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War amputee killed in fall from Ride of Steel

I was pretty sure that if you cannot make it onto the ride yourself, you cant ride (within reason that is. broken or bummed legs ok but amputated NO)

It is apparent the ride ops lacked common sense/did not want to upset a decorated war veteran. Either way this just goes to show how idiotic Darien Lake ride ops are. I can't even imagine how someone with no legs would fit into the lap bar of Ride of Steel let alone ride it safely. *facepalm*
 
Maybe it's just me, but I've always felt safer with B&M lapbars than the Intamin lapbars. I've always liked the Intamin bars better, because you feel more free to move around, but I can definitely see how someone can get thrown out; especially someone with no legs. But those B&M bars staple the **** out you, or so it seems.
 
^Irrelevant.

A B&M bar would still be basically useless if you DIDN'T HAVE ANY LEGS.
 
I'm assuming that he at least had some of his legs. I'm not saying that B&M bars don't offer more or less safety than the Intamin bars, but B&M hasn't had issues with riders being thrown from their rides in the past. And from a riders standpoint, B&M restraints feel safer.
 
^No offence, but instead of assuming, why don't you read the stories?

One leg was completely gone, and the other was just a stump, not even as far as the knee either.

Unless you know of anyone with NO LEGS riding a B&M hyper, then the B&M point is completely irrelevant, no matter how much safer they "feel".
 
Wow. I didn't read the article, but I would have thought the ride ops would see a man with 1/4 of a leg, and turn him away. Lesson learned.
 
Yeah, not reading the article can give you the impression, from what we've read from early posts, that the guy had some leg left. I was under the impression he has gone from the knee down.. but then I read the article.

Knee down wouldn't be a HUGE hassle for most rides tbh.. but non-existent leg/50% of a femur definitely isn't safe.
 
lakeccrunner said:
Wow. I didn't read the article, but I would have thought the ride ops would see a man with 1/4 of a leg, and turn him away. Lesson learned.
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Well that's the difference between you and the ride ops, you can think, they can't.
 
furie said:
The reason the disabled passes allow for a "helper" is so that they can assist in the evacuation.
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Maybe in the UK, but not at "our" park. Only Full-Time Management is/was permitted to actually assist in removing guests from the train itself, and only qualified rides department attendants can escort guests (2 attendants per guest) down the lift hill, access stairs or walkway of any of the coasters there. I'm sure that fire department rescue personnel would be an exception, but even the one time in history that any B&M flyer was evacuated on the lifthill (as of 2008), the Fire Department was not utilized.
 
The reason the disabled passes allow for a "helper" is so that they can assist in the evacuation.
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Yes, but I thought this was more in the case of helping those with learning disabilities who may only trust certain people. Or helping someone who is say deaf or blind, as the "carer" likely has more experience. They are there to help as ...help, not actually do it.

If you cannot physically walk to the ride from the disabled entrance, then you should not be aloud to ride. There is no way any helper, staff member or management would be able to assist someone off the ride who didn't have any legs safely. It's just ridiculous. It would require calling in the fire brigade or other experienced in evacuation with ropes and pulleys, which is just daft, unless you M&D's... in which case it's a normal occurrence.
 
dropthefloor93 said:
Well that's the difference between you and the ride ops, you can think, they can't.
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Way to generalise... Not every ride op/platformer is actually useless... :roll:


rollermonkey said:
Maybe in the UK, but not at "our" park. Only Full-Time Management is/was permitted to actually assist in removing guests from the train itself, and only qualified rides department attendants can escort guests (2 attendants per guest) down the lift hill, access stairs or walkway of any of the coasters there. I'm sure that fire department rescue personnel would be an exception, but even the one time in history that any B&M flyer was evacuated on the lifthill (as of 2008), the Fire Department was not utilized.
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What furie means is that the helper is there to assist the person they are caring for during what is a very stressful situation... Of course manangement/team leaders are the ones who often evacuate the riders from the actual cars, but obviously in the cases of some disablities, they will panic and the only person who is experienced enough to help is the carer...
I cannot imagine this ruling being any different abroad cos to me it's non-sensical... Over here ride hosts aren't even allowed to help disabled riders on or off and it's all in the hands of the much more experienced carers, mainly as the parks aren't really insured for that stuff should anything happen... I know someone who got sacked just for helping someone out of Spinball for example... Stupid in some cases but necessary in others...
 
A comment on the article suggested that he had to be let on because of discrimination laws. I find this hard to believe, but I suppose you never know.
 
jokerman said:
A comment on the article suggested that he had to be let on because of discrimination laws. I find this hard to believe, but I suppose you never know.
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If that's true then that is complete and utter bollocks...

The rules aren't there to discriminate, they are there to protect everyone from something like this happening, it's a line that should never be crossed for any reason what so ever... Same for height limits, there's always a reason (no matter how stupid it may seem) that one ride may have a higher limit (take Rattlesnake having 1.4m compared to 1.2m for every other Wild Mouse) than others of the same type...

Just if he played the discrimination card, that's kinda pathetic to be honest and really, the ride ops should never have backed down and let him on...[/rant]
 
I find it funny that in a country like the USA, where equal rights are a privilege not a given, that there is any law preventing a theme park from not allowing a disabled guest to do something that might kill them.
 
He may have had prosthetic legs on, with clothes ontop it would've been hard for a ride op to tell he had no legs! Disability is a sensitive issue, I doubt you'd want to ask every guy in a wheel chair "excuse me do you have legs?".

Also ride operators aren't actually allowed to help people into their seat (from what I know), as this would make them liable to be prosecuted if something does go wrong. A disabled guest in a wheel chair comes up the disabled entrance, the ride host directs them to the seat. Any disabled guest should have a carer to help them on, who should know the level of the persons disability. I'm not saying THEY'RE to blame at all, as I don't expect a carer to be aware of the forces on the ride nor the way the restraints work.

Not sure who's to blame for this, all I know is that it may trigger a change in rollercoaster health and safety rules.

EDIT: just read he wasn't wearing prosthetic limbs. I guess the ride hosts are to blame.
 
Yeah, so from reading a couple of articles today (including the one Sue posted above) on the face of it, it does sound like the ride ops were to blame afterall. The park's policy is that rides must have 2 legs, as is stated on signs at the entrance and exit.

Although nobody will face criminal charges over this incident, they can still be sued by the victim's family. However, apparently they've said they don't hold the park responsible. Something doesn't add up to me about that though. I'm wondering if he somehow badgered the ride-ops so much they eventually let him on? I know they still shouldn't have done, so was still their fault, but a few things in the article almost make it sound like the family believe it was his own fault. I could have that totally and utterly wrong, but that's what I inferred from it.

Oh, yeah, and I know its something we joke about but that article actually mentions the ORP...
"A promotional photograph taken automatically shows Hackemer's college-age nephew, Ashton Luffred, looking straight ahead in the moments after the accident, his face without expression and his hands on the safety bar in front of him. Authorities aren't releasing the photo."
 
Nic said:
Something doesn't add up to me about that though. I'm wondering if he somehow badgered the ride-ops so much they eventually let him on? I know they still shouldn't have done, so was still their fault, but a few things in the article almost make it sound like the family believe it was his own fault. I could have that totally and utterly wrong, but that's what I inferred from it.
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That was exactly what I thought. For there to be no blame portioned to any party, there must be more to this story than is being reported in the press.
 
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