Seat belt lenght

And frankly, I really don't consider being overly cautious when it comes to ride safety as poor customer relations. To put it quite simply, if they aren't, and somebody gets hurt because of it, nobody is going to be riding the ride.

It was the Six Flags New England indecent, not the first Darien Lake one that caused the seat belt issue that we've been dealing with since 04. Trust me, I worked on MF in 04 as well and I remember the almost daily notices about seat belts that year. It was crazy. When I had the chance to switch to WT I jumped at it. I still had some of them until last year, where they showed procedures on dealing with the belts and how to tell if there was enough slack, how to best help a guest struggling with them, at first we were allowed to help, then the rule became "don't touch the belt they have to do it themselves"... fun stuff.

Thanks liebe - I knew there had been incidents at both parks, just couldn't remember which one triggered the seatbelt kerfuffle.

The PointGuru said:
Nothing to do with safety.

Because you say so?

Because seat belts are on most rides at the park are purely cosmetic and serve no functional purpose. No one is saying the park should sacrifice safety or even be overly causious. The fact is the park installed the cheapest possible seat belts because of insurance and liability concerns. They could have installed retractable belts that were as long as needed or even some other type of real secondary system. Instead, the park uses cheap ones of varying lengths and they don't even maintain them that well.

The biggest problems are for the ride operators. I can see how it would be a pain for a large guest to ride then exit, have a small guest take 2 feet of slack out of the belt then, have another large guest ride and add 2 feet of slack to the belt again and so on. I can't tell you how many times I saw a small guest ride when the seat belt was fastened so loosely they could have used it for a jump rope. I wish people would stop trying to confuse the real issue by pretending its a safety issue.

The PointGuru said:
I wish people would stop trying to confuse the real issue by pretending its a safety issue.

I wish you would realize that this is a losing battle and what you're doing is this. The seat belts are a safety system whether you like to think so or not. Just because rides didn't have them before doesn't mean that something changed where they now require them; whether that be "safety" issues or mechanical issues that were discovered with the rides.

The PointGuru said:
Because seat belts are on most rides at the park are purely cosmetic and serve no functional purpose.

Because you say so? :)

Ok, I give up. It is useless trying to explain the laws of physics to brick walls. Factually, most (and I emphasize MOST) coasters are designed so even an inanimate object could ride and not fall out or be thrown from the ride even without any restraints at all. Changes are made to coaster and retraint design that have nothing to do with safety all the time (usually cost). The fact is that most (and I emphasize MOST) accidents at parks have to to with rider or operator error and mechanical failures. There have been injuries attributed to ride design but the solution was not installation of seat belts to correct the issues. Accidents have always happened; as rides get bigger and faster they always will. Putting seat belts on rides that don't need them (like Scrambler and the car rides and other coasters that never had them before) doesn't fix the problem. It does limit the fun for a segment of the population that could have rode but can't because of the seat belt. They paid the same price of admission as everyone else. That is bad management and that is a shame.

Capt Spaulding said:
Everyone I have seen that was turned away might not have been morbidly obese but they were by no means in any decent shape. And I am including both women and men. I am not sure I believe the people in great shape couldnt fit unless they were 6'6 or something to that nature.

You have to take into consideration all of the other people in the park that didnt want to get to the platform to see if they fit in a seat and all of the other people that just dont even go beacause they will not have the same experience. So the people you are seeing is not a fair representation.

It seems to me, and maybe I could be wrong, but if lap bars can click into place (some with more clicks than others) and designs for buckle posistion can be in more than one spot- why is it that in new constuction for coasters they dont just have two buckle locations and and have lap bars that can lock further/higher up. That way smaller riders can have the option to use a buckle that can be tighter and lap bar that can go down further than larger riders. That would then get rid of the need for Big Boy seats.

The PointGuru said:
Factually, most (and I emphasize MOST) coasters are designed so even an inanimate object could ride and not fall out or be thrown from the ride even without any restraints at all.

lol, really? so you're saying that if we weren't held down for airtime hills, we'd stay planted in our seats? get real.

