I'd feel less safe on my motorcycle while riding through Batavia than I would on a ride at Darien Lake. Yes, I'd feel perfectly safe on a ride. There's a degree of personal responsibility with everything you do. If a ride has certain safety restrictions and you ignore them, well, we all know what happens.
Amusement park rides have a safety record that surpasses playground equipment, showers, bath tubs, home swimming pools and automobiles.
Segue:
32,788 people died in automobile accidents in 2010. That's down 25% from a total of 43,510 fatalities in 2005! (BTW the NHTSA says that the decrease in fatalities for 2010 occurred despite an estimated increase of nearly 21 billion miles in national vehicle miles traveled. An increase in miles traveled? I could've sworn the Federal government just said that because of automobiles getting better fuel mileage, their fuel tax revenues had dropped off. With an increase in 21 billion vehicle miles, how is a decrease in fuel tax revenue possible? Hmmm..which one is lying to us?! ) I think the lower fatality rate is due to people covering less miles because of higher fuel prices. I know my mileage is down because I plan my stops for when I'm already commuting to work and back instead of making constant runs back and forth to the store.
We purchased season tickets this year, and I feel all the rides are safe. I will say, however, that the park in general is showing its age. The bathroom facilities leave much to be desired, many areas could use a paint job, the picnic areas are disgusting, and the landscaping within the park appears unkempt.
I concur with Doug's assessment of amusement park safety records. However, he leaves a gaping hole with respect to responsibility of those parks with respect to adhering to safety standards and enforcing the application of those standards by way of human interface with customers. The implication in previous conversations regarding the recent fatality at Darien- suggesting that the victim voluntarily assumed a risk, further suggesting that volition absolved the park of responsibility or liability is rendered moot by post-investigation findings.
Part of the public confidence in amusement park rides reflects on the presumption that rides are maintained to spec,, inspected, operated and tended by qualified individuals. Clearly the attendants associated with the fatality were (by their own admission) under-trained, confused about safety guidelines and (likely) under-assessed as to their qualification to assume such duty.
I did not vote in this poll. I haven't been to the park in years- with the exception of attending the Roger Waters concert two years ago. I dislike the venue and feel like one of so many cows in a stockyard whenever I visit.
C.M., I didn't mean for it to sound as though the park should be absolved of any responsibility. I was just saying that the adult riders have a responsibility to read the regulations regarding the ride. They were clearly on display for everyone wanting to go on the ride.
I akin it to smoking. Everyone knows it's deadly yet they still do it and then they want to sue the tobacco company for their smoking related illness. I know it's not an exact analogy but I do think it reflects the same mentality. People have to assume some of the risk if they're going to partake in risky activities.
Standing in a shower and riding in an automobile are 2 of the riskiest things people do every day (I hope). One out of every 6500 automobile drivers dies in an auto related accident every year. People expect to hit the lottery with odds about 2000 times worse than dying in an auto accident yet they believe they'll never die in an accident.
I have a pistol permit and love to plink away into the berm I have set up next to the barn. If I popped myself while mishandling the pistol, I wouldn't think of suing the manufacturer for producing the pistol...just sayin'...
You said it wasn't a perfect analogy, but I'll add anyway.
Cigarette companies have no obligation to keep you from smoking, but a theme park has a responsibility to keep you off a ride that you're not qualified to ride, no matter how badly you want to ride the ride. They're supposed to be the experts. There's also the issue of their responsibility to protect other riders. Just because nobody else was hurt in this incident doesn't mean that other people couldn't have been injured. The other riders certainly suffered some degree of emotional trauma.
To whatever degree Hackemer should have known better, it doesn't absolve the theme park of the final and ultimate responsibility for rider safety.
I would almost bet that if they refused to let Hackemer on the ride, he might have tried to sue them saying they violated his disability rights.As far as safety goes,I would trust them more than some of the carnie and local fair rides you see. As for the operators-what do you expect out of high school age kids running controls for these rides? Sure,they're "trained",but all they do basically is push buttons and double check to see if your restraint is latched. I haven't been in a couple years-but it was nothing spectacular last time I was there. It is a "Seabreeze" in the country,in my opinion.The Erie County Fair is much better than Darien Lake, and there people can at least learn things.....
Howard, I clearly said that I don't believe that the park should be absolved from responsibility but have you seen the people who run those rides in the summer? They're kids given cursory training. "Is the person taller that THIS ---- line? Push THIS (O) button to start the ride. Make sure everyone is behind the line before pressing the start button..etc." They're supposed to be "experts?" Bob Price brings up a lot of good points.
Certainly the park has an obligation to keep patrons safe but I also believe that a patron also has a personal responsibility for their own safety, too. This is true especially when the rules of the ride are posted for all to read.
Doug, the experts are the people who run the park. They have a responsibility to ensure the ride operators are thoroughly familiar with everything they need to know about how to run the ride.
The military trains 18-year-olds how to go to war, a theme park can certainly train an 18-year-old everything he or she needs to know to keep a ride safe.
Howard, I was going to use the same analogy. It is the park's responsibility to initially and continually train ride operators. make them pass a test, whatever it takes, but there is no excuse for untrained employees being responsible for dangerous equipment.
Lol Howard, I like that one. The military trains 18 year olds how to go to war. That's so very true! They have to train 18 year olds to go to war because grown men would never do it!
You're absolutely correct that they should be trained to keep the rides safe. I still say though, if you read the rules of the ride and then you still attempt to go on said ride, you're just as much at fault as they are. That's just my common sense rules coming to the front.
I'd feel less safe on my
I'd feel less safe on my motorcycle while riding through Batavia than I would on a ride at Darien Lake. Yes, I'd feel perfectly safe on a ride. There's a degree of personal responsibility with everything you do. If a ride has certain safety restrictions and you ignore them, well, we all know what happens.
