The chief executive of Six Flags says the company will install seat belts on the Georgia roller coaster from which a rider fell to his death earlier this month. The company’s rides with similar restraints will also get the safety upgrade.
The theme park operator announced the extra safeguard less than two weeks after 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem of Atlanta died after being ejected from his seat on the Goliath coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia.
Thinking back to theme park visits from my childhood, I had never thought to myself that more was needed then the big clunky hardware holding us in. I fully support adding seatbelts on top of this, and the article says there are a lot of rides across the country down for maintenance now, likely to do the same.
I didn’t have the clamshell like this, just the old lap bar. A ride damn near dropped me out and my sister had to hold onto me the whole time, but when we reported they just shrugged and said ok sorry.
You and your sister did great. That’s so scary.
That one wasn’t as bad as the ship that flips upside down, that lap bar almost dropped me too because the whole thing lingers upside down for a few seconds and it just didn’t come all the way down. Ahh king’s dominion memories
I’m very afraid of heights. This is awful
These particular clamshell restraints where patented in 2001 (per the article), so they aren’t from my childhood, but I don’t know your age.
Thinking back to theme park visits from MY childhood, I have never once in my entire life felt well secured or safe when riding a roller coaster in that style. If you’re a smaller than average person you’re pretty much entirely responsible for your own fate with those. A lot of times the bar didn’t even touch my body at all. I usually ended up clinging onto the restraint bar with my arms, to prevent myself from sliding around beneath it.
The over the shoulders style top restraint is a thousand times better and safer, in my opinion. Never had a problem with one of those.
I’ve never ridden Goliath, but I would’ve just assumed it had seatbelts already, in addition to the bar, just because it’s so big and (relatively) new. I could’ve sworn I remember at least one of the other coasters at Six Flags over Georgia already having them, but I can’t remember which one(s). Maybe Mindbender?
You may be right about the Mind Bender. The Scream Machine needed seatbelts but I don’t believe had them, Batman, Ninja, and Superman rides all had the over the shoulder(and in the case of Superman over the whole torso).