AP headline — just one sample.
Am I weird for having the redundancy just jump out at me? Is it more subtle than I give it credit for?
I think somebody started to write something like ‘fatal accident’, but then thought about death.
Unless the roller coaster is previously known as a killer? Fatal-coaster death?
It sort of feels like someone wrote himself into a corner.
“Six Flags investigating fatal roller coaster…”
“…accident? Well, we don’t know enough to call it an accident.”
“…incident? Too weaselly.”
“…malfunction? Don’t know that, either.”
And then just wrote “death” without backing up and re-thinking the whole headline.
it amazed me that in so many states that there is no government authority regarding those rides and customers.
“Witnesses told authorities that Ayala-Goana expressed concern moments before the 14-story ride began that the safety bar had not completely engaged.”
She stayed in the ride as the attendant apparently said it was OK, but I am wondering here what Dopers would have done? Would you trust the attendant or would you trust your feelings and gotten out?
Eh. They’re safer than your car by an order of magnitude. Fatal roller coaster deaths are pretty damn rare. Large amusement parks have deep pockets and consequently very conscientious management and insurance companies.
I’m still kinda depressed that Action Park in New Jersey got sued out of existence. They only managed to kill a few people a year.
My wife and I went on that stupid swinging ship ride at Six Flags years ago.
I mentioned to the kid that my safety bar was loose before we started. He said “OK” and left. We took off, and as we swung higher, it became obvious that my bar was not locked, and this may end badly.
I put my arms through the bars beside me - my wife’s and some guy’s - and told my wife I may not be able to hang on, and that I love her. We’d only been married a few months, and I was really pissed about dying so soon.
Yelling “Stop the ride” was useless, so I just concentrated on holding on. I made it, and taught my kids from a young age to scream like a Mofo if their safety belt/yokes/whatever didn’t feel tight as hell when they got on any ride.
I have ridden that coaster and when it was done I felt as if four or five people with baseball bats had beaten the shit out of me.
Copy editors. Use them. Love them. Need them.
That’s one heck of a scary story.
When people joke about what their “last words” would be, I suspect mine would be something on the order of “Oh Shit!”
This thread sure has gone off the rails. All deaths are fatal. Anyway, the headline has now been changed to remove the word “fatal.”
Actually, I have in the last 2 years or so begun to see more and more bad copy,
at least at online versions of hardcover publications.
My theory is that the financial penises of the world, or at least of the USA, who
hate Quality Assurance and Quality Control and wish they would disappear, are
firing all the copy editors. “Bottom Line” ya know. A secondary theory of mine is
that USA schools have been so rotten for so long that there are not enough people
who are even qualified to be copy editors.
What also stands out is that Six Flags is investigating rather than an independent body. Seems to me that is not a good thing.
The woman looks like she weighed close to 350-400 lbs. Problem is she was also short.
My hunch is the restraining bar can not function, when it intersects a large mass, and can not reach its ideal angle.
Key point - she said it didn’t seemed locked, and the ride manager told her “as long as it clicked, it locked”. But now the Amusement Park folks say that is a myth, there is not mechanical lock that would make a click.
Just like the the signs they have now that say “you must be this tall to ride” - they may have to add " your waist size must not exceed 70 inches"
Probably lower than that - more like 50" (I speak from experience, being a man-o-girth)
Took the kids to Universal Studios last year. Couldn’t fit in the test seats and buckle up, so no roller coasters for daddy.
It’s embarrassing to have swelled this much. My 15yo, normal sized daughter now wears my softball jersey from 15 years ago.
My first thought upon seeing this story was “she must be fat”. It’s certainly a tragedy, but I think she bears some of the blame. I don’t wear a “small” tee shirt anymore, and I don’t have a 32" waist anymore. It is what it is and we deal with it.
She trusted that the ride was properly designed, maintained and operated. Either the park failed to advise her of the weight and size requirements, or something was busted. In any event, she advised the park of a problem but the park did not hold the ride and investigate, and instead sent her off to her death.
She is responsible for being overweight. She in no way bears any of the blame for her death.
The other options would be rejected because of the length of the words. IIRC, “death” is a 4 1/2, but “incident” is 5 1/2, “accident” is 7 and “malfunction” is 9.
“Six Flags investigating roller coaster death” might have had problems with fitting the column, leaving too much white space. This isn’t a factor with the web page, but would be one with the print edition, and the web page would use the same headline.
Note that this is not the AP’s fault: it’s the individual newspaper that writes the headline. AP heads just list the keywords of the article and are not supposed to be used as is.
She bears some of the blame? Because she was fat?
Did the ride publish a weight limit? No. Did it publish a girth limit? No. Did the ride attendant caution her that she might not meet the safety criteria for the ride? No. Was she given any information that indicated her weight or size made the ride unsafe for her? No. Did she notify the ride attendant that she had concerns about the safety equipment for the ride? Why, yes, she did.
For God’s sake, stop with the “if you’re fat, you deserve what’s coming to you” bullshit.
Who is keeping record of national roller coaster deaths and/or injuries?