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Tag: coaster

  • Roller Coaster Stranded At Busch Gardens: 16 People Rescued

    When you go to an amusement park you don’t want to think about all the bad things that can happen, you want to concentrate on having fun. That said, many of us can’t help but feel a little nervous as we wait in line for a thrill ride such as a big roller coaster. While hundreds of scary scenarios can rush through your mind as you wait, one of the most common roller coaster worries is, “What if it gets stuck?”

    Amusement park rides are inspected every day to make sure that they are operating properly and are safe to ride. Although they are reassuring, these inspections don’t mean that accidents can’t happen. This week, sixteen people found that out the hard way when they got stranded on a roller coaster at Busch Gardens in Tampa Florida.

    According to park spokesman Travis Claytor, the coaster got stuck before the first hill at around 2:30p.m. Because the coaster had not made it to the first hill climb, maintenance workers were able to reach it and tried to nudge it back to the loading dock. When that did not work, the park had to call Tampa Fire Rescue to help rescue the stranded passengers.

    Tampa Fire Rescue was able to help the passengers and no one was injured in the incident. Park employees and maintenance workers were working to determine what exactly caused the roller coaster to stall. As of Wednesday evening, the park had not came to a conclusion.

    Once the passengers had been rescued, Busch Gardens posted an update on their twitter account.

    What is your biggest fear when riding rides at an amusement park and what do you think is the likely cause for the roller coaster stalling?

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Six Flags Death Raises Questions of Regulation

    Some people are fearless on roller coasters and other thrill rides. Some are certainly not. It’s not a matter of fear, actually. If they were afraid, they wouldn’t get on. Most are probably too old to have any issues with peer pressure.

    The trouble is, you can think about the whole thing way too much. If you look at the safety restraints, and figure out quickly what the weakest link in the chain is. Sometimes it is a lap bar that you just don’t trust. Sometimes it is a latch about the size of a doorknob bolt. Then you factor in gravity, speed, height, g-forces coming around curves. It may not even be the upside-down stuff that bothers some folks. It may be the curves at great height and speed.

    But there is another factor. In some of these places, your life is in the hands of a minimum-trained, minimum-wage worker, some of whom wouldn’t even understand if you yelled, “Stop!” in English.

    Back in 2007, a girl’s feet were severed by a cable on a ride at a Six Flags in Kentucky. That park is now closed – though rumored to be reopening.

    CNN reports that some people at the federal level are starting to take notice of all this in the wake of the recent roller coaster death at Six Flags over Texas.

    “While the cause of this tragic accident is still unknown, one thing is clear: Roller coasters that hurtle riders at extreme speeds along precipitous drops should not be exempt from federal safety oversight,” Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, said Monday. “A baby stroller is subject to tougher federal regulation than a roller coaster carrying a child in excess of 100 miles per hour. This is a mistake.”

    This whole line of discussion is likely to prompt “big government” arguments. And some say we should have those conversations. Maybe roller coasters aren’t something that should have federal inspection oversight. But they say we won’t know that until we talk this through.

  • Scammers Continue to Post Fake Facebook Videos

    It should be old news by now that if you see a questionable video on Facebook you probably should not click on it, and definitely don’t give any information or fill out a survey. But with the shear number of fake videos popping up and scammers relentless tactics, it can be difficult to discern which videos are fake and which your friends post because they actually want to share an interesting video.

    The most recent of these fake videos is one claiming to depict a roller coaster accident in California. Variations talk about it being in the United Kingdom, Australia or Universal Studios. Basically if it claims a roller coaster accident in the title it is a scam. No such video exists.

    False Video Links like this have been cropping up on Facebook for some time now. Some other ones to watch out for are claims of a sex tape involving Justin Bieber or a supposedly embarrassing video of Rihanna.

    Scammers tend to post “videos” that people will click on out of morbid curiosity. They want you to click without thinking.

    The scammers earn money by driving traffic to certain sites. They get paid for each survey you unwittingly complete, or any product you purchase, or even just by compromising your Facebook account. Many are designed to spread malware or are linked to phishing scams, whose sole purpose is to obtain your personal information.

    The best way to avoid these kind of scams it to not click on friends video shares at all, or just use some common sense to determine which videos are most likely fake. Look for videos that are designed to exploit that part of you that can’t help but watch a train wreck. If it looks gross, morbid, or involves sex, don’t click. If it links to a page that doesn’t appear to be a reputable news source, don’t click. Also watch out for the language usage in the description. Many make grammatical errors, or generally don’t sound like the way people talk.

    @fraudcafe
    Fraud Cafe    Watch Out, Rollercoaster Accident is a Facebook Scam! http://t.co/8AdVJAzq via @zite 43 minutes ago via Zite Personalized Magazine ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @gcluley
    Graham Cluley    OMG – I just hate Rihanna video Facebook scam spreading http://t.co/feIoMrFO 2 days ago via Echofon ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @McAfeeThePlace
    Robot 1337    Have you, or someone you know, fallen for a Facebook scam? Learn how to avoid Fa…: Have you, or someo… http://t.co/xdlCeD0t -from FB 4 days ago via twitterfeed ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @thedomorama
    Dominic Rios    It’s so sad too because those scam posts now probably represent about 95% of what’s posted on Facebook 6 days ago via Twitter for iPhone ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    @Flavio58
    Flavio58    NATO chief targeted in Facebook scam http://t.co/mScR0EJc 1 hour ago via ifttt ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto