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So sad.. how horrible to been on it and to of seen it happen. I grew up in Ohio and went to the state fair once. My husband and I refuse to go on rides at fairs, with them being taken down and put up so much I just do not trust it. Theme park rides worry me to but less, though they have their accidents to. I just don't think the maintenance with fair rides would be as great quality. There's always risk though. I hope those in the hospital will all recover. What a tragic event.
driving is mandatory. Not to mention you have the sense of control
riding a bike is nothing like an amusement ride
dying on a ride is a total waste of life since it is a totally optional thing
Driving to work is mandatory, driving to the grocery store is mandatory, driving to the doctor is mandatory, driving to school is mandatory.
Driving to the park for a picnic is not mandatory, driving to a restaurant for a meal is not mandatory, driving to the movies is not mandatory, driving to a sporting event is not mandatory.
Driving you have a sense of control but that is just a sense, not a reality.
Dying on the way to see a movie, pick up a pizza, see a concert is dying for entertainment, something totally optional, just like dying on a carnival ride.
The Big Glen Burnie Carnival opens tonight for the 108th year. I don't recall any major injuries happening there. (From a ride. There WAS a minor riot there in the mid-'70's.) I understand that Maryland has some of the strictest laws regulating carnival rides. I imagine that they got an even closer inspection this year.
I worked in rides at Kings Island in Mason OH for 8 summers during the 1980s. Our rides were bolted down on concrete pylons that went several feet into the ground and were inspected daily by the maintenance department. The traveling carnival rides are on trailers that are supported only with outriggers which is so unstable it isn't even funny and are being run by people who are hardly the best and the brightest.
To be fair, this was something that looks it could have happened at King's Island and more so parks with park models of this Claw ride like Hersheypark and Santa Clara's Great America. It looks like a part of the ride's arm that connects to the bucket of seats failed and not about its support system.
I am not going to stay home or miss out on any fun just because I might be killed in a freak accident. That can happen even if someone is just sitting in the back yard.
One sentence from the above stands out (quote): "That means only 0.000000008% of amusement park rides ended with someone getting injured. In other words, only about one out of every 1.2 million rides ended in an injury." (end quote) And you will note that it said injury -- the odds actually getting killed on a carnival ride are much lower.
I loved carnival rides when I was growing up. Loved those roller coasters and rode my last one on my 50th birthday at 6 Flags in So. Cal. Sure glad I survived them all. This Ohio thing, good grief...
This is horrible. I love rides. There is no reason why someone should be injured/killed because of a ride.
People are injured/died in their rides every day, their autos. I've been fortunate, NEVER had an accident and drove about 60 yrs all over the U.S. All it takes is 1.
For those who are addicted to over-the-top excitement and adrenalin rushes, it's required that they put their selves to at least some amount of risk/danger to attain it. But even with the best-run operations, and regulations and oversight, there are still going be failures and accidents. Anything built and operated by humans can, and most likely will, fail at some point despite best efforts to prevent it. Most people probably understand this, and it becomes a matter of the odds and a risk-benefit ratio. To the adrenalin junkie the inherent risk in these rides is worth it. But for me, I decided long ago that no amount of 'entertainment' is worth possible injury or death.
I feel sorry for these victims and there families, and I suppose one could say they died doing what they liked to do. But I can't help but feel that dying on an amusement park ride is a life wasted, not to mention the pain & suffering caused to the surviving families.
I wont ride a carnival ride either, but by your logic you wont even board an airplane, or boat to go on a vacation because its man made, and if it breaks you are likely going to die.
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