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If the BRACE had "popped" open, it would be in the up position and not down as it is when locked. So was it up or down when the ride landed? There's your answer.
I doubt the position of the harness on a ride going 75 miles an hour, where the rider fell out, would actually give us the answer.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Javacoffee
Not necessarily.
I agree because you can see in the video I posted at the 12:44 mark that all the harness's were in the down position. From other photos it also looks like the empty seats had the harness's in a down position too.
Yes- there are terrible things out there. Better be real careful.
A pedestrian was hit by a car on the local street recently. I propose that the government stop all pedestrians from crossing streets. That will keep them safe. Don't want to take any risks.
Was the government negligent regarding street safety? Did the pedestrian get hit by the car because the street needed a stop sign or street lights? Were the police ignoring speeders and not giving out tickets? The point is if there was negligence somebody needs to be held accountable. The pedestrian assumes the government did everything possible to make the street safe to cross, the boy assumes the park management did everything possible to make the ride safe.
Yes- there are terrible things out there. Better be real careful.
A pedestrian was hit by a car on the local street recently. I propose that the government stop all pedestrians from crossing streets. That will keep them safe. Don't want to take any risks.
A dumb dangerous amusement park ride isn’t necessary. Crossing the street is. Risking life and limb over a thrill ride? Go ahead then
Was the government negligent regarding street safety? Did the pedestrian get hit by the car because the street needed a stop sign or street lights? Were the police ignoring speeders and not giving out tickets? The point is if there was negligence somebody needs to be held accountable. The pedestrian assumes the government did everything possible to make the street safe to cross, the boy assumes the park management did everything possible to make the ride safe.
Presumably, this fourteen year old paid to get inside the amusement park. They made a profit off of him.
That act creates a duty to create a safe environment for him and other park patrons. That duty was breached when he was allowed to ride that ride and the restraints failed to hold him in.
This is an updated article and it actually has the photo I said was 3rd on scroll previously. And you are allowed to be unaccompanied at that park/on the rides if you are 14 or older.
Oh gosh. Looking at that better picture I know exactly how this happened.
It wasn't because of how the harness was positioned over his shoulders or chest ... It happened because the part of the harness that's supposed to meet the seat in between legs, was up to his waist!
When the ride tipped forward, his hips started sliding out & the weight from his lower body pulled the rest of his body out. Omg. He was probably aware for at least a few seconds that he was going to fall. That poor boy.
Oh gosh. Looking at that better picture I know exactly how this happened.
It wasn't because of how the harness was positioned over his shoulders or chest ... It happened because the part of the harness that's supposed to meet the seat in between legs, was up to his waist!
When the ride tipped forward, his hips started sliding out & the weight from his lower body pulled the rest of his body out. Omg. He was probably aware for at least a few seconds that he was going to fall. That poor boy.
Poor child. So unfair to him. I hope his family sues everybody and shuts down these needless risky entertainments. If I had kids, no way would I trust these rides. Even bungee jumping people die from. You’re putting trust in other people, no.
You want all amusement parks to be shut down because of an accident???
And... Who is going to shut them all down? The World Police?
I get it. Back in the day a relative took a bunch of us to kings dominion and a guy fell off of a stand up roller coaster ride we had already gone on. I don't think we even knew about it until we were leaving the park.
That’s scary. I’m glad you were lucky that day.
That's inaccurate. A "harness" is a series of flexible, adjustable straps (as I've said a few times already).
To those saying it's not a harness, go look up safety harness on google, it sounds exactly like what it is, a system of belts or restraints to hold a person to prevent falling or injury.
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Originally Posted by springfieldva
I think he was checking the harness and noticed that something seemed off about it. If you look at the pictures of him, the harness seemed to stop at his shoulders and was out away from his body. Everyone else had the harness resting on their torsos.
Maybe he expected one of the ride operators to come by and check it like they usually do but it seems that the ride started up.
I agree his harness was not down because for one, his shoulders were up too high, his breasts were too large, so was his chest and stomach. He was a big teen, in both height and weight. He was probably too tall for it.
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Originally Posted by SanyBelle
How many clicks should there be?
