SFGAm makes changes to ride that injured girl's foot (Cajun Cliffhanger)
Anthony
I took the liberty of pasting the entire article here. For those still
interested in reading the article on the web, you can find it (for now)
at http://www.dailyherald.com/search/main_story.asp?intID=3682551 .
------------------------
Several changes have been made to Six Flags Great America's Cajun
Cliffhanger ride in an apparent response to an incident in which two
girls' feet became trapped while riding it last summer.
Meanwhile, the family of one of the injured girls has filed a negligence
lawsuit against the Gurnee amusement park. The suit alleges Great
America did not take any action when two visitors on separate occasions
reported to employees that their feet got caught in the Cajun
Cliffhanger about a month before the accident with the girls.
Great America shut down the ride after the July 19 mishap involving the
11- and 13-year-old girls. Great America spokesman Scott Kirn, who
declined to comment on the lawsuit or the Cajun Cliffhanger alterations,
said the ride will remain closed through Sunday, when the season ends.
Occupants line the interior of the cylindrical Cajun Cliffhanger and are
spun around at a high speed. When the ride is spinning, its floor drops
out from under the riders and the force presses them against the
interior wall. As the spinning slows, the floor rises and riders
descend to the Cajun Cliffhanger's surface. They then move toward the
center of the ride before departing.
While on the Cajun Cliffhanger on July 19, the feet of Kati
Konstantaras, 11, of McHenry and an unidentified 13-year-old Chicago
girl became pinned between the wall and floor. That happened as the
floor moved back up as the ride slowed.
Gurnee firefighters said Kati's right foot was crushed and that the
other girl only complained of pain. Kati, whose parents filed the
lawsuit against Great America, still is receiving treatment for injuries
she sustained to one of her feet, according to documents filed Sept. 25
in Lake County Circuit Court.
It took Great America less than two months to make alterations to the
Cajun Cliffhanger after the accident. On Sept. 2, an Illinois Department
of Labor inspector gave the Cliffhanger a clean bill of health because
of mechanical and operational changes that were made.
"They were the ones that made the changes," department spokeswoman Anita
Morley said Wednesday. "We did not recommend them."
Labor department documents show that a "toe guard" has been installed on
the 25-year-old Cajun Cliffhanger. With the toe guard, a rider's foot
should not be able to get between the wall and rising floor as the ride
slows.
Cajun Cliffhanger's floor dropped 24 inches when the girls were injured,
according to labor department documents. Now, because of changes that
were made after the accident, the floor descends only 6 inches.
Ride operators no longer may raise the floor at any point during the
ride cycle until a switch is triggered, according to the labor
department report by inspector Margaret Barnes. Rather, the switch
forces the ride to be at "zero" speed for 2 seconds before allowing an
operator to raise the floor.
"(Great America) has changed their manual to reflect the new operation
of the ride and retrained operators according to these new guidelines,"
Barnes wrote in the report obtained through the Freedom of Information
Act.
In the lawsuit against Great America by attorney Devon Bruce, it's
alleged that Louis Marcus Jr. reported to park personnel that his feet
got caught between the Cajun Cliffhanger's floor and wall on June 13.
On July 4, says the suit, Tracy Dubas' feet also became caught between
the ride's wall and floor. She also reported the incident to Great
America employees, according to the complaint.
Great America, the suit says, did not take any action after the
complaints by Marcus and Dubas. The suit did not indicate whether Dubas
or Marcus were injured.
More than $50,000 in damages is being sought from Great America for
Kati's medical, hospital, care-taking and rehabilitation expenses.
Kati's mother declined to comment, and the family's lawyer could not be
reached.
-------------------
Hrm ok now with my questions:
Is a toe guard anything like a sneeze guard? Umm ok didn't think so!
So now the Cajun Cliffhanger is only going to drop 6 inches instead of
24? You would think that of all people, those in the amusement industry
would realize that size does matter! Well, this won't be that exciting
of a ride anymore.
Two other people got their foot stuck on the same ride within a couple
of months from when this incident occurred? How very interesting...
All kidding aside, I hope all turns out well for that poor girl in the
end. Last I heard, I thought she had to have one toe amputated but I
don't remember if I heard that on the news or if that was just a rumor.
