Raptor gate injury

Paisley, one of the articles I read said he was 'slashing' at his leg to get it free. Not quite sure what was meant by that. Or like you said, because of the pressure, his leg split open.

leopold said:

Looking at the gates and pictures of his injury I dont see how in heck he managed to do it.

Scottyf said:

Direct (under oath) testimony by witnesses, video evidence, operational standards, safety records, blood (alcohol) tests, depositions by experts, etc. That kind of stuff.

So, if I'm watching the news and there's a report of a car driving around the lowered railroad gates and then getting hit by a train....

...I need to wait until the trial to think the driver of the car was at fault?

Sorry: the fellow has touted his experience not only as a rider but as a park employee. Given what he has freely shared through the media, social and otherwise, I'm very comfortable forming the opinion that I have.

The only facts needed are that tens of millions have rode Raptor without getting their body parts stuck in the gates. This guy is obviously some kind of special...

^ Yeah he's money hungry. Apparently he's good at putting on an act too so that way he can take Cedar Fair to court.

Didn't read the whole thread, but I noticed tonight that on many rides the ride op was announcing that the gates were closing and to take two steps back. Obviously, not many people moved back but it did seem to get SOME people's attention.

^ That does seem like a reaction to this incident, although it was never a problem until that day. I'm under the impression that he staged this whole incident.

I have heard ride hosts tell people to stand behind the yellow line gates are closing before but not as a regular thing just once in a while. I guess we'll be hearing it all day now.

MDOmnis said:

3.) Being injured by a tanning bed.

I wonder if the tanning bed closed on him unexpectedly?

Like so many people here, I don't have a whole lot of sympathy for this guy.

But I do wonder...why is there not some kind of force limiting means on these gates?

The only other place I can think of where people are exposed to a portal that can close automatically with enough force to cause injury is power car windows. Even self-closing restraints on rides are supposed to be force limited.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Actually Dave, the power windows on my car have one touch up and one touch down. The one touch up function does have a force limiter that will not crush your finger.

But by the man's own words, the wounds he suffered were from his apparently violent thrashing in an attempt to free his leg. I don't think that the manufacturer of the gates considered the entire realm of human stupidity.

redsfan said:

I myself think he hurt himself on purpose thinking he would be able to sue.

I am starting to wonder this myself. Maybe he was losing at the track.

Or at life in general.

RideMan said:

The only other place I can think of where people are exposed to a portal that can close automatically with enough force to cause injury is power car windows. Even self-closing restraints on rides are supposed to be force limited.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Not true. Auto-up windows are required to have the ability to detect an object in it's path. The window would make contact with your arm, etc if you stuck it out while it closed, but would reverse before it could apply enough force to cause injury. I know this, because we design these where I work. The calibration that goes into making these devices safe is pretty extensive. The unit needs to be able to compensate and adjust for: temperature variation, conditions (rain may decrease the resistance of the window in the seals), changes in the window itself, changes to the window seals (newer or older seals may cause higher or lower resistance against the window), variations to the motor and gearing, etc..

This is why Auto-down windows are much more prevalent that Auto-up.. can't get an arm crushed by an opening window..

I can't believe no one has suggested calling this incident "Raptorgate."

...I'll show myself out.

Am I the only one that laughed about this? I mean, you have to see the humor in a person being injured by a safety device installed to prevent injuries that weren't happening in the first place.

The employee didn't know how stupid the guy is. That was the error.

codeGR said:

I thought the gates on Fury 325 were interesting. Seemed like they operated independently. Here's a photo the park posted during construction. Looks like each gate has a separate cylinder. And the gates don't look like traditional gates. I can't seem to find a picture of them.

And they love, love, love, love, love, love, LOVE to slam those stupid things on boarding guests before the previous riders have all stood up let alone vacated the train. Push back on the gate when you're halfway through as they close it, and they'll yell at you. Fail, Carowinds, fail.

Having them all operate separately seems like a lot of extra expense up front and a lot more to go wrong.