To think amusement parks should publish weight limits?

[oovetolove]

I'm so sad and sickened by the death of Tyree Samson. Such a sad tragedy.

What I am shocked about is that I have visited many, many attractions and never have a seen a weight limit except at a local trampoline park.

It never even occurred to me that if over a certain weight it means the ride could fail you.

They have analysed the manufacturers manual for this ride and it states if the person doesn't fit the contours do not let them ride - the weight limits was 287 pounds and tyre was 350.

People have criticised the attendants and said they should have turned him away, but it would be difficult to know who is too overweight for the ride in every case just by looking. People carry weight differently.
. It's unfair to criticise the staff for this I feel. There should be a black and white way to tell if someone is overweight - not make it grey/subjective.

To solve this - why not just put weight limits in big bold letters and then it's up to the person to know if they're too heavy to ride? Individuals themselves know their weight better than park attendants.

It's ridiculous that I have never seen weight limits??worrying is this because of the taboo society we have become when weight is involved? It could have saved that boy.

AIBU to think we should be much more explicit about weight limits on rides or any other situation where someone could die as a result?

I like the PP suggestion of a height/weight scale at the entrance.

You could then have an app linked to this that details the rides each person can go on - scan a code at the start of the queue to check the ride is suitable for you and then again at the front of the queue when your being allocated to seating on the ride (prevents people swapping apps/wristbands etc) and no embarrassment because “oh the app says no to this one”

But, all of the fail safes in the world for height and weight won’t work if the people operating the ride don’t do the basic job of checking that everyone is securely strapped in - which seems to be the issue here.

He had checked on multiple rides if he was ok due to his weight and height and accepted it quite happily if he was turned away - so it wasn’t like he had no awareness and would have kicked off if they told him no.

He was told he was ok to ride so he made the (reasonable) assumption that the people responsible for the ride would then operate it in a safe manner - which they didn't, if they didn’t check he was securely strapped in.

I went to Universal Studios in Orlando a few years back and for a couple of rides where weight could affect safety, you couldn't get on without briefly stepping on a little platform thing. It didn't flash your actual weight up, or anything, but it would flash a light for the attendant if someone was too heavy. They also had some tester seats, where people could sit and make sure they could fit into the seat and fasten the belt/pull the safety bar down before they actually got on to the ride. It seems mad to me that this wouldn't be pretty much standard practice, given the risks. They will happily check your height to make sure you're tall enough for a ride, so it shouldn't be issue for them to check your weight too. It's not like they have to shout your weight out to the whole park.

I think tester seats in several different places would be sensible - before you queue and also closer to the ride so that the staff can check the fit if they suspect that someone is too large.

DH is tall, with a long torso and normal length legs, and he has had to sit out a few rides because he couldn't connect the overhead safety bar to the between-leg buckle, which sounds like a similar situation to this tragic case.

For my part, I am not a fan of lap bars that are supposed to cover more than one rider - someone always ends up with the bar nowhere near them, barely restrained.