It's such a terrible thing when things like this happen for all
involved...that is, except for the lawyers who profit from these types
of events.
/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\_/~\
Anthony <=> mad.co...@gte.net
Most Insane Ride: The Legend
Most Boring Ride: The ride home...
Chris Murray
Anthony wrote:
> Several changes have been made to Six Flags Great America's Cajun
> Cliffhanger ride in an apparent response to an incident in which two
> girls' feet became trapped while riding it last summer.
>
<snip>
> So now the Cajun Cliffhanger is only going to drop 6 inches instead of
> 24? You would think that of all people, those in the amusement industry
> would realize that size does matter! Well, this won't be that exciting
> of a ride anymore.
> Two other people got their foot stuck on the same ride within a couple of
> months from when this incident occurred? How very interesting...
It is unfortunate that it happened to begin with, but I see this as
protecting the stupid or just plain bad ride op training and supervision.
I hear we are probably gonna loose the Spinout at SFMM because of an
incident near the TOP of the cylinder. Now if the ride op's booth and
controls are at the upper level, they can see the whole ride surface (if
they are paying attention) and can stop the ride at any point in time,
given it still takes a while for the rotation to stop.
Everyone try's to move around, hang off the top, etc. it is the nature of
the ride to do silly things in it, pulling legs up, holding arms off the
wall hanging hats and stuffed animals, gravity is a fun thing to play with.
It is the responsibility of the ride op the stop such stupid acts
especially when they border on the dangerous, or if someone is ready to
up-chuck. My guess is either the op didn't do their job (minimum wage or
not, they agreed to a contract to work at the park to the best of their
abilities and try to make sure the guest have a safe ride) It is totally
within their control on this type of ride to view the actions of others due
to the confined space of the cylinder, these type of accidents are totally
uncalled for, and the rides have never needed modification in the past
(aren't Rotors typically the some of the older flat rides in parks)
A very simple way to solve the problem would be to paint a different color
on the floor at least 6 to 12 inches from the walls at the end of the ride
cycle everyone moves to the center (or at least 6 to 12 inches from the
walls) before the floor is raised. Then the op can raise the floor once
everyone in in the center and stop it as soon as they move anywhere near
the wall.
Now, If the ride does not have the control to lower the floor manually if
someone gets pinched, that is the flaw in the system that should be
addressed. As far as I know, It should only go down as long as the op's is
on the button.
Secondly don't they typically stop the rotation, align the door and then
raise the floor anyway?
--
Chris Murray
Remove the word 'GUNK' from the reply address to respond.
Walt Breymier
wrote:
>
>More than $50,000 in damages is being sought from Great America for
>Kati's medical, hospital, care-taking and rehabilitation expenses.
>Kati's mother declined to comment, and the family's lawyer could not be
>reached.
>
Now I know this only sayd "more" than 50 thousand, and that could be
a HUGE munber, am I the only one who tinkst hat $50,000 is not an
exhorbitant amount of monwy for a case like this? I mean, apparently
the girl lost a toe!
Walt
Runaway Mine Train
wrote:
Yeah, but which toe? Perhaps our esteemed legal guest commentator,
Greg VG, could comment on the monetary value of one particular toe
over another. I think some toes are more vital to maintaining one's
balance, aren't they? So perhaps if a, relatively speaking of course,
insignificant toe was lost, that might explain the monetary damages
being sought.
Mark-
who finds placing a value on body parts morbid but fascinating and
understandably necessary
Today for you, tomorrow for me
RunawayMT
The Trip Report
www.thetripreport.com
Daniel W. Rouse Jr.
funty...@earthlink.net wrote:
>
[snip...]
My observation of SFMM's Spinout over a year ago (I don't do rotors,
thank you) was that the floor rises as the ride slows down--so that the
riders meet the rising floor.
Some people actually were trying to walk to the center of the ride
after they were no longer stuck to the wall but before the ride stopped
spinning. Very dumb move, and the operator scolded them for it.
The operator at the time was also (understandably) very particular
about riders not turning sideways or upside-down while the ride was
moving, or she'd stop the ride.
Someone did place a stuffed Marvin the Martian against the wall, and it
too stuck to the wall.
