Darien Lake's rollercoaster accident, can it happen at Disney?

[Walt Disney1955]

We all know the story by now I am sure. Two weeks ago a respected war veteran from Iraq got on a rollercoaster at Darien Lake (near Buffalo) called Superman Ride of Steel. He lost his legs in the war and since his body is loosely attached to his "legs" his entire top body flew off the rollercoaster with his legs obviously fastened in from the lap bar. He died. So sad. Now I don't want to open a debate but his own family members claimed that he died doing what he loved and had he not been allowed on the rollercoaster he'd have made a fuss. I get why they let him on. You don't want to face a lawsuit not allowing a man that fought in your country who is handicapped on a rollercoaster. You don't want him to die either, but it was a lose-lose for the park.

Anyway, can this happen at Disney? If so what ride? And if it did happen would the press rip it to shreds? How bad of a PR nightmare would it be for Disney?

I always get the feeling that our society has criticized everything good worth believing in and if a good company like Disney had this happen to them it would be a field day.

 

[isman250]

If it happened there, it can happen almost anywhere. I mean the reality is the rides are all designed very similar, though I am sure disney takes a little more precaution. The problem, though sad, is that he had prostetic legs and I am sure he shouldnt have been riding it regardless. I am sure if they get into a lawsuit theyll just settle, but unless the guy mentions something and he is walking around with "fake" legs, the ride attendant would never know.

 

[britdaw]

This is such a sad, sad story. I'm glad that he died doing something that made him so happy, but man that is so utterly horrible and ironic.
I'm sure if it happened there it can happen anywhere. A lot of rollercoasters, while different in themes, are designed the same way and I'm sure there is at least 1 coaster at Disney that's designed the same way this rollercoaster was. I would hope it would never happen to anyone else ever again, but if it happened once it's possible it could happen to someone else.

 

[Just A Big Kid]

Accidents happen daily at all parks but it's sad when someone loses their life trying to have fun.

 

[JT3000]

This can happen on practically any thrill ride. Doesn't matter where. Most restraints are not made with amputees in mind. In fact, all coaster manufacturers, as far as I know, have rules prohibiting amputees (of a certain degree) from riding, which the park is supposed to enforce. The ride ops were negligent for allowing him on the ride.

 

[Monty]

Any safety system is going to be designed to provide for the vast majority of people, but no-one can design a system that takes every possible variation into account. A sad reality of being an amputee is there are some things you have to recognize you can't do. If this veteran recognized the risk and chose to take it anyway, then he died doing what he wanted to do. I'm a veteran and an amputee and there are things I choose not to do simply because they're not particularly safe for me. It's part of life.

It appears the family are taking the correct approach and accepting that he died doing something he wanted to do and would have fought to do if told he couldn't. Hope the lawyers don't manage to convince them otherwise.

 

[Tip Top Club]

Disney's Rides are, for the most part, much less intense then the ride in question. That being said, I can think of one or two that would be an issue. Most theme parks have rules about the number of limbs you must have to experiance their attractions, not to be discriminatory, but due to the design of the safety restraints. It would appear, Though I don't know specifics, that these rules were not followed in this particular instance.

Another great example why rules are important, you may not always know the reason for their existence.

PS - Please don't get me wrong, this was a tragedy, and my heart goes out to the family. But Disney also has leaps and bounds to go as far as safety, so I hope they see stories like this as an opportunity to improve their own facilities.

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Does "everyone" know about this? It was on the news here because it's the local park, but did this really get national coverage? Here's some links for people that are unfamiliar:
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article487295.ece
http://www.buffalonews.com/wire-feeds/24-hour-national-news/article497420.ece
http://www.buffalonews.com/wire-feeds/24-hour-national-news/article487202.ece

Unfortunately, the theme park did not do its job nor did he do his job to keep himself safe. The ride operators were not aware that riders were required to have two legs, and he also passed by signs stating this in the queue. He was a double amputee and he did not have his prostheses on... you can imagine on a lap bar roller coaster that there would not be much holding you in the car. Very sad.

 

[BigRedDad]

I read this in NC the day it happened. Such a tragedy.

Rides are designed for the "typical" person. Typical meaning someone with arms and legs. The restraint systems are designed under the assumption that there is something there to help keep a person inside the vehicle. This case has all the details for how rules need to be more comprehensive and patrons also abide by those rules.

I used this as an example elsewhere when someone was arguing about how strict Disney is with height restrictions. Is it worth losing a child's life because a parent pays for the trip? No.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Rides are pretty much the same anywhere. If a ride uses a lap bar as a restraint, then this same problem might arise.


Cast members can not be expected to fully understand all medical risks of all afflictions, nor should one have to hand in a complete medical file just to enter a ride. People have got their own responsibility to understand their limitations.

 

[UberMouse]

I don't want to sound mean, and that's not what my intention is, however this just seems like one of those duh moments where a double amputee would look at the ride and think..."I maybe should not go on that because I have no legs." Just playing devil's advocate here.