I'm not familiar with the ride and if it even has clicks, I watched them and or him put them on, pulled on it to put it on, but it didn't go more, he tugged/pushed on it to try to move it back up but it wouldn't budge which made me think of when you put something like that on that it does have those clicks as it engages. Think of tightening a zip tie, once you start putting the end through the locking piece, it won't come back out.
The one I mentioned in 1,000 pound sisters where her brother Chris went on, that harness did click I believe.
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Originally Posted by Cuero
Reading the reports and eyewitness accounts it sounds like the brace maintained its position but the boy slipped out under it. Because the brace rode high there was too much space between the 'V' bottom and the seat horn. When the ride braked at the end the kid slipped down and out under the brace--through the gap between the brace and seat.
I'd have to look at pics and video again to see if that's even possible, but then again, the crotch piece of the harness was not down that far so maybe he some how did slide out when the force of the stop happened. I have not seen anyone say his harness was still locked in place.
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Originally Posted by otterhere
Well, when he checked it, was it locked in place or was he able to move it up? If the latter, I would think he'd have hopped off before it started. I wouldn't stay on a ride where I wasn't firmly restrained, but that's just me! Most likely, I was different at 14.
If he checked and it didn't move, then it was locked in place - until it later wasn't.
Which would mean mechanical failure.
It was stuck in place, he tried to move it up. Reports say he was freaking out because it was not on right. Did you watch the video on reddit? You're asking questions you can see yourself on the video.
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Originally Posted by markg91359
These jobs are given to teens because teens work cheaper than adults do. A secondary consideration where I live is that work in amusement parks is seasonal work. They need a summer work force and the onl employees available at the salary the park wants to pay are high school kids. The park isn't doing anything illegal. However, if it chooses to hire an immature and inexperienced work force it has to take responsibility for their careless actions or inactions.
I personally would prefer that there be some minimal age for doing this work such as perhaps 21 years of age. I think you'd see fewer accidents.
I'm in Jersey, believe it or not, the summer Jersey shore amusement park help is from Ukraine and parts of Europe that come here on summer job visas. I'm not sure about Great Adventure, if they hire immigrants too. Usually when the NJ radio station talks about GA, it's local teens and college kids working there like their parents did. I never worked there, I lived too far.
Quote:
Originally Posted by springfieldva
There were a number of factors that played into this boy's death. The first factor was that the supervising adults who brought this kid to the amusement park and presumably had seen him denied entry into some of the rides due to his size were leaving it up to the ride operators to either let him on or ask him to leave the ride. Were there signs posted with minimum/maximum height/weight requirements? If so, both the boy and the supervising adults should have been reading those signs and taking them seriously.
Next, there was some amount of operator error. I would not expect a ride operator to necessarily understand the physics of a ride. Presumably the operators had seen some pretty large people go on the ride and make it off safely. In their minds it probably is as simple as - fitting in the seat and having the harness lock.
Lastly, any safety mechanisms on the ride either did not work or they were overridden. How often is that happening on these park rides?
I agree, a lot of failures to make one big failure.
In the Reddit video, you can see the harness doesn't come all the way down because his shoulders are too high, his breasts too big along with his gut. The combo of the 3 stopped it from going down any more.
I'll have to look again to see what I think on whether there was enough room for his body to slide out. If it did, that must have hurt because there is a middle part molded into the seat according to that build video. His gut and back would have had to fit by it along with his head and shoulders sliding out of that harness.
Its been said the kid was freaking out because he did not feel strapped in. As I said, he was pushing up on it to try to get it to get back up, I guess to see if he could get it on better or get off the ride. Who knows what his intentions were?
It was also a failure of the employees starting the ride when people were still screaming they were not buckled in properly which you can hear on the videos shared here. If those employees would have listened and not started the ride, he may be alive today.
