Roller Coaster Safety Research Paper

652 Words3 Pages
The design and development of roller coasters requires a high level knowledge of physics, engineering, and mathematics. As societies technology has improved to include computers, advanced equipment, and specific design innovations, has resulted in rigorous, complex, and precise creative process. This process has contributed to an outstanding safety record proving roller coasters are one of the safest forms of an adrenaline rush available to the public. The amusement park industry's tradition of continual improvement greatly helps to enhances roller coaster safety. For example, the introduction of force reactive supports, headrests, comfort padding, seat dividers, advanced restraints, computer controls, and magnetic braking systems have made…show more content…
If regulations in specific states need to be altered, IAAPA encourages the state to take action, however they do recommend that they follow the detailed ASTM International ride safety standards for all general regulations. Roller coaster operator staff are required to follow very detailed manufacturer guidelines for detailed inspection and safety requirements. Also as an extra precaution it's common for parks to consult outside specialty companies to constantly re-inspect rides. These inspections happen on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. Another safety precaution taken is, as it states in ASTM International standards that it is absolutely required that ‘fixed-site’ amusement park operators and manufacturers are careful to report both incidents and ride-related defects. This includes notification of facilities when a ride develops a manufacturer-related safety…show more content…
Located in Alberta, Canada, the Mindbender is the world’s largest indoor triple loop roller coaster. But when you go for world records, you’re just making more possibilities for disaster. A year after the ride opened, it suffered one of the most disastrous crashes in roller coaster history. Bolts on one of the inside wheels were missing, causing the last car of the train to fly off the track and start swinging horribly. As it collided with the concrete walls, tragically the safety lap bars disengaged, sending passengers flying in all directions. The ride finally came to an end when the train slid backwards and crashed into a large concrete pillar. Three people were killed and many more injured. Surprisingly, even after this horrible disaster, the ride is still in service today. Big Dipper – 1972. Some say that this was the single worst roller-coaster accident in history. It happened in England, at the Battersea Park Fun Fair. The Big Dipper was the park’s featured attraction. It was an old-school wooden roller coaster that thrilled it's riders. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, wooden coasters wear out quickly if not constantly maintained. And unfortunately that's exactly what happened on one faithful day in May of 1972. The rope that pulls the cars to the top of the launch hill snapped,and tragically the anti-rollback mechanism failed, and the train of cars came hurdling back into the boarding area. This horrible incident killed five children and

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