News Guest dies, found unresponsive after riding Stardust Racers

[mkt]

What are they supposed to do? Add more restraints? Come out and say he shouldn't have ridden it?

They probably tightened up the language around who can and cannot ride, and trained the team members in which questions can and cannot be asked, how to ask them, and how to de-escalate a ed off guest who gets rejected.

 

[Jrb1979]

Have a plan that includes addressing their liability. This current move looks like they will just settle the case ASAP vs fight anything in an effort to keep SDR running for Epic capacity. Which is a path you can take.. as long as nothing else goes south. If it does, such 'everything is normal' kind of move will bury them next time.

What if they have found that what happened was a freak accident?

 

[Jrb1979]

They probably tightened up the language around who can and cannot ride, and trained the team members in which questions can and cannot be asked, how to ask them, and how to de-escalate a ed off guest who gets rejected.

I agree with that. It feels like many wanted much more. New restraints and a guarantee that this never happens again.

 

[CoastalElite64]

What if they have found that what happened was a freak accident?

A freak accident would be more believable if the ride had a long history. As it stands now it doesn't and there's no explanation from Universal yet.

Is it acceptable for this to happen every six months? Because that's the message Universal is giving by not being transparent.

 

[flynnibus]

What if they have found that what happened was a freak accident?

You still gotta explain it and defend that conclusion.

 

[DisneyHead123]

a guarantee that this never happens again.

I think that's a perfectly reasonable expectation, yes? If they reopen this ride and another person dies of blunt force trauma in 6 months, that is a scandal and a huuuuuge problem on many levels. (If they reopen it and someone happens to have a heart attack while riding, that's different of course.)

I gotta say I'm not understanding what is going on here, although if the ride is in fact totally safe I'm glad that it's reopening. It makes me wonder if the initial findings that Kevin died by blunt force trauma were incorrect. As I've said before, it's very hard to think of what could be so different about his particular anatomy that blunt force trauma could have killed him but not be a serious, even if statistically unlikely, danger to other riders.

 

[Jrb1979]

You still gotta explain it and defend that conclusion.

A freak accident would be more believable if the ride had a long history. As it stands now it doesn't and there's no explanation from Universal yet.

Is it acceptable for this to happen every six months? Because that's the message Universal is giving by not being transparent.

My understanding is you expect Universal to come out and say that the coaster is fine. They did their investigation and with the new warnings and signage this shouldn't happen again.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think that's a perfectly reasonable expectation, yes? If they reopen this ride and another person dies of blunt force trauma in 6 months, that is a scandal and a huuuuuge problem on many levels. (If they reopen it and someone happens to have a heart attack while riding, that's different of course.)

I gotta say I'm not understanding what is going on here, although if the ride is in fact totally safe I'm glad that it's reopening. It makes me wonder if the initial findings that Kevin died by blunt force trauma were incorrect. As I've said before, it's very hard to think of what could be so different about his particular anatomy that blunt force trauma could have killed him but not be a serious, even if statistically unlikely, danger to other riders.

When a man fell off and died at Six Flags Darien Lake from the Superman coaster shortly after it opened, after the investigation was done they didn't say anything. They reopened the coaster and did similar to Stardust Racers and added more warnings.

In the industry, this how they normally do it. IMO it's only cause it's Universal that many are making a bigger deal out it.

 

[mkt]

New restraints.

Two and a half weeks is beyond unrealistic to design, prototype, test, approve, manufacture, and install an all-new restraint system. That’s a months-long process at best.

a guarantee that this never happens again.

There are no guarantees in life. Just risk mitigation.

 

[Jrb1979]

Two and a half weeks is beyond unrealistic to design, prototype, test, approve, manufacture, and install an all-new restraint system. That’s a months-long process at best.


There are no guarantees in life. Just risk mitigation.

I agree with all of that. If they were to add new restraints, they would not re open it tomorrow

 

[DisneyHead123]

When a man fell off and died at Six Flags Darien Lake from the Superman coaster shortly after it opened, after the investigation was done they didn't say anything. They reopened the coaster and did similar to Stardust Racers and added more warnings.

