Roller coasters are meant to make riders’ hearts beat faster, to give them a thrill, and to make them feel like they are truly living life. However, while they are designed to go fast, drop from great heights, and leave passengers breathless, they must also be designed to keep everyone as safe as possible. Design is only part of the equation though. These thrill rides must be properly maintained and repaired. If a ride is not kept working properly, the safety features designed into the ride simply do not matter.
To get you started, we have provided the information in this article about safety features on roller coasters. What safety features do most roller coasters have to protect riders against accidents and injuries?
• The block system. Many automated coasters run multiple trains and are divided into zones known as blocks. Only one roller coaster train is allowed on a block at any given time. Sensors detect when a train has left a block and another can be allowed on. Sensors can prevent the dispatch of a train, apply braking actions, or prevent lift to keep a train from moving into an occupied block if necessary. By preventing two trains from occupying the same block, the block system often prevents unintended train collisions.
• Brake runs. Many roller coasters employ brake runs to slow a train down at the end of a ride or at certain points during the ride. The trains themselves might not have any brakes of their own, but rely on these specially designed sections of track to run out their kinetic energy and come to a halt or slow down to safe speeds so that excessive g-forces don’t harm passengers’ bodies.
• Sensors. Automated roller coaster train systems employ computerized sensing systems to detect mechanical failures, to control the speeds and positions of trains, and to activate block and braking systems as needed to separate or slow down trains. These computerized systems prevent a number of common train accidents. For example, they can detect signs of mechanical failure and send signals to bring trains to a stop before a mechanical failure results in injury or death.
• Lap bars. Very few roller coasters still use the seat belt system and instead employ the safer padded metal lap bar. The lap bar comes down across seated passengers and locks to prevent dangerous impacts on sudden turns and inversions as well as to prevent the ejection of the rider from the coaster.
• Shoulder Harnesses. More and more coasters are employing the padded, U-shaped shoulder harness that locks down over the rider’s upper body, especially roller coasters that boast high speeds and inversions. Shoulder harnesses are more effective for keeping riders safely in place during inverted loops and particularly treacherous drops.
• Side friction wheels and up stop wheels. Advanced wheel systems employing side guide wheels and wheels beneath the track in addition to the wheels riding the rails help prevent the train from flying off the track on extreme twists, turns, inversions, and speeds. If a roller coaster derails, the consequences can be extremely serious and fatal.
Ironically, new rollercoaster safety systems allow rides to become faster, more sophisticated, and more extreme. Advances in technology, design, and safety has led to the recent development of rides with more exhilarating corkscrew turns, inversions, giga coasters, “4th dimension” coasters, catapult launching mechanisms, and hanging trains. While the rate of rollercoaster accidents has remained low over the years despite this progression, accidents and injuries do still happen – and when they do, they can result in extremely severe injuries and fatalities.
Nationwide roller coaster accident attorneys
Roller coaster accidents and injuries are rare, but they do happen. In some cases, injuries can be serious enough to leave the victim with significant hospital bills, ongoing health issues, lost wages, and other damages. In other cases, a family might lose a loved one in a fatal rollercoaster accident. If you have suffered harm due to a roller coaster accident – and you feel that the amusement park or another person was at fault for that accident – you may wish to speak with an experienced rollercoaster accident attorney. Tony Denena and Chad Points can help you identify the precise causes of your accident and determine who’s liable for your injuries. Tony and Chad are among the very few lawyers in the United States who have actual experience helping roller coaster accident victims obtain compensation for their harm. Contact the law firm of Denena & Points for a free and confidential consultation regarding your amusement park injury or loss. Take action and let us help today.
The insurance companies for carnivals hire lawyers specializing in this area of the law to defend cases brought against them by injured people. These cases are complex. For these two reasons you CANNOT handle a claim arising from an injury at a carnival on your own. At a bare minimum, download your FREE copy of our book, Danger in the Park: Your Guide to Keeping Your Kids Safe on a Roller Coaster. I know we explicitly state in other areas on our website that you may not need a lawyer for your injury claim. That principle does not apply to a carnival or amusement park case. Download the book and read it. Read all the information on this website. Then call us at 713-807-9500.
