News Guest dies, found unresponsive after riding Stardust Racers

[DCBaker]

WESH 2 News reports there will be another news conference with the family and their attorney tomorrow morning to give an update on the investigation after hearing from additional witnesses and other riders who have also reported being injured on the ride.

 

[celluloid]

Can you give some examples of these nuances that make them different?

I don't want to go into specifics at the moment and with custom alterations everything has to be questioned for a fair investigation, but the ride vehicles were custom designed for the client with variations that no other model yet has, and a rider accessibility was something specific to this model.

Vests were designed as an option with this ride model and were going to be a part of one seat per train soon, now they are possibly going to be a part of every single seat going forward if that is one of the alterations made.

 

[celluloid]

WESH 2 News reports there will be another news conference with the family and their attorney tomorrow morning to give an update on the investigation after hearing from additional witnesses and other riders who have also reported being injured on the ride.

I heard this was planned for Wednesday. Can I see where you saw it was schedueled for Tuesday?

 

[flynnibus]

The fact that this coaster is still closed should be very telling you. Even after the investigation from state and company said ride was operating as normal.

Let's be clear - the 'investigation' is not done. They've just made statements about an inspection immediately following the accident.

 

[celluloid]

Let's be clear - the 'investigation' is not done. They've just made statements about an inspection immediately following the accident.

That is an important thing to be clear on and the point. Everything was working as it should have by design, but the design with operation still left a man dead and no one knows for sure yet why publicly. This is why Ben Crump, and his clients have a strong case and angle for transparency now and going forward. You say immediately, but not sure if you are aware more official statements from company came out in the days following incident after initial state and company investigation.

Typically, an investigation of the state and park of the ride system would be enough to have it open by now if it was rider fault/natural causes. This is why this is such a heavy situation, and the coaster is still standing but not operating near two weeks later.

 

[DCBaker]

I heard this was planned for Wednesday. Can I see where you saw it was schedueled for Tuesday?

It was one of the lead stories on the 10pm newscast.

 

[mkt]

That is an important thing to be clear on and the point. Everything was working as it should have by design, but the design with operation still left a man dead and no one knows for sure yet why publicly. This is why Ben Crump, and his clients have a strong case and angle for transparency now and going forward. You say immediately, but not sure if you are aware more official statements from company came out in the days following incident after initial state and company investigation.

Typically, an investigation of the state and park of the ride system would be enough to have it open by now if it was rider fault/natural causes. This is why this is such a heavy situation, and the coaster is still standing but not operating near two weeks later.

In a US-only case, if it looked like rider fault or a medical event, the ride would likely be open again within days once the state, risk managers, and insurers signed off.

Here you’ve got Universal under US/Florida jurisdiction, tort law, and discovery rules, and Mack under German/EU product liability law, where the manufacturer is automatically on the hook if a design flaw is found. That makes both sides move slower and more carefully, because anything they say or release can be used in court on either side of the Atlantic.

So while two weeks feels long, between the optics of a fatality on a brand-new ride in a brand-new park, the differences between U.S. and German/EU legal systems, and Ben Crump working the press to win in the court of public opinion before even filing suit - it adds up.

Also remember, it'll be around Christmas when the autopsy is released.

 

[celluloid]

Here you’ve got Universal under US/Florida jurisdiction, tort law, and discovery rules, and Mack under German/EU product liability law, where the manufacturer is automatically on the hook if a design flaw is found. That makes both sides move slower and more carefully, because anything they say or release can be used in court on either side of the Atlantic.

Indeed and especially this.

It is likely no coincidence that Sandi Streets' lawsuit filed was already settled in just about record time to any seen before, thus including any disclosure as part of her settlement so she cannot be a part of Ben Crump's witnesses he is bringing to press conference now or later.

 

[Tom Morrow]

You are unnecessarily aggressive if you think that becoming safer after this death means the ride will be ruined. If it prevents this kind of death from ever happening while remaining accessible for as many to ride as it safely can because they don't have an exact answer of what happened. Why is it ruined?

I don't think I'm being aggressive, but I really don't want awful shoulder harnesses to be added to all these modern coasters as a knee-jerk reaction. Shoulder harnesses suck, vests are not much better. I have ridden many coasters, and the only coaster with a vest that was completely comfortable was Siren's Curse at Cedar Point. Even then, that is a coaster that isn't aggressively throwing you around in the way that something like Velocicoaster and Steel Vengeance do.

 

[celluloid]

I don't think I'm being aggressive, but I really don't want awful shoulder harnesses to be added to all these modern coasters as a knee-jerk reaction. Shoulder harnesses suck, vests are not much better. I have ridden many coasters, and the only coaster with a vest that was completely comfortable was Siren's Curse at Cedar Point. Even then, that is a coaster that isn't aggressively throwing you around in the way that something like Velocicoaster and Steel Vengeance do.

