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Are people put off by ride accidents?

Ian

Ian

From CoasterForce
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Whenever there's an ride accident, sirens and flashing lights go off in nearly every news room. The sensationalism meter bursts through the roof and the press start to dig further for bad news. It's almost as if they think they are doing a public service by reminding people how "unsafe" rides can be.

A few years ago, The Big One at Blackpool derailed. It happened again a few months later at the same spot and CF just so happened to be there. Unashamedly I contacted several media outlets because a) I wanted to get CF's name in the paper and b) I consider it news. Anyway, a chap from a daily national newspaper called me straight back and the first thing he asked was "Is anybody hurt?". I said no. He then said it wasn't of interest. I suppose "SIX HURT IN BIG DIPPER CRASH" is better for the papers than "BIG DIPPER DERAILS".

I am aware that some newspapers/news programmes do try to balance out a report by explaining the safety features etc but, on the whole, they only seem to care about the sensational side of it.

What I want to know is are people - casual riders, the "general public" - put off by these reports? Is there any hard evidence to suggest that people stop visiting parks because of a high profile ride break down or a rare fatal accident?

I think most people are sensible enough to understand that accidents/break down are rare and it won't affect their decsion to visit a park. Do you think parks suffer due to high profile accidents?
 
It probably does affect some people, but these people are likely to be the highly annoying "what if" people who take great care and length to avoid breathing the wrong type of air particles.

The majority will rationalise that just like anything else (driving, exercising, walking the dog), **** happens.
 
I think there's a few. The majority of my friends who are standard GP types wouldn't cancel their trip to Alton, for example, if they heard the ride had derailed a month before. They generally have enough common sense to realise that breakdowns happen and whatever caused the issue is fixed well before opening again. My wife said last night about HRRR, i shrugged with a "you know they break down every now and then, no doubt someone will try to sue Universal" and the conversation ended.
However, I have had people approach me with horror stricken faces when a coaster makes the news, most notably with NTG and to a lesser extent Rameses Revenge, and then proclaimed they wouldn't go to that park for a long time.
Generally these people don't know the facts and/or refuse to understand why these things happen and believe the media shock headlines.
It's a minority of these people, but there are a few.
 
Surely the best and safest time to visit a park/ride is after it has reopened following an accident?

You know that the park, H&S/Insurance and staff are all hot on making sure that there's not another incident. People are really on the ball.

So I avoid parks which haven't had an accident for ages ;)
 
I think it puts some people off, but not enough to really affect anything. Worth noting that the recent Daily Mail story which claimed accidents were responsible for the closure of Camelot has been removed after the paper admitted there was no evidence for this (although they blamed the agency that supplied the story).
 
furie said:
Surely the best and safest time to visit a park/ride is after it has reopened following an accident?

You know that the park, H&S/Insurance and staff are all hot on making sure that there's not another incident. People are really on the ball.

So I avoid parks which haven't had an accident for ages ;)
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I refuse to fly Qantas until they have their first crash on the same principle! :lol:
 
I'm aware first hand of people who refuse to go to theme parks because ''the rides aren't safe''. Having not been on one before. So I can imagine these people are guided by news stories of rare occaisions there's an incident. Ironically/hypocritically enough they have no problem flying, or driving a car etc...
 
nealbie said:
furie said:
Surely the best and safest time to visit a park/ride is after it has reopened following an accident?

You know that the park, H&S/Insurance and staff are all hot on making sure that there's not another incident. People are really on the ball.

So I avoid parks which haven't had an accident for ages ;)
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I refuse to fly Qantas until they have their first crash on the same principle! :lol:
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You're almost safe!
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-new ... 22pz6.html
 
When I was researching for my coursework I found some people in my primary research were a little put off by ride accidents.
 
GP types still talk about the dummy heads falling off while Kingda Ka was testing, even though that was back in 2005.
 