Our Conroe injury lawyers saw the holiday campaigns against drunk driving that emphasized the dangers posed to other motorists from drunken drivers. Everyone’s heard that drunken drivers cause accidents. Primary reasons that drunken drivers cause more accidents than sober drivers include:
Deadly crashes result by the thousands each year because of these deficits in drunken drivers’ abilities. Sometimes the drunken drivers die by their own actions. But more often, innocent victims perish.
In fact, this is the second local incident in our area that our Conroe injury lawyers have written about in the past few months where a drunken driver took the life of a Good Samaritan that was generously trying to help another person.
If you’ve lost a loved one to an impaired drunken driver, or if you’ve been injured yourself, contact our caring Conroe injury lawyers for a free consultation to help you understand your legal options. With more than 12 years of experience handling the complexities of catastrophic drunk driving wrecks, we understand the special challenges and intricacies involved in proving your compensation claim. Call us today at 877-307-9500 and let us help you obtain the financial recovery you justly deserve for your accident losses.
A huge 79-vehicle chain reaction wreck yesterday brought home to our Texas injury lawyers the hazards of winter driving conditions in our coastal region. The winter months in Texas bring all sorts of treacherous driving conditions. A wintry mix can include fog, sleet, ice, snow, and rain, all in a single day, making for a very dangerous drive.
Yesterday just west of Port Arthur, TX, a combination of dense fog and the smoke from a winter marsh fire obscured a stretch of Texas Highway 73 and led to a pileup of more than 70 cars. More than 50 people received injuries, 4 of them critical.
TxDOT recommends that drivers slow down for treacherous winter driving conditions. Drivers should leave themselves plenty of room to stop, especially if roads are freshly wet. When precipitation first hits a dry pavement, it tends to bring layers of oil up to the surface, causing slippery driving conditions. Hydroplaning, where tires lose contact with the road, is also common in wet conditions, particularly at high speed.
Make sure your vehicle is ready for winter conditions. Check your antifreeze level, your tires, your oil, your hoses and belts, and especially your battery.
And keep emergency numbers and a winter emergency safety kit in your car in the event that you do run into trouble. An ice scraper, flashlight, extra batteries, blankets, some bottled water, a bit of food, a first aid kit, and a cell phone and charger could all come in handy if you find yourself stranded on the road in winter.
You know the old adage about Texas weather: if you don’t like it, just wait a few minutes; it will change. A zero visibility morning of dense fog and marsh fire smoke can easily become a bright and sunny afternoon. Our Texas injury lawyers remind you that you can be prepared for those changes, and drive safely and securely. And if you’re injured in an accident and have questions about what you should do, feel free to download our free e-book providing you with the essential information on how to cope with serious wrecks.
As a Montgomery County motorcycle injury attorney, I found myself reading an item posted by the Montgomery County Police Reporter about a new year’s motorcycle wreck. The title of the article, Motorcycle T-Bones Vehicle, made it initially sound as though the biker were to blame. But upon closer reading of the article, I found that the car driver assumed she had the right of way and failed to yield the right of way to the motorcycle rider.
A rider northbound on a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-64 on the US 59 feeder road at East River Road in Splendora received transport to a regional hospital after crashing into a Honda. The Honda, westbound on East River Road, had paused at a stop sign. The Honda’s driver admitted that she saw the approaching Kawasaki Ninja. She apparently assumed the intersection was a 4-way stop as she pulled into the intersection in front of the biker. The stop sign at which the Honda driver had paused was marked with a clear warning that cross traffic does not stop.
Such motorcycle accidents and the car driver negligence that causes them occur frequently. Studies show that motorcycles lack visibility in car drivers’ perceptions and that car drivers assign them a lower priority than larger vehicles. If the vehicle crossing on the US 59 feeder road had been a car or a truck, the Honda driver might have consciously noticed the warning sign stating that approaching traffic does not stop.
This motorcycle accident in Montgomery County resulted from car driver negligence. But that doesn’t mean that the injured motorcycle rider will have an easy time of obtaining the financial compensation he justly deserves because of his needless injuries. This bike wreck was completely avoidable. Had the car driver only paid closer attention to the stop warnings and the approaching Kawasaki Ninja, this motorcycle accident need not have occurred.
But insurers and juries alike tend to assign the blame for motorcycle accidents to the bikers, who they tend to perceive as reckless, dangerous drivers. Negligent car drivers derive an advantage from this inherent public bias against bikers. And bikers have an uphill battle collecting compensation awards due to them because of car driver negligence.
