Schlitterbahn's "slide" (live, parks, businesses)

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Trainwreck20

Yup - a roller coaster is fixed to rails and you are hard-fastened into the coaster. The worry in roller coasters is catastrophic failure of the cart/rails (relatively easily avoided with inspections) or failure of your restraint device - which is the more common failure. The Verruckt restraint device was velcro-like to allow for rapid embarkment/debarkment, which is sorta necessary due to a 'train' (2 or 3 people in a raft) leaving every few seconds, as opposed to a roller coast that loads more people and has longer delays between departures that allows for more rigorous connections; however, everyone knows how velcro fares over time - it degrades and looses its effectiveness.

Finally, from the get-go, I heard that putting the 'hoops' and net over the chute was a bad idea and any ride engineering company knew that - a 'minor' deviation from the design route (going airborne) turned into catastrophic failure.

Had Jeff made the ride covered the catastrophe would have been averted. They could've "padded" the ceiling or made it "very high".

Woulda coulda shoulda.

[Westerner92]

Originally Posted by cBach

Had Jeff made the ride covered the catastrophe would have been averted. They could've "padded" the ceiling or made it "very high".

Woulda coulda shoulda.

The hoops-and-net cover that decapitated the kid is so obviously sketchy and unsafe that I think it’s fair to call into question any of the rides or pumps Jeff designed. Anything other full coverage, and ignoring the engineering firm he hired really does seem criminally negligent. How he possibly thinks using sandbags and trial and error is less “outdated” than the accelerometer test the engineers performed indicates he’s either incompetent or lying. I haven’t been to Schlitterbahn since I was 9, and I'm almost morbidly curious to see if adult me would be sketched out by any of the rides.

That said, I think a big amount of the blame lies on the head lifeguard. I do believe Jeff when he says the ride would have been shut down if the injuries had been properly reported, but it makes me wonder if there was any pressure from higher ups to underreport injuries.

Jeff doesn’t come across as a sociopath, but he does come across as more narcissistic than the average person and almost unapologetic.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Westerner92

The hoops-and-net cover that decapitated the kid is so obviously sketchy and unsafe that I think it’s fair to call into question any of the rides or pumps Jeff designed. Anything other full coverage, and ignoring the engineering firm he hired really does seem criminally negligent. How he possibly thinks using sandbags and trial and error is less “outdated” than the accelerometer test the engineers performed indicates he’s either incompetent or lying. I haven’t been to Schlitterbahn since I was 9, and I'm almost morbidly curious to see if adult me would be sketched out by any of the rides.

That said, I think a big amount of the blame lies on the head lifeguard. I do believe Jeff when he says the ride would have been shut down if the injuries had been properly reported, but it makes me wonder if there was any pressure from higher ups to underreport injuries.

Jeff doesn’t come across as a sociopath, but he does come across as more narcissistic than the average person and almost unapologetic.

If it's consoling, he's an alcoholic and a druggie. That's not an excuse but it may explain his outlandish ideas. His ideas seem like something a bunch of people high as a kite cook up.

[Snowpacked]

Texas voted for limited business regulation and this is what unregulated or limited regulation get us. Now a greedy lawyer and our sketchy criminal system get the reins.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by Snowpacked

Texas voted for limited business regulation and this is what unregulated or limited regulation get us. Now a greedy lawyer and our sketchy criminal system get the reins.

This happened in Kansas though.

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by cBach

This happened in Kansas though.

Details!

[riaelise]

the entire thing made me angry and sat at the same time. reading this article makes me angry again. Jeff Henry and his buddy had no engineering credentials whatsoever. Being the egoist that he is, it didn't dawn on him to stick to being the visionary and have an actual engineering team oversee such an over the top ride so that it's safe. Fraught with safety and maintenance issues, that ride should never left the ground. Verruckt's creation was nothing but the pinnacle of this one man's hubris vs. giving his "people what they want". Once you're strapped into a ride, you lose control of what happens next. Sure, anything can happen, but I rely on qualified personnel to create and maintain a safe ride and experience. As much as I loved SB in South Padre (we had a great time), I do hope that the Henrys at least get what's coming to them in court. I do feel bad for all of the people who'd stand to lose their jobs if SB is forced to close some of the parks. They've helped local economies.

but I can't sit there and excuse blatant disregard for human life. i won't stop going to the park, but I do hope the Henrys are held liable and if not criminally prosecuted, then they take it in the shorts via litigation.

[cBach]

Originally Posted by riaelise

the entire thing made me angry and sat at the same time. reading this article makes me angry again. Jeff Henry and his buddy had no engineering credentials whatsoever. Being the egoist that he is, it didn't dawn on him to stick to being the visionary and have an actual engineering team oversee such an over the top ride so that it's safe. Fraught with safety and maintenance issues, that ride should never left the ground. Verruckt's creation was nothing but the pinnacle of this one man's hubris vs. giving his "people what they want". Once you're strapped into a ride, you lose control of what happens next. Sure, anything can happen, but I rely on qualified personnel to create and maintain a safe ride and experience. As much as I loved SB in South Padre (we had a great time), I do hope that the Henrys at least get what's coming to them in court. I do feel bad for all of the people who'd stand to lose their jobs if SB is forced to close some of the parks. They've helped local economies.

but I can't sit there and excuse blatant disregard for human life. i won't stop going to the park, but I do hope the Henrys are held liable and if not criminally prosecuted, then they take it in the shorts via litigation.

I honestly think that they never should've left New Braunfels. Something about the New Braunfels park is unique, with the hillside setting, the trees, and the ice cold water coming from a spring. The SP location was okay but nothing special compared to other parks. I hear the Corpus Christi park is really lousy and the Galveston park is okay because it's covered and heated in the cold months.

The KC park was fraught with issues from the beginning. Most of the development never materialized and Jeff felt he had to make the KC park have a "one of a kind" ride.

A lot of people don't like government oversight but there need to be people overseeing water parks engineering.

[Idlewile]

The word on the street is that the Kansas City SB may not reopen for 2019/close for good.

https://www.kansascity.com/news/loca...224228640.html

[m1a1mg]

Judge in Kansas threw out the criminal charges yesterday.