Are amusement park rides safe?

No

3 of 15

by Jesse Hamric

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Imagine this. You are on vacation with your family, to Walt Disney World. After eating a great breakfast and getting the family ready, you board the monorail. What should be a pleasant ride ends, when the train you are in slams into another, killing the driver and destroying both trains. This is no scene from a movie, this is the reality of what happened at Disney World on July 5th, 2009. Perhaps the most disturbing part of this accident, was the fact it was caused by human error.

Amusement parks have become a huge success. Families each year travel around the world to visit these places. While it is probably true that most of these parks are at least somewhat safe, and the the odds of being involved in an accident are small, these accidents do happen, maybe more then you know about. Through this article we will explore some of the more recent accidents and ultimately answer the question, are these places safe?

Incident 1 - Knott's Berry Farm - Xcelerator - 1 Injured (September 16, 2009)

In this incident, a catch cable used to launch the popular roller coaster frayed and snapped, gashing a young boy in the leg. Park employees roped off all areas around the accident, as to contain it from public knowledge.

Incident 2 - Blackpool Pleasure Beach - Big Dipper - 21 Injured (August 11th, 2009)

A train on the popular high-speed roller coaster was struck from behind by another train. Three people were taken to a local hospital, and eighteen treated on the scene.

Incident 3 - Hershey Park - Coal Cracker - 1 Injured (May 9th, 2009)

Several log flumes collided resulting in a woman being taken to a local hospital with unspecified injuries.

Incident 4 - Liseburg - The Rainbow - 36 Injured (July 15th, 2008)

The arm collapsed from the ride, resulting in the compartment housing the riders falling. As many as thirty six people were hurt in this accident, and twenty were listed in serious condition.

Incident 5 - Animal Kingdom - Kilimanjaro Safaris - 4 Injured (February 10th, 2008)

A hose on the ride did not preform correctly, resulting in the vehicle catching on fire. Three of the people involved were treated on scene, while one girl was hospitalized after jumping from the ride.

Now that you have seen five good examples of recent accidents, the question of if these parks safe or not can be addressed. What I think is more appropriate is to ask, is this amount of accidents normal? Having an accident for two months in a row should not be considered "normal".

Let me also add that I personally live near Six Flags Over Georgia, which has to be one of the most unsafe parks I have ever visited. Nearly every weekend I would visit the park at least one of the rides would break down leaving riders stranded. There were three fatalities in the park (two of them were employees), but overall from personal experience I can say these parks are not safe.

Combining my personal experience, with the professional reports of accidents taking place over many years, and the amount of accidents out there that have not been reported, the conclusion of this article is that amusement park rides are not safe.

If you choose to take your family out to a park, I suggest keeping some level of vigilance, because you never know when you may be involved in the next big accident.

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