Rider Thrown From a Roller Coaster

Rider Thrown From a Roller Coaster

On Sunday March 20, 2011, a 46 year old male passenger was riding the Hi-Miler portable Roller Coaster, located at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo in Houston, Texas. The victim fell almost 30 feet to the pavement below resulting in fatal injuries. This Hi-Miler Roller Coaster travels from state to state, primarily in the southwest corner of the United States. The states that it operates in are very loosely regulated when it comes to amusement ride safety. For the most part all the owner needs is insurance. In Texas they are required to have an inspection by an inspector that is approved by their insurance company.

In published reports the amusement industry was very quick to focus blame on anyone but themselves, rather than coming out and assuring the public that no stone would be left unturned to find the cause(s) of this horrible incident.

There are many, many factors that could affect the outcome of this case. They occur so infrequently and so little information is forth coming from within the industry. Anytime you mix people and machinery you can have a recipe for disaster. The first thing that we will hear about is mechanical failure. Remember this is a 30 year old out of production amusement ride. However by industry standards it appears to have somewhat of a “service proven” record. Remember it primarily operates in states with little regulation and government oversight.

In past similar incidents, the focus has been on the “safety envelope” of the attraction, signage, possible medical issues, operator inattention, language barriers and other controllable issue.

If the death of an individual wasn’t sad enough, the Hi-Miler Roller Coaster has been allowed to move on to the next spot without the proper testing or incident reconstruction that is an everyday part of life. How could we improve things without doing a proper and through investigation? The only way to accomplish this is through a multi-discipline approach to solving what happened.

No matter where you live or vote, it is time to contact your legislator and urge improvement to amusement ride safety and uniformed oversight of amusement rides and attractions.



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