Accidents

Theme parks and roller coasters are statistically very, very, very safe. Out of the millions of people who ride the thousands of rides every year, there are only a small handful of incidents. You are statistically more likely to be involved in an accident driving to an amusement park than having one at a park. The rarity of accidents is one reason why the media report them, similar to plane crashes.

theme park roller coaster accidentsEvery important element of a ride is inspected on a regular basis and every ride is tested every day without passengers before it opens. A ride might not open, or a safety system might activate, if there is an imperfection. For theme parks to operate, they must obtain insurance and one stipulation is their rides are frequently inspected and signed off by a strict Health & Safety governing body. Every theme park does what they can to prevent accidents because the negative press would be bad for business.

Having said all that, theme park accidents still happen…

El Toro, Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey, USA

One of the Intamin prefab wooden coaster’s trains failed to return to the station after it stopped a few yards before the brake run when the last car derailed from the track. No one was injured, but the attraction was shut down for the remainder of the season. Source

The Voyage, Holiday World, Santa Claus, Indiana, USA

During the Holiwood kNights event a 47-year-woman riding the Gravity Group wooden coaster returned to the station unresponsive and was taken to hospital, where she died. The cause of death was later determined to be a torn artery causing severe internal blood loss. Source

Boudewijn Seapark, Sint-Michiels, Bruges, Belgium

The head of technical services died while working on an electrical box near the park’s seal enclosure. The 26-year-old man is believed to have been electrocuted after touching a live wire. Source (in Dutch)