose article someone lost on the train.

RCMAC- I really, really wanted to later in the day lol. I was way too panicked and shakey from the adrenaline. My friend went running after the guy and had to be held off by another buddy of ours. She raised enough hell that security found the guy and he was ejected from the park with his group. I think they told me they were banned but seriously this was ages ago. I think it was the year after Dragster opened.

bjames said:

Jeff said:

There's no question that something hit this poor woman, but with that kind of force, I would imagine that it had to come from the ground, or something not otherwise on the train. Any object carried on the ride would be going the same speed as the train, and I would think that in theory even pitched off the top of a hill would have enough horizontal momentum to not do that kind of damage. Well, maybe it would, but I do imagine it would have to be near the top of a hill. At the bottom, dropping most anything would likely bury it in the seats.

Roller coasters have many complicated forces occurring in quick succession, it's completely plausible, and to me, more likely than not (based on El Toro's layout), that this was a loose article someone lost on the train.

Looks like this was a cell phone as they supposedly have changed the announcements to say anyone caught with a cell phone in hand will be ejected from the park.

That doesn't imply cause and effect, it only implies a desire to be more proactive.

I wish more parks would do that. Cuts down on the stupid girls snap chatting on coasters...