Amputee vet falls off rollercoaster, dies

[MatildaGage]

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/07/09/general-us-roller-coaster-death_8557186.html

Sad story.

I have been on that rollercoaster. IIRC, there is a thing that crosses your lap, plus a harness type thing that goes over your head. I remember being jostled around quite a bit in the harness and it slightly bruising my cheek. I'm having difficulty figuring out how a person could get thrown out of there.

The media stories I've seen are not mentioning the over-the-head thing. Maybe I'm just confusing it with a different coaster. It was a really memorable ride though, not in a good way, so I'm thinking my memory is correct.

 

[Jekyll's Guest]

It probably wasn't a good idea to let him on.

Of course if they'd said no we'd have a thread screaming at them for denying a vet and patriot his dignity.

 

[BenBurch]

I figure that his legs did not attach to his stumps strongly enough to anchor his torso using force provided by the bar.

 

[TheNooch]

It probably wasn't a good idea to let him on.

Perhaps they could put that on his headstone.

 

[MatildaGage]

I figure that his legs did not attach to his stumps strongly enough to anchor his torso using force provided by the bar.

That was probably it. I guess the harness is just a supplement. Maybe a person could slip through the bottom.

I remember the harness being rather loose, which is why I got jostled around so much.

Sad. I can't believe they let him on. This isn't the first time it's happened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_%E2%80%93_Ride_of_Steel [Similar accounts were reported in the media.]

 

[TheNooch]

What do you call a guy with no legs that gets sick on a roller coaster?

Ralph!

too soon?

 

[Furcifer]

Does the ride owner have to assume responsibility? Technically he didn't keep his arms and legs inside the ride at all times.

 

[sadhatter]

You know i have experienced a similar issue myself, obviously not as severe as i am still here and it raises an interesting point.

Where does politeness end and pragmatisim begin?

In my case i was a very short, very , very obese lad. The majority of this weigh was a giant pot belly.

On a roller coaster , i could tell the attendant wanted to mention something. But he didn't as they strapped me in, my gut did not let the harness close properly. But out of awkwardness, this wasn't mentioned.

The thing stopped being a harness rather quickly and i was left ( darn near literally) crapping myself, for the duration of the ride, holding on for dear life ( if i would have not bee supported, i would have not been able to hold on, as due to the weight, holding myself from anything was not an option. ).

And i would guess this was the same issue, someone felt too awkward to say " Listen without legs, this is going to be dangerous" and because of this , a person is dead.

 

[TheNooch]

This is not the 1st guy to fall out of this ride, the guy in 1999 was too fat, but that may have saved his life.

A near-fatal accident occurred on the Darien Lake version in 1999 when a passenger was thrown from the train on one of the final hills. As a result, the park installed standard seat-belts and imposed further restrictions on passenger size and weight. Prior to the accident, the height restriction was 48 inches (1.2 m); now it is 54 inches (1.4 m).

There's no way in hell this guy was 54", especially if you make him get out of the chair. Do they let adult midgets ride on these things?

Can you imagine sitting behind this guy right as he fell out? From what I can gather from the youtubes, he flew out at the 200ft apex where the ride has some negative G's.

ETA: If there were a video of this, it would be #1 on youtube in a week

 

[JeanFromBNA]

That was probably it. I guess the harness is just a supplement. Maybe a person could slip through the bottom.

I remember the harness being rather loose, which is why I got jostled around so much.

Sad. I can't believe they let him on. This isn't the first time it's happened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superman_%E2%80%93_Ride_of_Steel [Similar accounts were reported in the media.]

Matilda, the same Wikipedia article states, "The restraints were also replaced with larger and longer lap bars." If there were no over the shoulder restraints, I could see how a person without legs could have been ejected from the ride.

 

[Kopji]

Jody Hackemer said her brother had had recently returned from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where he was fitted with a new set of prosthetic legs.

She said she did not believe he was wearing the prostheses on the roller coaster.

Tragically ironic that someone who gave so much in war, works his way though a lot of adversity - only to die in a rollercoaster accident. I love coasters but flying off of one is not a way I'd choose to go.

It sounds like the prosthetic's were removed, making this seem more like a violation of simple weight-height safety rules. But maybe as was mentioned, nobody wanted to offend a war hero.

Nobody's mentioned Final Destination 5 yet. Oops. Damn.

 

[Ausmerican]

You know i have experienced a similar issue myself, obviously not as severe as i am still here and it raises an interesting point.

Where does politeness end and pragmatisim begin?

In my case i was a very short, very , very obese lad. The majority of this weigh was a giant pot belly.

On a roller coaster , i could tell the attendant wanted to mention something. But he didn't as they strapped me in, my gut did not let the harness close properly. But out of awkwardness, this wasn't mentioned.

The thing stopped being a harness rather quickly and i was left ( darn near literally) crapping myself, for the duration of the ride, holding on for dear life ( if i would have not bee supported, i would have not been able to hold on, as due to the weight, holding myself from anything was not an option. ).

And i would guess this was the same issue, someone felt too awkward to say " Listen without legs, this is going to be dangerous" and because of this , a person is dead.