I think most people that are shocked by these news stories tend to just completely forget about them and end up going on the ride that was in the news etc later that year or the next year. Unlike us goons no one else thinks about these things on a constant basis, it's just something they hear, panic for 5 seconds over and then totally forget.

Obviously there are exceptions and some are rational peeps that realise that this sort of thing happens, no biggie.
 
Yeah, most people will forget a theme park accident news report after about a week, unless a small child is involved. Then it could be two weeks.

A lot of people will tend to not ride a ride based on how safe it looks, if there is any sign of rust or the rails just look a bit thin then people are very wary of that. Pinfari as a result probably gets a lot of people looking at their coasters and then going "Nope, not doing that it looks like its gonna fall over".
 
Treeis said:
A lot of people will tend to not ride a ride based on how safe it looks, if there is any sign of rust or the rails just look a bit thin then people are very wary of that. Pinfari as a result probably gets a lot of people looking at their coasters and then going "Nope, not doing that it looks like its gonna fall over".
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This. I've heard quite some people say they'd never go on something like a B&M flyer, a 4D coaster or something like that because they don't think it looks safe, which is BS of course. Especially with B&M.
 
when my mom heard about the texas giant accident, she had a 30 min conversation with me in which she encouraged me to make sure that my lap bar was as far down as it could possibly be. It was pretty ridiculous.
 
^ How is that ridiculous? You should be checking your own restraints anyway.

A trainee operator was working on Slammer a year or two ago, she didn't check mine properly, and I could easily slip out both of my shoulders. Luckily I realised before the ride started, but if I hadn't...

What would be ridiculous is if your mum tried to put you off theme parks and coasters completely.
 
^ You don't even need the shoulder harness on Slammer. It's for comfort, not safety.


From experience, no, people are not concerned. In the slightest. Even when they think something dangerous has happened to THEM. They'll make a big deal out of something and then you see them back in line for the same ride later. Makes no sense. If you were genuinely concerned, you'd go make a formal complaint until the ride was shut for the day. We're talking vast majority here, not everyone, of course.

The reality is that people do assume the park and it's staff wouldn't have something open if it wasn't safe. They know deep down that they don't really understand everything about the ride and that there must be someone who does keeping track. But it's human instinct to make a scene.

Whether it actually puts people off visiting parks is another matter - I suspect where a death is concerned, probably, at least short term.

when my mom heard about the texas giant accident, she had a 30 min conversation with me in which she encouraged me to make sure that my lap bar was as far down as it could possibly be. It was pretty ridiculous.
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I've seen this a lot though. Parents ill-trusting staff. Some people pull their harness down so tight staff can't check it and countless "hands up please!" or "excuse me" later the train is dispatched late. This is why Cedar Point ask you to leave it up. Staff can then push down, hear it clicking into place and pull slightly. Quickest method.

What I've noticed is that, whatever a guest's concern, if the alternative is not riding they suddenly don't care. Which leads me to believe it's not a genuine concern.

"I can't leave my bag here, what if someone steals it! It has hundreds of pounds in it!" - "Unfortunately it has to be left here or you won't be able to ride" - "..." *sits down*
 
Ethan said:
^ How is that ridiculous? You should be checking your own restraints anyway.

A trainee operator was working on Slammer a year or two ago, she didn't check mine properly, and I could easily slip out both of my shoulders. Luckily I realised before the ride started, but if I hadn't...

What would be ridiculous is if your mum tried to put you off theme parks and coasters completely.
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I don't ever trust the ride ops. I always make a big show of doing it myself for this reason, except they still staple you at Six Flags, because Six Flags just is annoying that way.

Also, does anyone else put down the empty restraints in a seat next to you or just let the ride ops do it? I feel it's almost a common courtesy to do it for them.
 
IntaminToWin said:
Also, does anyone else put down the empty restraints in a seat next to you or just let the ride ops do it? I feel it's almost a common courtesy to do it for them.
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Depends on whether they're quick enough to put down the restraint but most of the time I put it down for them. I'm sure they appreciate the help lol. :P
 
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