It's almost like when you are right behind someone waiting to get on Space mountain that is 6'8 and 450lbs and they hold up everyone because they argue about not being able to fit into the ride vehicle for 15 minutes with a cast member...Yeah, it's happened. In general, most intelligent people know the limits of their own body and mind.

 

[tigsmom]

Does "everyone" know about this? It was on the news here because it's the local park, but did this really get national coverage? Here's some links for people that are unfamiliar:
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article487295.ece
http://www.buffalonews.com/wire-feeds/24-hour-national-news/article497420.ece
http://www.buffalonews.com/wire-feeds/24-hour-national-news/article487202.ece

Unfortunately, the theme park did not do its job nor did he do his job to keep himself safe. The ride operators were not aware that riders were required to have two legs, and he also passed by signs stating this in the queue. He was a double amputee and he did not have his prostheses on... you can imagine on a lap bar roller coaster that there would not be much holding you in the car. Very sad.

Yes this made the national news. I live by West Point so it was in my local paper in the "news from around NY" section, but I also saw it on CNN.com.

Terrible tragedy and his family has stated that the only time he has felt alive since coming home has been when he was riding the coasters.

 

[rct247]

Darien Lake as well as most other parks whether it be Disney, Six Flags, Universal, Busch Gardens, Cedar Point, or Sea World all have safety rules/restrictions in place for this.At Darien Lake, the employees chose to ignore it or didn't notice it. After the incident, Disney has brought up the topic with CMs without bringing up the incident, but trust me, whenever incidents like this or the one a few years back with the girl who choked on gum while riding a ride, that safety talks are given to remind and even teach employees on these things to avoid them happening again.

 

[WDW_Emily]

I don't want to sound mean, and that's not what my intention is, however this just seems like one of those duh moments where a double amputee would look at the ride and think..."I maybe should not go on that because I have no legs." Just playing devil's advocate here.

It's almost like when you are right behind someone waiting to get on Space mountain that is 6'8 and 450lbs and they hold up everyone because they argue about not being able to fit into the ride vehicle for 15 minutes with a cast member...Yeah, it's happened. In general, most intelligent people know the limits of their own body and mind.

This is exactly what I was thinking. I work at a water park and tell people they can't ride all the time. Yesterday someone actually just ignored me and went down a huge body slide then complained to someone about being sore :brick:


Not trying to make this sound any less tragic but someone (whether the workers, the family, or the man himself) should have stopped this guy from riding.

 

[irmonkey]

I don't want to sound mean, and that's not what my intention is, however this just seems like one of those duh moments where a double amputee would look at the ride and think..."I maybe should not go on that because I have no legs."

I agree with you completely on this. Did the ride operators not check to make sure the lap bars were firmly secure? Shouldn't they have noticed that since he had no legs that he most likely didn't have much of a lap to hold him in?

 

[Yodadudeman]

This truly is a traggic accident. I live about a half an hour from Darien Lake, and it has really been a topic that people have been talking about. Unfortunately, this man had a condition that should have kept him from riding this roller coaster. Its really just too bad that this happened...
From a Disney perspective, I'm sure that this could happen on a number of rides. Splash Mountain, Tower of Terror, and maybe even Space Mountain. The thing to remember here is that this man didn't have any legs. The restraint for The Ride of Steel is one that comes down over your waist. With no legs, this restraint is really useless. So if a person has all of there appendages, I seriously doubt that anything like the incident at Darien Lake would happen at Disney World.

 

[UberMouse]

I agree with you completely on this. Did the ride operators not check to make sure the lap bars were firmly secure? Shouldn't they have noticed that since he had no legs that he most likely didn't have much of a lap to hold him in?

All good points as well, but in the end you are responsible for Yourself. If you rely on other people for your survival then frankly you won't survive long in this world. Or in the least, you won't survive well.

 

[Yodadudeman]

All good points as well, but in the end you are responsible for Yourself. If you rely on other people for your survival then frankly you won't survive long in this world. Or in the least, you won't survive well.

Very true.

Plus, if any of you have been to Darien Lake, The Ride of Steel is THE most popular ride in the park. So the staff was probably trying to load the ride as quickly as possible to get things moving. Not that this is an excuse, but it is probably the reason.

 

[spoodles]

If it happened there, it can happen almost anywhere. I mean the reality is the rides are all designed very similar, ...

Are they though? I've been on a lot of coasters, including this one, and I gotta say this is the only one that ever really freaked me out. It's because there's no harness. Don't coasters of this magnitude (size and speed) generally have over-the-shoulder restraints, or is that only for coasters with loops?

 

[EvanAnderson]

Rides normally without loops have a lapbar style restraint, like Superman has. However, some older rides with single loops do have just lapbars (Scorpion at Busch Gardens Tampa comes to mind). It depends on what the manufacturer says is deemed safe for the ride. However, deemed safe means that the park follows the manufactures' rules, which I believe they did not in this case. Sure the ride manufacturer can say "we'll build you a ride with just lapbars, but you have to make sure that a person with no legs does not ride."