Amusement park rides have a safety record that surpasses playground equipment, showers, bath tubs, home swimming pools and automobiles.
Segue:
32,788 people died in automobile accidents in 2010. That's down 25% from a total of 43,510 fatalities in 2005! (BTW the NHTSA says that the decrease in fatalities for 2010 occurred despite an estimated increase of nearly 21 billion miles in national vehicle miles traveled. An increase in miles traveled? I could've sworn the Federal government just said that because of automobiles getting better fuel mileage, their fuel tax revenues had dropped off. With an increase in 21 billion vehicle miles, how is a decrease in fuel tax revenue possible? Hmmm..which one is lying to us?! ) I think the lower fatality rate is due to people covering less miles because of higher fuel prices. I know my mileage is down because I plan my stops for when I'm already commuting to work and back instead of making constant runs back and forth to the store.
http://www.nhtsa.gov/PR/NHTSA-05-11
We purchased season tickets
We purchased season tickets this year, and I feel all the rides are safe. I will say, however, that the park in general is showing its age. The bathroom facilities leave much to be desired, many areas could use a paint job, the picnic areas are disgusting, and the landscaping within the park appears unkempt.
I concur with Doug's
I concur with Doug's assessment of amusement park safety records. However, he leaves a gaping hole with respect to responsibility of those parks with respect to adhering to safety standards and enforcing the application of those standards by way of human interface with customers. The implication in previous conversations regarding the recent fatality at Darien- suggesting that the victim voluntarily assumed a risk, further suggesting that volition absolved the park of responsibility or liability is rendered moot by post-investigation findings.
Part of the public confidence in amusement park rides reflects on the presumption that rides are maintained to spec,, inspected, operated and tended by qualified individuals. Clearly the attendants associated with the fatality were (by their own admission) under-trained, confused about safety guidelines and (likely) under-assessed as to their qualification to assume such duty.
I did not vote in this poll. I haven't been to the park in years- with the exception of attending the Roger Waters concert two years ago. I dislike the venue and feel like one of so many cows in a stockyard whenever I visit.
C.M., I didn't mean for it to
C.M., I didn't mean for it to sound as though the park should be absolved of any responsibility. I was just saying that the adult riders have a responsibility to read the regulations regarding the ride. They were clearly on display for everyone wanting to go on the ride.
I akin it to smoking. Everyone knows it's deadly yet they still do it and then they want to sue the tobacco company for their smoking related illness. I know it's not an exact analogy but I do think it reflects the same mentality. People have to assume some of the risk if they're going to partake in risky activities.
Standing in a shower and riding in an automobile are 2 of the riskiest things people do every day (I hope). One out of every 6500 automobile drivers dies in an auto related accident every year. People expect to hit the lottery with odds about 2000 times worse than dying in an auto accident yet they believe they'll never die in an accident.
I have a pistol permit and love to plink away into the berm I have set up next to the barn. If I popped myself while mishandling the pistol, I wouldn't think of suing the manufacturer for producing the pistol...just sayin'...
You said it wasn't a perfect
You said it wasn't a perfect analogy, but I'll add anyway.
Cigarette companies have no obligation to keep you from smoking, but a theme park has a responsibility to keep you off a ride that you're not qualified to ride, no matter how badly you want to ride the ride. They're supposed to be the experts. There's also the issue of their responsibility to protect other riders. Just because nobody else was hurt in this incident doesn't mean that other people couldn't have been injured. The other riders certainly suffered some degree of emotional trauma.
To whatever degree Hackemer should have known better, it doesn't absolve the theme park of the final and ultimate responsibility for rider safety.
I would almost bet that if
I would almost bet that if they refused to let Hackemer on the ride, he might have tried to sue them saying they violated his disability rights.As far as safety goes,I would trust them more than some of the carnie and local fair rides you see. As for the operators-what do you expect out of high school age kids running controls for these rides? Sure,they're "trained",but all they do basically is push buttons and double check to see if your restraint is latched. I haven't been in a couple years-but it was nothing spectacular last time I was there. It is a "Seabreeze" in the country,in my opinion.The Erie County Fair is much better than Darien Lake, and there people can at least learn things.....
Howard, I clearly said that I
Howard, I clearly said that I don't believe that the park should be absolved from responsibility but have you seen the people who run those rides in the summer? They're kids given cursory training. "Is the person taller that THIS ---- line? Push THIS (O) button to start the ride. Make sure everyone is behind the line before pressing the start button..etc." They're supposed to be "experts?" Bob Price brings up a lot of good points.
Certainly the park has an obligation to keep patrons safe but I also believe that a patron also has a personal responsibility for their own safety, too. This is true especially when the rules of the ride are posted for all to read.
Doug, the experts are the
Doug, the experts are the people who run the park. They have a responsibility to ensure the ride operators are thoroughly familiar with everything they need to know about how to run the ride.
The military trains 18-year-olds how to go to war, a theme park can certainly train an 18-year-old everything he or she needs to know to keep a ride safe.
Howard, I was going to use
Howard, I was going to use the same analogy. It is the park's responsibility to initially and continually train ride operators. make them pass a test, whatever it takes, but there is no excuse for untrained employees being responsible for dangerous equipment.
Lol Howard, I like that one.
Lol Howard, I like that one. The military trains 18 year olds how to go to war. That's so very true! They have to train 18 year olds to go to war because grown men would never do it!
You're absolutely correct that they should be trained to keep the rides safe. I still say though, if you read the rules of the ride and then you still attempt to go on said ride, you're just as much at fault as they are. That's just my common sense rules coming to the front.