Are amusement park rides safe?

Caryl Mclaen: No you're not crazy. It makes sense to avoid putting yourself in danger if it can be avoided. Our lives are filled with things we do to be safer in our lives. What ever we do we take a calculated risk in doing it. Nothing in life 100% safe. I'm sure that the amusement park owners do all in their power to keep it safe. It would be bad for their business otherwise. But accidents do happen. Traffic kills and mutilates more people than amusement parks and I'm more scared that my children will die in a car crash....Show more

Omar Phipps: When ride staff is the roller-coaster zone, they are supposed to lockout and also tag the lockout before anyone goes into the zone. Failure to do so it a serious ride maintenance error. If a *rider* enters the zone--unless there are specific sensors to shut down the ride, ride staff aren't going to lockout/tagout if they don't see them to emergency stop, then the rider gets injured or worse when they get hit.Feet severed is! still rider error even with a ride design flaw. Riders aren't expected to put their feet out until the coaster train is stopped in the station and the safety bars are unlocked so riders can exit. A similar but less severe accident occurred with similar ride behavior on the Disneyland Park Big Thunder Mountain Railroad coaster ride several years ago--they added foot guards, but also mentioned to keep hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the car in their safety announcement....Show more

Edmund Rappley: Amusement park rides are definitely safer. My dad is a safety trainer at Dollywood in Tennessee. Each ride has its own safety team - they are on park every minute the park is open. They walk the entire ride every single morning. They have very strict running operations (about rain, lightning, etc.). They notice immediately if anything looks out of place and shut down the ride to fix anything before any problems arise. They have to run each ride a minimum number of times, s! ometimes over a hundred, at the beginning of each season befor! e guests are allowed on to watch and feel for any potential issues. Also, at Dollywood, they have the local firemen come and do practice rescues on the rides, and the owners of the park ride the rides before guests do - even the kiddie rides are ridden by grown men first to check for anything. At fairs and carnivals, random people are hired to put up and take down the rides. I've had friends do this for extra cash in the summertime. The rides don't always have all the bolts - doesn't matter- the rides open anyway. They are put up by people who don't necessarily have any experience and there are no dedicated safety personnel....Show more