I get that it is unfortunate in a bummer sense for some freedom feeling during a thrill, but what information do you have that makes you so sure it would be a knee-jerk reaction to add vests to this attraction that is already a recommendation and option in the model for guests with certain builds?

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

and other riders who have also reported being injured on the ride.

Even more smoke.

 

[maxairmike]

Even more smoke.

No, more like typical ambulance chasing that occurs with nearly every major park every year that goes under the radar because there’s no bigger story associated with it.

EDIT: I took the sub-quoted post to mean there were separate additional suits like the one that was just settled (skimmed too fast). If there are any actual legit, actionable and serious claims I would be shocked. This is likely to be more of the “I got jostled around and had a headache,” or similar things (they tell you to keep your head back on launches for a reason), and entirely for PR/case image purposes.

 

[DCBaker]

Here's the press conference happening now:

 

[CoastalElite64]

Well if someone fits in a restraint then restraint is designed to safely restrain them.

The cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma. Not a broken spine, neck etc...

This is why Universal and Mack are in such a situation over it.

It is super rare that this would happen, but yet, it can.

Changes happening is the right thing to do. We won't lose the ride. People need to be reasonable and understand the good faith there is on this.

Yeah the last thing Universal needs is for SR to have another major incident. I think they will make changes before reopening too.

 

[yonafunu]

Here's the press conference happening now:

I'm not American, but I find this kind of performance from the lawyer both fascinating and somewhat uncomfortable. It almost seems like he's about to pull out tissues within the first few seconds. I don't buy it for a second – perhaps this is his usual style.

Unless I'm mistaken, nothing new came out of this press conference: still the same testimonies about violence experienced during the attraction (chasing the ambulance?), the Streets complaint that was settled out of court... in short, nothing substantial.

Come on, Universal, release the evidence and reassure us! It's been far too long since we've heard from you.

 

[Master Yoda]

Come on, Universal, release the evidence and reassure us! It's been far too long since we've heard from you.

This is most likely because there is nothing new to report. The only party that benefits from feeding the news machine is the plaintiff; hence, the press conference you just watched.

 

[mergatroid]

I guess when its a pre existing health issue its Universal's fault and when its a pre existing coaster design issue its Universal's fault.

Who is saying this? If a doctor tells a patient "You have a brain tumour and any G Forces applied could kill you" and that person doesn't tell Universal that before boarding a coaster where signs clearly display that G Forces will be experienced and then passes away due to the G Forces affecting a known condition, how would that be Universal's fault?

You seem to be constantly repeating that Universal will be blamed regardless and they shouldn't be in your cryptic posts, at least that's how they read? In the post just quoted what do you mean? There's many health conditions where it wouldn't be Universals fault like the one I've just given. Another would be a doctor telling a patient that high speed rides with sudden direction shifts could result in a bullet stuck in their spine shifting and paralysing them. Universal design their signage to explain to riders what to expect to do as much as they can to mitigate these things from happening. If a person with a bullet in their spine hides that fact from Universal, rides the attraction against their doctor's advice and the sudden change in direction dislodges the bullet paralysing them then it absolutely wouldn't be Universal's fault.

There's many factors to be considered when apportioning blame for an accident despite your constant simplification of the matter. Where somebody has a pre-existing health condition that has nothing to do with the accident for instance could make Universal at fault, a pre-existing condition doesn't exclude Universal from any responsibility in certain situations. If a person with a slight neck strain decides to ride the attraction despite a sign suggesting they don't is fatally electrocuted along with everyone else on the ride when an electrical cable falls on their vehicle, that person isn't held responsible for their own death whereas the others aren't as there's no correlation between the pre-existing condition and the cause of death.

You seem to keep repeating the same thing over and over making statements that aren't true even though none of us know for sure what happened or who's fault it was if anyone's. There are many examples of people with pre-existing conditions dying on attractions where the ride operators were exonerated from any blame and yet you ignore these and keep saying Universal will be blamed regardless. Disney have been blamed for deaths in the past and also exonerated from others, it's not a witch hunt for Stardust Racers or Universal and accidents can be the fault of the rider or the operator depending on a variety of factors.

 

[Disstevefan1]

People need to be reasonable and understand the good faith there is on this.

 

[mkt]

Come on, Universal, release the evidence and reassure us! It's been far too long since we've heard from you.

In the real world, that evidence takes more than two weeks to assemble. Especially when one of the parties, Mack, is under German/EU jurisdiction.

 

[Disstevefan1]

We all know its not about truth its what can be proven.