I am curious what incident occurred on this ride at SFMM--I can't find
it on the "rides911" site, nor can I find a news article on it. Someone
must have been *really* strong if they climbed to the top of the
cylinder... since some people slide down a bit when the floor is
dropped... or did someone outside the ride throw something into the
cylinder and it flew to the wall?
(Remember, though, that not all operators are genuinely interested in
total safety--a few years ago, a ride operator released my OTSR after I
pulled it down on Freefall *four times*, so the fourth time I didn't
pull it down. Each time my bar went up, he pretended not to know what
was wrong--forget that I saw him do this to three cars before me and
his hand was behind the gondola on the release mechanism. The operator
eventually pushed the bar down, and said "oh well, have faith in God".)
--
--
Daniel W. Rouse Jr.
E-mail: rou...@cts.com
WWW: http://members.cts.com/king/r/rouse2/
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Greg Van Gompel
Runaway Mine Train <RunawayMTdoesnot...@earthlink.net> wrote in
message news:2r760t8l04vu050fs...@4ax.com...
Thanks Mark, you beat me to the punch.
While a loss of any part of the body is tragic, most states have statutes
that deal with loss of digits for workers compensation claims.
For a worker comp claim in Illinois, the following applies, plus medical
costs, hospital costs, rehabilitation and replacement of lost toe [I think,
based on quick reading of statute (820 ILCS 305/8 section e)].
6. Great toe-35 weeks. (no less than $3,531.50 at statutory wages is my
very quick read)
7. Each toe other than great toe-12 weeks. (no less than $1,210.80 is my
quick read)
(not including temp total payment for time off work)
Interesting to note that the loss of the Great toe is the same as the loss
of the middle finger and loss of fingers decrease in increments of five
weeks each finger. For the men in the crowd, a loss of a testicle is only
15 weeks more than the loss of a Great toe but loss of both gets you payment
of almost three years.
Greg V.G.
Greg V.G.
Chris Murray
> I am curious what incident occurred on this ride at SFMM--I can't find
> it on the "rides911" site, nor can I find a news article on it. Someone
> must have been *really* strong if they climbed to the top of the
> cylinder... since some people slide down a bit when the floor is
> dropped... or did someone outside the ride throw something into the
> cylinder and it flew to the wall?
I have not seen it listed anywhere either, so the credibility might not be
there, I won't go into what I heard.
It may have been hushed up, and swept under. And no you don't have to be
strong since your weight is distributed to the sides not the floor, it is
fairly easy to push up to the top of the rim.
> (Remember, though, that not all operators are genuinely interested in
> total safety--
I realize this, THEY SHOULD BE, that is why I stated that they are "hired
and signed on" as representatives of said company,
constituting a contract of work and responsibility.
Disneyland is now trying to say that the workers are under their own
actions and "D" is not responsible for them or what they do. Finger
pointing at its best.
> a few years ago, a ride operator released my OTSR after I
> pulled it down on Freefall *four times*, so the fourth time I didn't
> pull it down. Each time my bar went up, he pretended not to know what
> was wrong--forget that I saw him do this to three cars before me and
> his hand was behind the gondola on the release mechanism. The operator
> eventually pushed the bar down, and said "oh well, have faith in God".)
Don't know your circumstance. If you were playing with it, or not. I see
people bouncing in the Riddler's Revenge seats (guilty every now and then
myself) It can get annoying to a ride op, but the lock down would stop it.
But if they were just F-ing around by releasing it all the time, that is
jacked up and the comment was uncalled for.
tba...@shrike.depaul.edu
> especially when they border on the dangerous, or if someone is ready
to
> up-chuck. My guess is either the op didn't do their job (minimum wage
or
> not, they agreed to a contract to work at the park to the best of
their
> abilities and try to make sure the guest have a safe ride)
Um..no. I agree that rides ops are responsible, but there are no
contracts involved. And it is not the best of their abilities. If
they cannot operate the ride and follow standard operating procedures,
they cannot certify at the ride. Best of their abilities is not enough.
Oh, and Six Flags doesn't pay as low as minimum wage. As far as we saw
it, ride ops should have been paid the most in the park, but I digress.
So let me reiterate: No contracts, more than minimum wage, and
competent.
Thomas