In the industry, this how they normally do it. IMO it's only cause it's Universal that many are making a bigger deal out it.

In the Darien Lake case it was much clearer how the anatomy of the rider was distinctly different than is typical and directly contributed to that horrific accident. Not having two legs is much more clear cut than low muscle tone.

It’s possible clarity is coming in this case - I don’t think Universal is reckless so if they’re reopening the ride maybe there’s information they haven’t released.

 

[mkt]

I agree with all of that. If they were to add new restraints, they would not re open it tomorrow

Realistically, even if Universal and Mack threw money and resources at the problem, designed and tested without hiccups, and pushed approvals at full speed, you’d still be looking at spring break 2026 at the earliest.

 

[Jrb1979]

In the Darien Lake case it was much clearer how the anatomy of the rider was distinctly different than is typical and directly contributed to that horrific accident. Not having two legs is much more clear cut than low muscle tone.

It’s possible clarity is coming in this case - I don’t think Universal is reckless so if they’re reopening the ride maybe there’s information they haven’t released.

There was one prior to that death in 1999, when a man who was overweight rode it and fell off.

 

[DisneyHead123]

There was one prior to that death in 1999, when a man who was overweight rode it and fell off.

That’s awful, although I’m not clear on what your point is. We should go ahead and let people fall off roller coasters if it only happens every once in awhile?

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

There was one prior to that death in 1999, when a man who was overweight rode it and fell off.

It was a prior incident but not a prior death - he survived.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

You still gotta explain it and defend that conclusion.

While I’d love to hear an explanation also if this was a result of his disability they’d be walking a thin line on victim blaming, the backlash could be a nightmare. It could also be viewed as admitting liability since they let him ride.

I’m sure they could carefully craft a statement to tiptoe around blaming the victim but just saying everything worked as designed and Uni, the manufacturer, and the state have all determined it’s safe to reopen is a less risky PR statement .

 

[Jrb1979]

That’s awful, although I’m not clear on what your point is. We should go ahead and let people fall off roller coasters if it only happens every once in awhile?

My point is that when deaths have happened on coasters, that for the most part they reopened with little PR or a big news story on what happened.

 

[DisneyHead123]

My point is that when deaths have happened on coasters, that for the most part they reopened with little PR or a big news story on what happened.

I think an incident that happened in the late 90s is an extremely small sample size. And again, I don’t think this is something we should aspire to.

That said, in today’s media climate, if Universal feels comfortable opening this ride, presumably they have data to support this. There’s a world of difference between “We’ll just let this happen every once in a great while” and “This situation will either be prevented by future precautions, or was never due to the ride to begin with.” If the ride is reopening I’m assuming they have info that is not public.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think an incident that happened in the late 90s is an extremely small sample size. And again, I don’t think this is something we should aspire to.

That said, in today’s media climate, if Universal feels comfortable opening this ride, presumably they have data to support this. There’s a world of difference between “We’ll just let this happen every once in a great while” and “This situation will either be prevented by future precautions, or was never due to the ride to begin with.” If the ride is reopening I’m assuming they have info that is not public.

I'm not saying "oh well someone died,open the ride anyways" I'm saying is that the ride is safe to open and passed inspections. If didn't it would still be closed.

IMO them opening the ride is enough information to say the ride is safe. Along with them adding more warnings should be enough. From my point of view, with the coaster opening tomorrow with no physical changes tells me, that he should never been riding it.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I'm not saying "oh well someone died,open the ride anyways" I'm saying is that the ride is safe to open and passed inspections. If didn't it would still be closed.

IMO them opening the ride is enough information to say the ride is safe. Along with them adding more warnings should be enough. From my point of view, with the coaster opening tomorrow with no physical changes tells me, that he should never been riding it.

I think saying “he never should have been riding” is unfair. For all we know Universal found out he had a medical issue that no one could have predicted and was unrelated to his spinal issue. But I do agree it’s unlikely for the ride to be reopened if Universal wasn’t extremely confident in its safety.