But did the attendants know he had no les, or might they have just assumed he had poorly functioning legs due to a spinal injury or other problem? Even non functioning limbs would've made a considerable difference in the anchoring of the bar.


ETA: Just finished reading the article and it does in fact say that his family doesn't believe he was wearing his prostheses for the ride. Which is odd. Not that he would'nt be wearing them, but that they would'nt know for sure one way or another if he was or wasn't.

 

[Complexity]

I think that the restraining bar across the lap is essential to keep someone in the seat - it should be physically impossible for a person having a standard set of limbs and being of sufficient height to slide out of the ride under the forces in play.

He didn't really have a lap.

He should never have gotten on the ride. I think this was both his fault and that of the ride operator.

 

[TheNooch]

There's not a pic of this guy ever wearing any fake legs, he even rides an ATV with no legs. Heres a GIS link.

http://www.google.com/search?client...&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1024&bih=629

Ok, here's a pic of the ride (worth a thousand words)

As you can see, no shoulder harnesses. Letting a guy on here with no legs was negligent manslaughter or suicide. No way anyone could hang on thru negative G's and when the fat guy fell out in '99 it was because his waist bar didn't lock, and he couldn't stay in his seat. That's why they added seatbelts under the waist bar.

ETA: one thing is for sure, there will be a new rule on all coasters now; No Legs, No Ride

 

[Squid]

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/07/09/general-us-roller-coaster-death_8557186.html

I have been on that rollercoaster. IIRC, there is a thing that crosses your lap, plus a harness type thing that goes over your head. I remember being jostled around quite a bit in the harness and it slightly bruising my cheek. I'm having difficulty figuring out how a person could get thrown out of there.

The media stories I've seen are not mentioning the over-the-head thing. Maybe I'm just confusing it with a different coaster.

Sorry, your memory is faulty. There are no over the shoulder restraints on ROS at Darien Lake. It's never had them... never was designed for them. Intamin (ride manufacturer) requires no one with leg prosthetics above the knee be allowed to ride.

This guy was missing a hip. A HIP. If he went on without his prosthetics, there is no way he could have been properly secured. If we went on with them, he was breaking the ride rules, which are clearly posted in the que. From the description of his injuries from the war, I do not see how the ride ops could have missed these missing limbs.

Where does blame lie? All over the place. About the only place it doesn't lie is the ride manufacturer. Darien Lake's ROS was altered after the 1st incident to include better restraints, but no coaster is designed to handle someone missing both legs and a hip.

Squid

 

[Modified]

As you can see, no shoulder harnesses. Letting a guy on here with no legs was negligent manslaughter or suicide. No way anyone could hang on thru negative G's and when the fat guy fell out in '99 it was because his waist bar didn't lock, and he couldn't stay in his seat. That's why they added seatbelts under the waist bar.

When I was a kid we used to ride the "Blue Streak" at Cedar Point, keep the seat belt loose and hold the bar up so it would lock high (often with a wink from the attendant as he checked all the bars to make sure they were locked). It probably wasn't very smart, but it was a lot of fun.

 

[TheNooch]

Ok, here's a great new article...

Hackemer was not wearing his prosthetic legs when he got on the roller coaster, his sister said. He had been getting around the theme park using a wheelchair. Jody Hackemer also said she did not know whether park attendants questioned whether it was safe for her brother to get on.

"I would imagine that they would have and did," she said. But that wouldn't have stopped her brother, she added.

~snip~

Riders must be 54 inches or taller, the website said.

"Guests who are 76 inches and above or with certain body proportions may not be able to ride," it warned.

Two other roller coasters at the park -- the Predator and the Motocoaster -- require riders to have both legs and one functioning arm.

An East Amherst teen who was sitting five cars behind Hackemer saw him tumble from the roller coaster.

~snip~

"It was so fast," Amelia Hallac, 15, told The News. "I just saw him fall out. It was like he kind of went backwards to the right. I thought it was a hat. Then I realized it was a person."

Back and to the right, back and to the right, back and to the right...

Ok, but seriously, how fast do you have to be going for some one to mistake a pretty big torso for a hat?

Luffred had been entertaining James' daughters and was getting ready to get on a Ferris wheel when she overheard someone in line say that "somebody just fell off the Superman ride [the former name of the ride] and he didn't have any legs," Luffred told Jody Hackemer.

The sisters knew it had to have been James.

Really?

http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/batavia-genesee-county/article483405.ece

 

[Jekyll's Guest]

Sounds like a combination:

Low wage employees + ignorance + social pressure = death

Sadly, had they not allowed him on I really do think we'd have an article with a war vet covered in medals being wheeled in to court to sue them for discrimination.

 

[TheNooch]

Finally here's a video of the roller coaster. (best viewed in full screen)



According to his sister, the guy made it all the way to the third hump, right before the station. The poor guy was probably exhausted trying to keep himself in the seat as this ride has a few neg g spots.

If I'm not mistaken, both guys that flew out did it at the same spot, right at the end. The fat guy was never held in by the lap bar, so both guys were trying to use their arms so stay in. Turns out, it didn't work either time.

 

[LTC8K6]

ADA lawsuit to make the rides accessible to people without legs?