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.
Every 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…
An 18-year-old man was ejected from the Musik Express/Himalaya style ride at the Canadian National Exhibition, suffering serious but non-life-threatening injuries. It appeared that the young man tried to stand up on the ride while it was moving at high speed. Source
A 17-year-old boy and a 19-year-old woman dropped some 180 feet (60 m) from the Sky Coaster during high winds and collided with nearby objects. Paramedics took both victims to a local hospital for treatment, where doctors declared the boy dead. Source (in French)
A child suffered injuries on the spinning kiddie attraction after exiting the ride before it came to a complete stop and was transported to a local hospital for evaluation. Source
A woman working at the amusement park sustained a minor concussion after being hit by the Intamin Zac Spin roller coaster. Source (in Swedish)
A 45-year-old male employee of the fair died while conducting routine maintenance on the spinning attraction. Source
A 21-year-old woman died, and two other women sustained severe injuries after they fell from the attraction. Source
A man in his 20s was transported to a hospital after suffering a leg injury while riding the Premier Rides Skyrocket II roller coaster. Source
A female guest and male staffer received head injuries and were transported to a hospital following an incident involving the Pinfari Zyklon roller coaster. Source
A woman in her 30s died and nine others were injured, including three children, after one of the Schwarzkopf/Zierer roller coaster trains derailed. Source
A massive broke fire out at Germany’s largest theme park, completely destroying the Yomi’s Magic World of Diamonds attraction. The Alpenexpress Enzian Mack Rides powered roller coaster also sustained damage from the blaze. Source