If you’re a biker who’s been injured by car driver negligence, you could benefit from the services of an experienced motorcycle accident lawyer as you pursue your accident injury claim. Contact the experienced Montgomery County motorcycle injury attorneys at Denena & Points for your free legal consultation. Let us explain your legal options in the context of your specific accident. Learn how our personal injury expertise and extensive knowledge of the special concerns of motorcycle accident cases could guide you to a successful financial recovery for your undeserved injuries. Call today: 877-307-9500.
Galveston motorcycle accident attorneys know that if you’re familiar with Harley Davidson motorcycles, you might also be familiar with the “Harley wobble” or the “death wobble” as it’s sometimes called. It’s been a topic of discussion for many years among Harley enthusiasts. Harley riders seem to agree that the Harley wobble occurs when riders reach sufficient speed and especially on turns and curves.
What is the “Harley wobble” you might ask? The Harley wobble is a manifestation of the particular facets of the bike’s construction relating to the engine mounting and motion constraint. Basically, when the engine is not constrained between all three axles of motion, an elastic relationship develops between the swing arm and the frame. Engine vibration magnifies itself into the rest of the bike frame through the back end of the transmission by way of the swing arm.
The elasticity of motion shows up as a wobble at speeds as low as 70 to 75 mph and becomes particularly pronounced as speeds approach 90 mph. The extra, uncontrolled motion of the bike is called the “death wobble” for a reason. Two-wheeled vehicles already experience lower traction and stability on curves and turns than four-wheeled vehicles. Add a bit of loose gravel or a bit of loose wobble, and the wheels can slide away from the direction of steering to cause a deadly crash.
Harley Davidson has admitted that some of its bikes experience the wobble problem. But Harley is also quick to point out that bikes from other manufacturers also experience the same problem. And this is true of other manufacturers’ bikes of similar design.
But the bottom line is that if your engine vibrations translate into strong vibrations throughout the entire bike, you’re going to experience some serious problems retaining control of the vehicle. Lateral wobble at a critical point in a turn or on a curve translates into “rear steer” that can cause a violent crash.
In a recent Houston motorcycle accident that proved fatal to a Harley rider, the rider was reportedly in the process of veering around a vehicle ahead of him at a relatively high speed. While trying to pass the other vehicle, he lost control of the bike, crashed, and got ejected off the bike and off a bridge to fall to his death around 60 feet below.
The 62-year-old Harley rider can no longer tell us if the Harley wobble was to blame for his loss of vehicle control and subsequent death in Houston, TX. And news reports of the fatal motorcycle accident aren’t detailed enough to provide good indications either way. But the given parameters of the accident fit other reports of incidents involving the Harley wobble.
If you’ve suffered a bike crash or lost a loved one to a fatal bike wreck and you believe the cause might have been the Harley death wobble, consult with our dedicated Galveston motorcycle accident attorneys on your problem. We offer a free initial legal consultation to discuss the specifics of your case and answer questions you might have about your legal options and chances for a fair financial recovery for your injuries. Call us today at 877-307-9500 (toll free) or contact us electronically through our website. Our goal is a just financial recovery for your accident.
You might have read about the devastating multi-vehicle crash that happened in New Orleans on I-10 Thursday morning. The deadly pileup left two Louisiana men dead and dozens injured. At least 40 trucks, cars, vans, and other vehicles became entangled in the wreck. Witnesses placed the blame on dense clouds of black fog or smoke that left drivers unable to see.
Most of the major multi-vehicle crashes around the world result from dense fog. Smoke, blinding snow, and sun glare represent other reported causes of major multi-vehicle pileups. These serious chain-reaction wrecks tend to occur on heavily trafficked, multi-lane roadways like U.S. freeways and German autobahns.
When the leading vehicles on these roadways encounter sudden banks of fog or other conditions obscuring visibility and the vehicles around them, they are generally traveling at high speeds. They might crash into the vehicles in front of or beside them. If they suddenly slow or stop to avoid colliding with those ahead of them, other vehicles traveling behind may rear-end them at high speed.
Drivers and passengers encountering sudden pockets of limited visibility might hear vehicles crashing up ahead. But without the ability to see where safety lies, they might not be able to avoid becoming part of the pile-up. Hundreds of vehicles may eventually take part in the multi-vehicle pileup. The pileup might even end up with more than one focal point.
