Roller Coaster Death

[Frito]

Who knows how this happened, my guess would be rider stupidity, but it's a sad day for coaster freaks.

www.holidayworld.com

[IEATPASTE001]

Oh my, that is horrible, well i hope they don't try to sue the Koch Family, if it is reveiled it was her own fault. you know sue-happy america lol.

that's terrible, i heard about it earlier today. i agree, the cause probly was rider stupidity, but there's always that chance that it could have been the ride. i hope this doesn't hurt the park, or "The Raven." that is such a nice little park, and The Raven is a great coaster.

It's always sad when someone dies at such a nice, fun, family place like a theme park - It is never the creators' intention to hurt people, and sometimes people turn on them. Prayers to the families, friends, and Koch family.

The sad thing is that Holiday Wolrd will likely get sued, and bad. It appears that she left the lapbar up almost all the way when riding. If I read it correctly, when the train came to a stop, physics took over and thats when the accident happened. Since Holiday World did not assure here restraint was fastened....

That's where the problem comes in. My prayers go out to The Koch family and the family of the the person who passed away.

[Frito]

According to the Spencer County Prosecutors Office's prelim report, her (her being the deceased) lap bar was locked properly, but her seat belt was unbuckled. Also, witnesses have reported seeing her in a nearly standing up position.

Inspection reports indicate there was no defection found on any of the restraints or on the ride itself.

I heard the same things when some guy wiggled out of the safety harness on the Shockwave at Kings Dominion, Doswell, VA a few years back.

My prediction of the final outcome: The deceased will be found negligent and caused her own death. No lawsuit against Holiday World, and if one is filed, it will be quickly dismissed. Maybe people will learn to respect coaster designs a little more and continue to have an awesome time.


Final word: If you want to stand up on a rollercoaster, ride a stand up roller coaster. Duh!

Originally posted by Frito
If you want to stand up on a rollercoaster, ride a stand up roller coaster. Duh!

LOL

Well, it is sad, but I really don't feel bad about it. She was really being an idiot. She didn't pull down her lap bar enough, her seat belt was unbuckled, AND she was standing up?!?! I mean, come on, give me a break. She was an idiot, and she died for it. Yes it is sad but that just goes to show you that it's true-if you want to stand up on a coaster, ride a stand up coaster!


And yeah any lawsuit would be a waste of time because it would be dismissed very quickly.

[Frito]

It's official, the Raven re-opened today June 7, 2003 after internal and external agencies deemed the Raven safe and the accident was caused by rider stupidity.

I seriously hope that no one is really going to send a contribution to any of the causes listed on the holiday world website in honor of this person. Make contributions to those agencies based on something else, but not on the memory of a stupid act that caused her own death. Where's the honor in that? Seems to me that's just nature's way of weeding out the stupid people so they don't contaminate the gene pool.

[Squid2]

Well, I didn't see anything on their website about the death, so could someone fill us in here? If it was the rider's fault, sounds like they're a candidate for the Darwin Awards.

Squid2

[IEATPASTE001]

Squid, she died, it was her fault and everything is ok, another death Ed Markey is gonna say that coasters are so dangerous.

A Message from Holiday World

It is with great sorrow that we inform you there was a fatality at Holiday World on Saturday, May 31. A female guest, Tamar Fellner, 32, from New York City, was involved in an accident at The Raven roller coaster shortly before the park closed to the public for the evening. She was not in her seat when the train returned to the station. A doctor who was a guest at the park, plus the parks' EMTs were on the scene within minutes and performed CPR and other emergency procedures until an ambulance arrived.

The Koch family and everyone at Holiday World & Splashin' Safari are deeply saddened by this tragedy. Our prayers go out to the family.

The park family will be in mourning on Sunday, June 1, and Holiday World & Splashin' Safari will be closed to the public on that day. A private counseling session will be available to all employees at the park at 1:00 pm Sunday.

An investigation is underway. This message will be updated as more information becomes available.

Sincerely,

The Koch Family

The Raven and the Legend are both good coasters. I think the Koch family did a great PR job, when it happened. I just hope they can keep going. This is first fatality at the park. They tell you to stay seated and wear all safety restraints for a reason.

Hmm...This is interesting: http://www.holidayworld.com/independentreport.html

So was she not wear the proper restraint that she should have been? I wonder.

My grandpa was dumb when he was younger, as when he used to go to the Boardwalk Santa Cruz, CA He once climed up the train when going up a hill, he did about four cars before sitting back down and went through the rest of the ride when at the station the operator of the ride told him to never come back.

Of course what did he do? He came back two weeks later and has ridden it ever since.

could you imagine being the people sitting behind her and seeing that? i wonder if she fell out or hit something or what? anybody know?

[Harpo]

The reports indicate she was in the "back car." Of course, that may not mean the back seat, but, in my dealings with people, I've found that it's very common to confuse the back car with the back seat. As a result, I suspect that there wasn't anyone behind her, other than the rear bumper.

Naturally, she could have been in the back car but not the back seat, in which case someone could have been behind her. It all depends on the terminology being used by the quoted witness.