12 yr. old girl critically injured at Wisconsin Dells

[cdnelson]

I was kind of surprised to see that this wasn't already here, here's the link to the full article:

http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-amuseme ... 0606.story

The basic story is a 12-year old girl was riding the Terminal Velocity "freefall" ride at Extreme World. You're supposed to be lifted 140 feet in the air, and freefall into a net system suspended 40 feet off the ground.

Through apparent operator error, she was only lifted 100 feet then dropped to a net that hadn't been lifted.
She's apparently responsive, but may suffer some permanent paralysis. Honestly it's a miralcle to be alive at all after falling 100 feet.

So...you sign a waiver for rides like these, but waivers are blown away by gross negligence in most cases. Add to that the business is operating while in receivership and you have a few more questions. Is the bank that now holds the "title" so to speak going to be on the hook for this? If not, how do you get money from an operations that is already bankrupt for most purposes.

I'm amazed, and grateful, that she's not dead but this poor little girl faces a very long recovery.

[rct2wizard360]

From what I remember the safety net is attached to the elevator so when the elevator is at it's maximum height the net will be taut enough to catch the persons fall. So from what the park is suggesting, the operator didn't raise the elevator to it's full height.

It just boggles my mind that the distance between the elevator and the net is proportioned so the height of the elevator is equal to how to taut the net needs to be. Terrifies me to look back on when I was on this thing.

[monsterfan99]

With how places are ran at the Dells, no shock at all this happened.

[Coastermonkey61]

Can't say I've ever been, but this was on one of those Travel Channel specials before. It takes quite a bit of gross negligence to cause this great an error. You have to knowingly leave it 40 feet short, open the door, not notice the net was taut, then hook up this girl's harness and drop her, all without knowing you're nowhere close to the height you need to be.

And yes, it's mind-boggling how the safety of the net is based on the height of the elevator. Either you find a way to make the net stay at the 40 foot height or you don't have this attraction. There's a reason why this hasn't been recreated elsewhere.

[UWW-10]

Part of me wonders if the girl got freaked out and scared of the height factor. This is sometimes the case with Skycoasters as well. Although, if being scared was the case, they could have easily brought her back down I would think...and if that's not the case, then some new safety mechanisms or devices have to be in place with the netting so that it can be up to protect the rider if they do decide to not be dropped all the way from the top. I don't see this attraction sticking around at all.

[w00dland]

She couldn't release herself from the safety system, only the ride op can pull the cord.

For people who are amazed, I guess I'm not. All it takes is a ride op to make a mistake in reading the height. Seems pretty simple to me. What I'm amazed about is the fact that the ride didn't have a failsafe for when the ride op were to make that mistake. Pretty poor design if that's the case.

[rct2wizard360]

What I'm amazed about is the fact that the ride didn't have a failsafe for when the ride op were to make that mistake. Pretty poor design if that's the case.

Someone brought this up on a different site and all I can say it a ride-op is the ultimate failsafe. An operator could send a train with all of the harnesses unchecked and open with everyone missing their seatbelt. In my opinion, a ride operator is the ultimate failsafe for any attraction.

[monsterfan99]

^I saw that post elsewhere too and think it is beyond moronic to run that way. A minimum wage, seasonal employee who's training can be shaky at best should never be "the ultimate failsafe."

[Galvan]

^ I disagree with that completely, Computers fail and it takes the brains behind them to insure everythign is working properly. I think sometimes we forget that Rollercoasters, rides and attractions are machines (que the Terminator line " I AM A MACHINE")

anyway, the ultimate fail safe is and always will be a human.

[FParker185]

that's absolutely right, if a human being isn't the ultimate failsafe, then why have staff on rides, it wouln't be hard at all to have most rides be 100% automated.

[tribar]

Before i would've done this but now no way they shouldn't make you sign a waiver you should be able to sue if it's the park's fault

[w00dland]

Humans are capable of making many mistakes. That's why (most) roller coasters need two humans that need to dispatch trains. Yes, humans are the operators that are ultimately responsible, but saying that one 19 year old college student is the only safety a theme park ride needs is ridiculous. To make rides as safe as possible there needs to be a combination of mechanical and human safety.

Don't get me wrong, I'm afraid of the impending Cylon apocalypse too, but by atleast having a warning system on this ride probably could have saved this girl from a terrible life.

[rct2wizard360]

The operator has been charged with first-degree-reckless injury.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... QD9HM1T8G0