Ok… if she flew out, nailed an overhead beam and died… but then her body came down & bounced along between the tops of the cars and the top of the tunnel the coaster was going through…
Thunka- Chunk…!
Thunka- Chunk…!
Thunka- Chunk…!
Thunka- Chunk…!
If she landed on the tracks after it passed, its possible the next car could knocked her into the tilta-whirl before they could get to her.
But no, you’re right she would have only died once.
So much for “Weekend at Six Flags Over Texas”… 
Most of the time when somebody bites the big one on a roller coaster it is national news. That alone is evidence of its rarity. (OK, it’s not proof, because there could be millions of roller coaster deaths that are not reported in the news. I don’t think there are, though.) Apparently nobody keeps track of the numbers, though. (I have a feeling that insurance companies might. But they tend to keep their statistics to themselves.)
When I Googled the headline, I saw it as is in about a dozen different newspapers’ websites, so I assumed it came from the AP.
I had the same thing happen on the same ride with my son. The bar came loose and my son started falling out of the ride. I had to grab him with one arm and hang on to the seat with the other. No amount of screaming helped of course but I have never been so scared.
Now I pull on the lap bar trying to get it loose before any ride.
Yes, when it was a true wooden coaster, it would beat the everloving shit out of you.
A year or two ago, they closed it and made into a steel coaster that just incorporates a lot of the original construction. It’s functionally an entirely new thing, and supposedly much, much smoother now.
The year it opened, I watched a kid in front of me break his arm on the side of the car, and flop around for like 2 minutes. Since then I’ve been less than enthused about coasters in general.
We rode it too several years ago. The wood did add a bit of uncertainty to the experience.
Horrible as the woman’s death is, I can’t help but feel of course for her kid and everyone else around her that saw her go sailing out at the first turn, then they had to finish the ride with that terrible proposition at every hill and corner.
Supposedly from black boxes, it is the most often last word of pilots.
These folks, for one. And the Consumer Products Safety Commission, for another.
There’s a sign in line saying the lap bar must rest against your thigh or else you can’t ride. But there’s several flaws with that too: no one reads those signs in line and a ride op should have noticed that it wasn’t doing that for her.
Here’s an accident recreation done on another ejection of an overweight person. When all is said and done on this case, I’d put money the same thing happened.
Now unfortunately the park can’t really impose weight limits because it all depends on how the person carries their weight. I worked as a ride operator for years and sometimes really fat people would be able to ride whereas much smaller people couldn’t since they had bigger chests or guts.
Also, I’d like to point out that a ride operator hears people commenting on their lap bars being too loose or questioning the safety of their restraint about every other train, so I’m not sure that alone is proof of an employee blowing off a guests’ safety concerns.
Finally, I keep hearing this one “witness” be quoted, first saying she heard the lady say the lapbar didn’t click enough. This ride’s lapbars don’t even click (they’re hydraulic, not ratcheting) and even the victim’s family sitting the row in front says they didn’t hear her say anything. Furthermore, that witness also claims to have witnessed the lady fall even though where she fell was impossible to see from the station. Makes you question the witness’ story’s legitimacy…
Do you know these things with absolute certainty? I don’t. And I don’t think you do either. Six Flags does publish a safety guideline pageon their website, and I’d be surprised if some of the content weren’t prominently displayed at the entrance or near the rides. I don’t know.
From the page…
Many amusement park rides incorporate safety systems designed by the manufacturer to accommodate people of average physical stature and body proportion. These safety systems may place restrictions on the ability of a Guest to safely be contained within
the ride restraint. Extremely large or small individuals, Guests who have heart, back or neck trouble or conditions, pregnant women, people who have had recent surgery or an illness, people with casts, braces, restrictive devices or certain disabilities may not
be safely accommodated by certain ride systems.
and…
LARGER FRAMED GUESTS
:
Many rides incorporate safety systems designed by the manufacturer to accommodate people of average physical stature and body proportion. These systems may place restrictions on the ability of an individual to safely experience the ride. In order to ride, all seatbelts, lap bars, and shoulder harnesses must be positioned and fastened properly. Due to rider restraint system requirements, Guests of a larger size may not be accommodated on some rides.
I have seen many rollercoasters in many parks, including 6 Flags that have a test seat outside the ride, before you even get in line. Questionable riders - short, tall, fat, slim - are encouraged to get in and buckle up to make sure they fit properly.
Since my motorcycle accident, I’ve become more sedentary due to pain - and laziness, and gained 100 pounds. At 300 lbs, I’m not Andre the Giant, but I have a gut and a butt that the safety bars and seats don’t like. I don’t have to use a seatbelt extension when I fly, but I’m at the edge! I don’t fit some places like I used to, and there’s no one to blame but me.
I’m fat, and I deserve what’s coming to me.
I hope it’s donuts.
Nobody deserves to die in a horrible accident like this just because they’re fat.The people who operate these rides should be able to recognize when someone can’t ride safely.
Do you see any actual sizes that are too big? Because, if not, how the hell is she supposed to know there was a problem? If the safety people who are paid to check this sort of thing tell her it’s okay, how in the world is she supposed to know?
There is no way to make this the woman’s fault if you think about it even slightly. The only reason to jump to that conclusion is if you hate fat people, and thus must find a reason to blame her.
In some attractions at Tokyo Disney Resort, such as “Space Mountain”, “Indiana Jones” and “Tower of Terror”, Cast Members ask certain guests standing in the queue to enter a small room off to the side. In the room, there is a seat just like in the actual ride vehicle with the bars and/or belts. The guest is seated to see if he/she can be seated safely inside the restraints. If yes, the guest is led towards the boarding area. If not, the guest cannot ride and is led to a back exit.
Fundamental question… is it up to the government or private organizations to do all the studies neccessary and provide all of the warnings in bold letters and in multiple languages?
… or does someone who is heavier than 99.999998% of the population to realize that she can’t do everything that the rest of the world can.
Just saying that maybe a little bit of responsibility belongs to the dead lady and that we can’t test and warn away every potential danger.
Actually it is the responsibility of a business to take all appropriate safety precautions, to advise people of hazards, and to make such advisement in such languages as are appropriate.
I am sure the overweight woman was aware of the fact that she probably could not win the Olympic marathon, become a Playboy bunny, or fit into a size 2 dress, since those are things a fat person would quite reasonably know they could not do.
How would she know she couldn’t ride a roller coaster? I’ve ridden lots of roller coasters and I’ve never in my life noticed a warning about far people. You see the height limit requirements everywhere, to the point that some amusement parks make that process easier by giving kids color-coded bracelets so they don’t have to keep getting measured, but I’ve never seen fat/weight warnings or restrictions. To be honest it never occurred to me that would be an issue, and years ago I used to weigh 280-290 or so, so I was pretty aware of being overweight and the implications thereof.
Well, no, none of it does. And this is a potential danger that is rather easily identified and prevented.
If she is literally that fat and it presents a hazard, the ride operators should have been able to see she was fat, and step in by either advising her not to ride or to perform a safety check to ensure the restraints function. If someone’s really fat it’s not like you can hide that.
It is absolutely, beyond any doubt or question the responsibility of the ride operator unless the passenger does something deliberately negligent, which was not the case here.