Thrillerz said:
I know that this is a topic that has been discussed many times before and in most cases been has been a dragged out topic..... I have read about all of the threads but one thing I haven't been able to find is an approximate measurement from side to side for the seal belts on TTD and MF. I had an issue last year and have been working to make it not an issue with diet and exercise for this years trip. I carry my weight in my thighs and butt so I am not concerned with the waist and chest requirements. Can anyone help me out? Again, not trying to start a thread all about weight, waist size, etc because everyone is different and I dont think that CP discriminates against the people of "exceptional size"!!!

Sorry that this thread didn't turn out the way you wanted... Apparently people would rather argue about whether it is right or wrong, which isn't helpful at all. I am not sure what the measurement is though, so I guess I'm not much help either.

RuffRider said:

Sorry that this thread didn't turn out the way you wanted... Apparently people would rather argue about whether it is right or wrong, which isn't helpful at all. I am not sure what the measurement is though, so I guess I'm not much help either.

Lol- that is okay. I thought I might be opening a can of worms when I asked, and I even commented as well. I just figured that it would turn into a " I weigh this and my waist size is that and I am this tall...." and that isnt what I was looking for!

I guess I will have to agree, rather safe the sorry. Glad CP takes it to the next level and plays it safe...

Ride On!!!!

davidw said:

The PointGuru said:
Factually, most (and I emphasize MOST) coasters are designed so even an inanimate object could ride and not fall out or be thrown from the ride even without any restraints at all.

lol, really? so you're saying that if we weren't held down for airtime hills, we'd stay planted in our seats? get real.

Maybe you missed your high school physics day field trip. Yes, that is exactly what happens. Objects in motion etc... You experience zero G then come back to rest in your seat in the train. There are other factors such as air resistance and friction from the trains wheels on the track but those are mostly nominal for the amount of time you experience airtime and are taken into consideration in the design of the coaster. That is what makes coasters fun. The feeling that you are out of control when you are actually perfectly safe. For those who remember Blue Streak before the new restraints, the lap bars didn't come all the way down. They were there just so you would have something to hang on to if you wanted. Small riders would have a foot or more of space between their lap and the bar. You could go the whole ride hands free and never touch the lap bar. CCMR is the same way. New coasters are all built with the same principals in mind.

...And were the brick wall...

Maybe the belts aren't needed. However if they didn't install them, I would bet there would be complaints from the state and they are the ones that allow the ride to open.

I'd like to see you ride 1-3 on Magnum with no lapbar or seatbelt and then come back and say most coasters won't throw a person out if they are unrestrained, or you know, any of the roller coasters that have ejected people that weren't wearing or unfastened their seatbelt.

And IIRC the law isn't that CP has to put seatbelts on rides, it's that they have to follow manufacturers recommendations, which is to include seatbelts.

There's no arguing that MF/TTD have seatbelts of all different length though, I think most of us here have experienced that.

OK, OK. Coasters and all rides at Cedar Point need seat belts that are too short and inconsistant length and the world will end if they had belts that are 2 inches longer. Park management is really smart, the world is flat and the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are real. Got it.

Sorry if this was off topic. To answer the original question, if you can figure out how long the belts are, or at least what they are supposed to be, send me a private message so I can ask you what the lottery numbers are going to be tomorrow.

I was fine until you brought the Tooth Fairy into it. She just left my daughter a brand new princess toothbrush.

You're so right, though. Restraints on roller coasters are such a pointless decoration.

Next time I'm bringing my 1 year old on Dragster with me. I'll just sit her in the seat next to me. I'm sure she'll be just fine.

Wait, wait, wait... Millennium opened without seat belts?

Millennium always had seat belts. Gemini, Magnum, Mine Ride - all of the Arrow coasters did not have seat belts when they opened. Though seat belts were installed on Magnum soon after opening day. Blue Streak also didn't have seat belts and even after they were installed they were optional for many years.