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Original poster

How does someone fall from a rollercoaster?

129 replies

Sarahfromtheblock · 31/05/2019 16:44

Another tragic fall by a child, age 6 or 7 (papers differ) from a rollercoaster in Lightwater Valley. I have never been and never been on any roller coaster.

Are these children too small and the seatbelts or whatever they have not fitting them correctly? Does the machinery beak down? How does it happen?

OP posts:

DonkeyHohtay · 31/05/2019 17:56

it never really surprises me as most of the people who work in these places are part time seasonal staff.

I think this is the other major difference with the big theme parks in the states or other places like EuroDisney. They're open all year and the staff don't change over each season. They see it more as a job to pay the mortgage or as a career not as a doss with your mates over the summer holidays.

AndNoneForGretchenWieners · 31/05/2019 17:56

hopefully so do you not bounce up a few inches any more on the ToT? That was one of the best parts!

Honkycat · 31/05/2019 17:57

I read the height restriction for this ride was 4’11’’. I would have thought a 6/7 year old would be less than that.

CheesecakeAddict · 31/05/2019 17:58

Yeah I remember being on the waltzer in skegness when I was about 9 and the guy running the ride forgot to lock the bars down. We were screaming for him to stop the ride but just kept going faster. It was only because i was with a taller friend who managed to keep it closed with her foot at the side.

I really hope that little boy makes a full recovery 😔

Bunnybigears · 31/05/2019 18:00

I think rides with a single bar for all those sat in the carriage need to be altered so each person is restrained individually. Whenever I went on these kind of rides as a child I was always slipping down under the bar during to my Ddad being large of tummy. He normally had to hold me down.

Lunde · 31/05/2019 18:04

Almost happened to DD2's friend when we took them to a theme park. DD2 and her friend both wanted to go on the Pirate Ship ride that swings backwards and forwards - they were both well over the height limit so we said OK. However the friend was very skinny and started to slide out under the lap bar- they were screaming for the ride to stop but unfortunately nobody could hear them in a busy theme park. Luckily DD was able to hang onto her jeans and they both hung on until the end - they were pretty shaken though.

YoureAllABunchOfBastards · 31/05/2019 18:05

Height is 1.5 unaccompanied but 1.3 or 1.2 if you are with an adult.

DS1 and 2 are major theme park geeks and both said that you don't have to wear the belt on Twister, but they always do.

BlueThursday · 31/05/2019 18:07

9 children were injured at our nearest theme park 3 years ago when the carriages simply came off the rail.

The safety inspector received a ban for passing it in an inspection.

It’s made me fearful of rides since - you put your faith in these people

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-36823711

MarshaBradyo · 31/05/2019 18:10

Horrendous
That’s what I asked when I heard it on R4

Passthecherrycoke · 31/05/2019 18:19

Tbh I’m a but unconvinced too. Theme park rides are supposed to be scary, and some
People get more scared on them than others.
But it’s hard to imagine how someone who is basically untethered on a high speed ride going upside down/ left / right wouldn’t just drop out, as the Chessington staff suggested. I can’t believe That a whole ride of people would be untethered because a very large man was on the ride either? (Especially in Florida where there are many very large people)

I guess we’ll find out in time what happened to the poor boy. How awful though

ballsdeep · 31/05/2019 18:36

I always wonder how more epeople don't fall out when children usually go on with adults who are at least twice the size of them. There is a huge gap so wonder how they stay in

Itstheprinciple · 31/05/2019 18:50

There are seatbelts on ToT now but just across your lap. I definitely still went up and down in April! But did feel more secure than the old bar.

SkintAsASkintThing · 31/05/2019 18:55

Obviously It's sad, and I hope to god the child improves. But everything has a risk, and life would be very boring if we never took small ones.

Statistically more people die or.are badly injured driving to a theme park than they are on the rides. The risk is minimal so long as people don't take chances.

I'm never.put off by broken rides, it means their fault sensors are working and doing what they're meant to do. So far as activities go visiting a theme park will be one of the safer ones.