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Originally Posted by ocnjgirl
Yes, it doesn't have to even be on all the rides. Let young teens work the little cars and motorcycles that go around the track for little kids or the merry go round, and more experienced workers (maybe experience more important than age) work the big ones. But there should be a protocol that they check everyone's belt/harness/whatever before the ride leaves. I said earlier I can't remember ever going on a ride like this where they didn't pull up on everyone's harness to make sure it was locked. They walked down the line and checked everyone. I mostly went to Six Flags in NJ though because it's close, and they had a girl fall out of lightening loops because her harness wasn't locked, so maybe they instituted that protocol and other parks didn't, IDK. Seems like it should be standard though.
You're right, they always checked the harness or whatever belting system there was, even at Bowcraft in North Jersey.
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Originally Posted by Javacoffee
Once the riders reach the top, their seats are suddenly pitched forward 30-degrees. How freaking scary. Then comes the plunge to the bottom. I wouldn't be surprised if the shoulder harness (or whatever it's called), which was probably already hampered by his 6.5 height, "popped" under that sudden shift of his massive weight.
If the seat did not tilt like that, he probably would have been fine, but being tilted like that, put his big body in a whole different position. I'm surprised he was not holding onto those grab bars on the harness because he may have been able to hold himself in.
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Originally Posted by vabeachgirlNYC
That's what I was thinking. If the harness was engaged at all then it might have popped open at the tilt. Or the harness was not engaged and he fell just because of the force and the angle. Him falling in the position on the video it looks like it was tilted.
The video and pics prove that poor boy was not harnessed in properly before the ride took off. The attendant did not check, even when, people were asking. It's his job to check.
I'm curious if any park cameras or personal phones will show if he did, or did not, walk around checking every seat harness like they are supposed to before the ride started.
In the Reddit video, he checked the harnesses of the kids to the right of him but stopped, did not walk over to this boy who slide out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Javacoffee
After the kid fell, an attendant ran to where he lay. He repeatedly asked another attendant if he had checked to make sure the kid was properly locked in.
To me, this will be the most damaging testimony in court. It proves that the attendants were well versed in the absolute dangers if the passengers weren't properly secured.
It was a woman asking a guy if he checked.
Quote:
Originally Posted by coschristi
Oh gosh. Looking at that better picture I know exactly how this happened.
It wasn't because of how the harness was positioned over his shoulders or chest ... It happened because the part of the harness that's supposed to meet the seat in between legs, was up to his waist!
When the ride tipped forward, his hips started sliding out & the weight from his lower body pulled the rest of his body out. Omg. He was probably aware for at least a few seconds that he was going to fall. That poor boy.
No, he did not fall out then, it then dropped. When the dropping stop, it flung his body to the ground.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Arcenal813
You want all amusement parks to be shut down because of an accident???
And... Who is going to shut them all down? The World Police?
LOL
For the regularly built people that harnesses and molded seats do keep people in. Looks how successful these rides have been in the last 20, maybe even 30+ years. It's not exactly new technology although it does use the latest technology to keep people safe,
Quote:
Originally Posted by vabeachgirlNYC
This is an updated article and it actually has the photo I said was 3rd on scroll previously. And you are allowed to be unaccompanied at that park/on the rides if you are 14 or older.
As the ride was going up, the kid was saying " 'He was like, he don't feel comfortable with the situation, 'The thing's not pushing down, you know what I'm saying? And if I don't make it through then tell my mom and dad I love 'em.'' "
Lawyers representing a rising middle school football player who fell to his death from a towering Florida amusement ride are trying to understand if there was negligence on behalf of the ride operators or if the teens size or other factors, played a role in the tragedy.
Tyre Sampson, from Missouri, who was known at Big Tick to his friends, was only 14-years-old but already 6 feet, 5 inches tall and weighed well over 300 pounds.
'This young man, he was athletic and he was big. He had no way of knowing,' said Bob Hilliard, a Texas attorney who represents Tyre's mother, Nekia Dodd, in an interview on Saturday.
Investigators on Saturday continued to examine what happened on Thursday night when Sampson dropped out of his seat from a 430-foot, free-fall amusement park ride
Video of the accident showed passengers on the ride as they discussed issues with an over-the-shoulder restraint harness.
Sampson's stepmother said that she has seen videos of Tyre and his friends as they started their ascent with someone could be overheard saying that he was not restrained in his seat.
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