Intamin Bashing

I heard on T.V. on a thrill ride special show, that the drive to the amusement park is a million, and this is exactly what the host said, times more dangerous. And before that he talked about getting hurt, so I think when he means dangerous he means injuries and fatalities. I don't know if this is true but the guy said it was based on statistics, and numbers don't lie.

-S. Eagle-

55% of all statistics are made up on the spot...

The statistic has to do with distance traveled. Needless to say, a couple thousand feet versus a couple thousand miles on a plane aren't exactly in the same league.

Well, when people start to make awkward comparisons regarding the relative safety of roller coasters versus cars, you need to make adjustments. Obviously thousands more people will die in automobiles every year than on rides, but is that a meaningful statistic, when you consider the amount of time spent in each relative to the other? Per-miles-travelled is the standard when using all forms of transportation (i.e. bicycle versus plane, which is how we know planes are the safer, per mile); the question here is whether or not its fair to apply that standard to roller coasters.

It makes sense to me, but, hell, what do I know. Given the enormous difference in usage between cars and rides, you need some kind of formula to make a statement of any kind. Otherwise, could we just stop saying "You know, these rides are safer than blah blah blah ...", and stick to "They're awfully damn safe, period"?

Per miles traveled may be a standard way of comparing transportation systems, but I think that fatalities per ride cycle would be more meaningful for amusement rides, given the short distance traveled. And the fact that some rides don't travel any distance at all, like Scramblers and other flat rides, makes the per ride cycle statistic even better.

Intamin isn't the only manufacturer that has pitched riders out of the train. PTC trains have lost a few riders over the years, and Arrow has lost at least one from a runaway train and their short lived standup design has also lost a rider. There was also an Arrow looping incident, although that rider was lost because they were sitting in front of the restraint.

All manufacturers have problems from time to time. Intamin MAY just be in a period of bad luck. Just like when Delta Airlines had four accidents in two years (1972 and 1973). This could have been considered a flaw in their safety procedures, but those accidents were followed by over a decade of safe flying. So, sometimes it's hard to tell, and I think the jury is still out on the Intamin designs. *** Edited 8/30/2004 3:29:17 PM UTC by Pete***

I wouldn't give up on Intamin yet. I'm sure that they will bounce back from these setbacks. If I was going to open a new park, I would make sure I had at least one Intamin coaster in there. Personally, I was a fan of the Flight Commander rides. They were pretty cool, but obviously there was a restraint issue.

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There was also an Arrow looping incident, although that rider was lost because they were sitting in front of the restraint.

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Wait a sec, he sat in front of the restraints? What an idiot, and the op was probably an idiot, also, for not checking.

-Eagle

Intresting info:

http://www.rideaccidents.com/intamin.html

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Michael Darling said:
55% of all statistics are made up on the spot...

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Hahahahaha.

Browntggrr

Those are interesting, I've never even heard of some of these accidents.

Most of them seem to be human error. Kind of like "controlled flight into terrain".

"Controlled flight into terrain" is bad.

MrScott

Well all I have to say is I love Intamin. I don't think I'm in any danger when riding Intamin rides so I will keep riding them. I'm not going to do any complaining because I've seen enough of that in this topic already.

1st. - there are not a lot of companies out there that are desiging and manufacturing mega amusement rides. Disney & US do a lot of their own designing and get certain manufacturers to put together the infrastructure for them, they then design the concept and the rest is history. Parks are trying to compete for the amusement dollar and they want to put in new mega attractions as their capital money will allow. In the process new technology is inserted into the picture and in some cases this tech may have flaws (as you are seeing in a lot of the new mega rides). Again there are not a lot of companies that can withstand a lot of re-engineering and the cost that goes along with it. Usually a ride has a warrenty of 1 to 2 seasons and if there is a lot of failures then the cost goes through the roof. Intamin for the most part has been able to stay afloat (as a co.)

As far as the Free Fall rumors in earlier posts - The ride is well documented and there are reems of prints and documents available for the owner to use. The "designer" of the control system did not die. Originally the control system did not have a "computer" as you know one today. It had programmable computer cards inserted into a bank they were the essentually the control system, some of these had adjustable "pots" for certain troubleshooting. There was a CRT unit for trouble shooting and that was about it. Most owners had newer Allen Bradley controllers installed and reprogramed to fit the application.