Ravingstarfish · 31/05/2019 18:58

We went on a very tame log flume when ds was 7 or 8 ds insisted on going behind me, bars down, go down the flume and he goes head over the bar, luckily I caught him and he wouldn’t have had far to fall but there’s no way either of us are going on any rides again. He was way over the height restriction so makes me wonder if they even bother safety testing etc

SherlockSays · 31/05/2019 19:03

Light water Valley is grim, i went 7years ago and it should have been shut down then. The rollercoaster broke down when I was on it.

Feelingwalkedover · 31/05/2019 19:06

I was on a fairground ride as a child.a carousel ride ,but fast.
I simply couldn’t hold on ,and there was no straps ,I was gradually slipping off ,people noticed and started screamed ,but they weren’t able to stop the ride ,so the man running it climbed over the horses and got on my ride with me to hold me on.i can remember being so scared.i was sick everywhere when it stopped.

SmarmyMrMime · 31/05/2019 19:21

I was a small, lean child that took a long time to grow into the more adventurous rides. I've often struggled even into adulthood with harnesses and bars feeling too loose. Long bars that get fixed to the size of the biggest person are not great.

A few years ago on Hex at Alton Towers, sliding on the bench during the ride meant I ended up stuck half underneath a very obese man by the end of the ride. When I went most recently there was clearly more double checking of major rides like the Smiler and older more experienced staff following the serious injuries caused by a collision caused by a manual override.

Context is important though. How many people have died/ sustained serious injury when travelling to and from theme parks. The rate of serious incidents is very low compared to the numbers of riders upon each ride. Compared to just about anything else you can do, they are very, very low risk.

Iwantacookie · 31/05/2019 19:23

I remember being on a waltzer ride and the 3/4 of us in the car all put our hands up and the safety bar fell forward.
It was only 20/30 seconds until we span round and the bar dropped back down but we were absolutely terrified and held on to the bar with both hands for the rest of the ride.

Accidents do happen and I would hope in this day and age of h&s this should be virtually unheard of yet sadly I'm hearing it more and more.

Kazzyhoward · 31/05/2019 19:31

If it was a single bar across all the people side by side, they're very uncomfortable for any larger people and that makes them very loose for smaller people. There should be individual belts or bars. We went on one in Florida where the ride supervisors were recommending that large/small people sat with others of similar sizes so the lap bars fitted better.

WindsweptEgret · 31/05/2019 19:32

They should only be permitted to have individual restraints, or else raise minimum heights and reduce the seat size and maximum distance of the bar from the seat so that riders are more similar in size on rides without individual restraints.

Original poster

Sarahfromtheblock · 31/05/2019 19:33

Compared to just about anything else you can do, they are very, very low risk.

Maybe so but it isn’t something you have to do to get to work or school, or work itself. It’s two minutes of being scared for being scared’s sake.

OP posts:

BlueCornishPixie · 31/05/2019 19:48

Most seatbelts are purely placebo, you should never need seatbelt on a rollercoaster because the restraints are what hold you and if they are locked they won't fail. The ride shouldn't be able to launch if the the restraints aren't locked. A seatbelt is providing nothing for an adult, so an adult being told a seatbelt is optional doesn't mean much

Most rides are tested for all variables, especially at big theme parks, having a very large man next to you on ToT won't put you at risk. It just feels like it.

We don't know what happened here. It could be the restraints weren't secured, it could be the child was too small. Maybe a combination of things, child being too small and wiggled out of the restraints.

I hope he is okay

takemetomars · 31/05/2019 20:04

Teentimestwo - Tower of Terror in Florida has individual seat belts so what you have said makes no sense!

TeenTimesTwo · 31/05/2019 20:14

takemetomars It didn't 20 years ago. As confirmed by a previous poster.

ballsdeep · 31/05/2019 20:18

@bluecornish but that's my point. The bars don't reach the children to hold them in securely if there's a 6inch gap between themselves and the bar. Surely a seat belt would have held the poor boy in?

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