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Killer Coasters
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Posted by: Tweaker
Has technology created deadly amusement-park rides?
Climb into a superfierce modern roller coaster and you'll soon be pulling more G's than a shuttle astronaut. But how many G forces are too many for humans? And who should decide? As "Tech Live" reports tonight, a fierce debate is underway as coaster speeds -- and injuries -- trend upward.
Modern thrill rides routinely deliver more than the 3 G's experienced by space-shuttle astronauts on liftoff. Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey, has a coaster called the Nitro -- one of the new "suspended" coasters -- that delivers 5 G's. The difference (and it's a big one): Astronauts pull their G's for minutes at a time; coaster G's last for fractions of a second.
However, with 58 coaster-related injuries and eight deaths reported in the past 10 years, doctors -- and lawmakers -- are talking about establishing G-force limits on thrill-park rides. But one prominent brain surgeon who has studied the issue says G forces are a nonissue.
Article here.
Well, I guess the the question here is, should the Government step in and regulate the speed of these coasters?
Posted by: redwench
no, unless there is sufficient evidence that gforce alone above a certain level will cause injury in a healthy person.
58 injuries and 8 deaths in 10 years is, to me, abnormally low. most of them occur under one of two conditions: the person was doing something they shouldnt have (standing up, releasing belts, hands outside the car, etc), or something went wrong with the ride (like the train derailment at disney).
in the area where i live, there are numerous fatalities every year at train grade crossings. over a 10 year period they certainly exceed the deaths and injuries in amusement parks. does this make grade crossings dangerous, necessarily? or rather are some people idiots that do stupid things at grade crossings?
gforces arent injuring people, they do a lot of testing before opening a ride to the public. people are getting injured from mundane things like idiocy and poor maintenance. legislate the real issue, not some frivolous thing that hasnt been shown to be a problem.
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
At 5 G's, they bettered regulate how fast my lunch will go flying at the person in the next car..hehe
Most roller coaster deaths are from improper upkeep on the coasters themselves. Since a lot of them move from town to town, it's hard for OSHA to keep regular tabs on their equipment. Most of them just pay fines repeatedly and still never fix their equipment.
Posted by: -EG-raynor
... alot of rides cause 4gs or higher .. i find that fun on most coasters and my dad thats pretty old finds them fun to ride because of the high g's and negative g's and such  ... and luckilay .. i think ive heard of 1 train derailemtn on a coaster in texas ... and we got 3 amusment parks
Posted by: Tweaker
I'd have to agree with both of you on this, I feel there is no need for the government to get involved unless there gross negligence on the part of the Amusement Park Industry. Most of what I see happening is people try to be daring as redwench stated, and subsequently get hurt! Not the industries fault. People have to take responsibility for they're own actions and not act as if we need our hand held by the government all the time! On the flip side of that coin engineers need to study the adverse effects on people with g-forces to insure the ride is safe enough to ride. Just like anything else you do somethings affect people differently than others. So all you can do to insure safety is by inspecting the equipment and insuring that everything meets the standards.
Posted by: Swilo
Sounds like I need a trip to Nitro this summer, that six flags is only 2.5 hours away.
Posted by: -EG-raynor
whho do u agree with tweak 
Posted by: Tweaker
 Quote:
Originally posted by -EG-raynor
whho do u agree with tweak
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With Ion & Redwench, your post beat mine out when I posted. 
Posted by: TheeMon
i thought this thread was about coffee coasters 
Posted by: Canis Lupus
"When Coasters Attack" ... or maybe "The AOL CD Cometh"...
Posted by: -EG-raynor
Quote:
lol
Posted by: Nfested
I rode in the Nitro roller coaster and I'm not hurt. However, I have gotten a sore neck from riding one of their really old roller coasters called the Viper because the ride has tight turns (and I think the things that keep you on the seat were old and loose), but that was just once. Their new coasters such as Medusa and Nitro and the batman/Robin ride have more G force but they don't hurt me because the tracks are better and use better technology. So better technology creates better coasters I guess .
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