Theme Park Discussion / A woman just died on Six Flags' Texas Giant

Yep!

I don't pay attention to news media because they will take anything to create a story. Also, this "Brown" person says the restrains click and the ride op stated that one click is safe or something like that. Sounds like she is just adding fuel to the fire.

I still stand by my ground stating this ride is safe and if it were open tomorrow I would ride it and have fun! But out of respect for the dead I refute anything said by witnesses (really there were only the people who were near her while riding), or crazed people on Facebook and Twitter until this investigation is over.

Yes, I've come to the conclusion that Carmen Brown is a lying sensationalist sack of shit.

She's told the media at least two bold faced lies and is using a tragic situation for both the family of the victim and for the theme park community to get her ugly face on television. No seriously she's ugly.

Shit, this is a crazy bad weekend for Gerstlauer
Apparently Smiler just popped a bolt and a gap appeared in the track.

she was about 900 pounds too large and should not have been on the ride to begin with. now at the same time, if the lap bar clicks, the click should indicate that the rider is secure. it's a freak accident and not many people her size ride these things therefore it won't happen again but it'd be silly to say that the manufacturer of the ride isn't partially at fault.

but to play devil's advocate, think of it this way... one of the employees feels that the woman is too large and decides to tell her she can't ride... fat people take offense to being called fat as if they can't control it... either way, the park is getting sued.

but to play devil's advocate, think of it this way... one of the employees feels that the woman is too large and decides to tell her she can't ride... fat people take offense to being called fat as if they can't control it... either way, the park is getting sued.

This reminds me when I turned down someone at Mind Eraser because the seat belt was not long enough to close, even though the shoulder harness was locked. My attendant and I explained to her about why the seat belt also needed to lock for her safety, not using any words that sounded even remotely like "fat" or any synonyms. But she complained, and within the hour, we were both yelled at by our manager for calling her fat. If parks didn't take "the guest is always right" approach to these situations by punishing employees, even when someone decides to slander them, then maybe this accident could have been prevented. We are told in training that we have the right to deny someone a ride if we think they will not be safe, but the consequences of guest complaints discourage this completely.

jeez all of these accidents really fuel the skiing fire!

but to play devil's advocate, think of it this way... one of the employees feels that the woman is too large and decides to tell her she can't ride... fat people take offense to being called fat as if they can't control it... either way, the park is getting sued.

Well, they are going to get sued a lot worse for her dying than for her being told she can't ride and that she needs to go on a diet (hint: one of those cases would get thrown out and the other one will not).

Well, they are going to get sued a lot worse for her dying than for her being told she can't ride and that she needs to go on a diet (hint: one of those cases would get thrown out and the other one will not).

thrown out? please. this is 'merica.


on a serious note (kinda), the lap bar clicked... and with that, the park employee let her ride. that is all the evidence needed to win a the case.


http://youtu.be/N7BscIAK4_8


and with the help of that video, i'm unofficially awarding 'NE's 2013 Comment of the Year Award' to myself... if i knew how to embed youtube videos. somebody post it for me, after sending me a PM on how to do it, and i'll unofficially give you the award for 'NE's 2013 Co-Poster of the Year'.

If she was too fat to ride a rollercoaster in America (where everything is a bit bigger to account for al the fat people) she would've probably died soon anyway.

Nevertheless this is sad news for the rollercoaster and amusement park industry.

on a serious note (kinda), the lap bar clicked... and with that, the park employee let her ride. that is all the evidence needed to win a the case.

Except TG's restraints are pneumatic and don't click.


Here's the signs that are posted throught the queue.

i guess it depends on their definition of 'functioning properly'. there's only one way to find out whether it functions properly or not... and well... it didn't.

thrown out? please. this is 'merica.


on a serious note (kinda), the lap bar clicked... and with that, the park employee let her ride. that is all the evidence needed to win a the case.

People are not allowed roller coasters everyday because of they are too big, too short, etc.

And, the lap bar malfunctioned somewhere for some reason and the lady died, the family will be getting a settlement out of this, this won't actually get to court or even to the point where the family files a lawsuit.

Six Flags will cut them a check and they will agree not to take this to court.

Yeah, in terms of turning people away, I get yelled at every day when someone's kid is too short to ride. I don't have to deal with cases of guests being too large much, but it does happen, in which case I tell them the restraint did not lock, and they cannot ride unless it locks. Usually they understand, and usually another seat may be able to accommodate them. I can tell you that when this situation occurs, and someone doesn't fit, there are ways to tell them "nicely" (like tell them the restraint must fasten properly for them to ride, not even bringing in size or weight into the conversation at all). At all the parks I've been to, this is how it's usually done. Prayers go to the family though, this definitely makes the ride ops think even more about the consequences of not doing our job properly.

I feel sorry for the attendant. Not even a negligent employee should have to live with that kind of guilt for a minimum wage job.

Working Thunderhawk at Dorney Park, I have to tell people (of a larger size) that they can't ride all the time. I was trained at Six Flags that the polite and correct way was to explain that the lapbar/seatbelt won't close and it is unsafe for them to ride. I'm not sure how the trains are NTG, but Thunderhawk has seat dividers and people can easily tell when they won't fit in the ride.

It's a shame that this happened, but overall I don't think Six Flags is responsible. The employee should have told the guest that she couldn't ride. Also, the guest should have known that she was riding at her own risk. I'm sure SFOT has the same signs we have plastered all over Dorney that basically says the park isn't responsible for injuries or illnesses caused by the ride.

People are not allowed roller coasters everyday because of they are too big, too short, etc.

And, the lap bar malfunctioned somewhere for some reason and the lady died, the family will be getting a settlement out of this, this won't actually get to court or even to the point where the family files a lawsuit.

Six Flags will cut them a check and they will agree not to take this to court.

Yes, but does New Texas Giant have a maximum height restriction? Only launched rides like Kingda Ka or rides with headchoppers usually have those.

NTG does not have a max height restriction.

For those who have not been following, Iron Rattler has reopened with new seat belts and NTG will do the same.