by jscll » Thu May 08, 2014 4:59 pm
The person who wrote the news article does not understand how a shuttle coaster works. Although slipping from the lift chain is not normal, it is usually not a dangerous event. After all, the ride always rolls back down the lift hill. There are two brake runs on the ride at the bottom of the two lift hills (one is also the station loading brakes.) Once the train is on either of the lift hills, the brakes close until the train reaches the top. This way, if the train slips, it stops in the brakes rather than valleying. From what I can gather from the article, the safety devices worked as designed. I have to call the news station out on their deceptive headline, it states two people were injured. Though this is a catchy headline, the article only states that the two people requested to go to the hospital for "precautionary reasons." Going to the hospital for precautionary reasons can mean anything from someone who thinks they sprained their ankle to make sure they did not break it, a person who is on blood thinners who did not fall hard but still need to make sure they are not internally bleeding, someone having abnormal heartburn to make sure it is not cardiac, or it could be someone who just wants to sue the park for "whiplash." Although no one on the ride expected what happened, I do not see how what happened is any worse than Thunderhawks final breaks (Dorney park management - when you read this, please budget for next year a new set of skid brakes for Thunderhawk, sorry I am of subject.)