NBC 5 Chicago Special: Monday, May 12th at 10pm

[chiatrain]

NBC 5 Chicago is pulling a May Sweeps stunt on Monday, May 12th at 10pm during its news broadcast. The title of the segment is "Worth the Ride" and the newsclip featured both Top Thrill Dragster and Superman: Ultimate Flight. The segment will look into if riders are doing bodily harm by going on the fastest, tallest coasters and rides in the world.

[coasterzak]

Riders are fine, I found research to over 25 coaster studies and none of them found coasters the least bit unsafe if you don't have a preexisting condition. ie- having an anyurism (sp.) on the ride.

[chiatrain]

Here's an article on coaster/ride safety:http://themeparks.about.com/library/weekly/aa012803a.htmFrom the above article: "According to the studies, being hit with a pillow or falling on an exercise mat can cause much higher g-forces than a roller coaster."I don't think the NBC5 segment will say anything new, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[SFGAmfreak4life]

I dont remember this guys name but he is always trying to prove that amusement park rides are unsafe. Then Six Flags does tests and then proves him wrong over and over again.

[NoUseForAName]

Ed Markey I think

[SFGAmfreak4life]

Yeah that might be him but im not sure.

[TwistedSTEEL666]

TTD & SUF, eh? Well, I'll be sure to record it just like I did with the other SUF segments on TV a couple of weeks ago.

[SFGAmfreak4life]

Im going to record it too. This is something I dont want to miss.

[3Sfgam]

hey thanks ill make sure I watch it

[joker]

I have to watch this...if they say its unsafe Im going to be lmao. These rides had more then millions of people ride them.

[SFGAmfreak4life]

There have been many tests that prove that they are really safe. If the segment says they arent I will sit there an lmao like joker.

[coasterguy]

not to sound stupid but what does lmao mean

[SFGAmfreak4life]

it means Laugh My A$$ Off

[TwistedSTEEL666]

I was just about to ask that................

[coasterguy]

ok sounds good!

[chiatrain]

Ok, the report was what i expected.Quick notes:1. Reporter started off by saying some refer to coasters as 'machines that has no respect for your body.'2. Showed a clip of state inspectors working on S:UF at SFGAm. One Inspector said she would not ride it due to high blood pressure. This was followed by a quick interview with Mr. Bollinger.3. At Cedar Point, showed a clip of testing TTD with a dummy, looking at forces and torques and comparing this to what a human can handle. A Park Official stated that there are now 'better tools and technology.'4. Back to SFGAm, an attorney is sueing SFGAm for an incident on American Eagle while a girl suffered imbalance and headaches while she rode American Eagle when it operated backwards in 2002. This was followed by a quick segment with Mr. Wintrobe. Also stated was the recent incident on Raging Bull and the choking death.5. Coaster tips include a) keep head against headrest, b) face ahead during the course of the ride, c) no food, candy, gum during the rideIf you want to catch it again, check out PAX for the rebroadcast of NBC5 news. The segment should air on PAX at about 10:44 pm tonight.

[Chitown]

Just saw the segment. They had a Chicago newsperson out at CP in front of TTD. They also had footage of S:UF at SFGAm. Basically what they discussed has already been covered numerous times.The only person they interviewed that had doubts about safety of coasters is a personal injury attorney representing a girl who experienced head trauma after a day at SFGAm.They also interviewed a guy from CP(I believe it was the parks GM), and Jim Wintrode(GM of SFGAm). Walter Bollinger was also asked how they test coasters for human safety.Overall, it was a non-bias segment.

[chiatrain]

Here is the transcript/article from Monday night's news segment:http://www.nbc5.com/news/2198299/detail.html

[SFGAmfreak4life]

I saw the segment. I remember that incident with the little girl on AE. I remember a segment on that from last year that said that the little girl had some problems with her brain but she decided to ride AE anyway. When she was riding AE she like everyone else bounced around a bit and that triggered a brain anyurism. So I dont know why that lawyer took on the case. Its not SFGAms fault for her injury its hers. She decided to ride AE and she ended up getting hurt.

[joker]

Also if you didnt see it, it has the video from last night.

[3Sfgam]

i dont buy that AE story either i think it was her fault also.

[coasterzak]

Yeah I've heard of many brain anyurisms happening on coasters, but it's good that it's never the coasters fault because then everyone would think that coasters were dangerous.

[SFGAmfreak4life]

That would be horrible if everyone thought that coasters are dangerous when they arent. Theme parks would start going out of business and eventually there would be no more SFGAm. Hopefully that never happens.

[coastrcorey]

It won't... Almost everyone I told about the girl dying on Raging Bull said that it was her fault... So, I think most people do realize that coasters are safe and ok to ride. I can't see Great America going out of business.

[SFGAmfreak4life]

Me neither. If they did go out of business it would be caused by something else.