Trucks, cars, buses, and motorcycles might all take part in the deadly mix. Vehicle occupants could suffer injuries from more than one impact and experience catastrophic or fatal injuries as a result. Trapped in the wreckage, they experience danger from additional crashes and fires that ignite in the damaged vehicles.
Investigating a multi-vehicle pileup and determining its true causes is difficult. Liability may be shared among numerous parties. Your medical expenses from such an accident could be considerably higher than from an ordinary vehicle accident.
Your chances of recovering financial compensation for your injuries could be greatly enhanced when you retain a Houston accident lawyer experienced in the intricacies of complex accident investigations and case preparation. If you’ve been injured in a multi-vehicle crash, contact our experienced trial lawyers at Denena & Points for a free legal consultation.
Our sound advice could help you understand your legal options and make wise choices to maximize your financial recovery. Download our free e-book on important things you need to know after a serious Houston accident to help you get started. And call us toll free at 877-307-9500 or contact us electronically through our website. Let us help you recover.
In an unusual balcony collapse accident in Kitchener, Ontario, a second floor balcony on a home collapsed under a man stringing Christmas lights but remained attached to the home. As a practiced balcony collapse lawyer, I suspect that the balcony separated from the front supporting members. The Kitchener, ON balcony dropped and fell against the front of the home where it hung perpendicular to its previous position.
This indicates that the attachment to the home itself through the ledger board was probably still fairly secure. The connected bolts may have sheared some to allow the balcony to hang at a 90-degree angle rather than falling off altogether. So the attachment is no longer structurally sound, and the remainder of the balcony could fall at any time.
The news item describing the accident doesn’t go into detail on the balcony itself. The reporter focused on the poor man left dangling from a tree after his balcony collapsed beneath him.
But for the front edge to have fallen while the back edge remained connected to the wall, we might infer that the balcony was made of wood and that the connecting hardware and support joists at the front had corroded or weakened over time. The balcony might have been 20 years old or more. Older wood finishes don’t protect wood as well as newer treatments. (On the other hand, the newer treatments corrode metal connecting hardware more quickly.)
The wood might have begun to crack and split at the connection points, leaving only a fraction of the original support for the live loads on the balcony. In this weakened condition, the balcony would not have been able to successfully transfer the load of even one adult male. In trying to transfer the load, the stresses could have pushed supporting members away from the balcony floor and rails that they were supporting, leading to a sudden balcony collapse accident.
The 67-year-old man standing on the second floor balcony was both nimble and fortunate. He transferred his live load to the tree beyond the balcony just in time to save himself from a nasty fall. Most victims of balcony collapse are not so lucky. Many receive catastrophic injuries, and more than a few die in balcony collapse accidents.
Prior to its collapse, the balcony in Kitchener, ON might have appeared just as sturdy as always. Corrosion of connecting hardware, slow wood rot beneath the balcony finish, and time-related splitting, cracking, expansion, and contraction of wood structures can require a close inspection and trained eye to detect.
Our experienced balcony collapse lawyers at Denena & Points could help you recover just financial compensation if you’ve been injured by a sudden balcony collapse accident. We’ve guided clients to successful outcomes in several high-profile balcony collapse claims, and we could help you too.
Contact us today through our website or toll-free at 877-307–9500 to schedule a free and confidential legal consultation to discuss your accident. We could explain your legal options in the case and strategies for financial recovery. Our goal is your successful recovery of fair compensation for your unexpected balcony collapse injuries.
Motor vehicles are complex machines. It’s not surprising that occasionally design flaws and manufacturing defects creep into the intricate assembly of myriad parts that makes up the modern motor vehicle.
Some of the areas most prone to design flaws and car manufacturing defects include:
· Tires,
· Airbags,
· Fuel line components, and
· Steering components.
But design flaws and manufacturing defects can affect any part of a vehicle, and the U.S. NHTSA issues a continuous stream of recall notices affecting various makes and models. It’s important to protect yourself from possible injury by keeping up with recall notices and the recall history for your car. The NHTSA website provides a list of recalled vehicles and a search function you can use to check whether your car has been subject to a recall.
The safety-related defects for which the U.S. NHTSA issues recall notices pose major hazards. Sudden fires, explosions, engine stalls, acceleration, and loss of vehicular control represent some of the primary hazards that prompt the recall notices. Catastrophic injuries and death could result from any one of these safety hazards.
But the NHTSA only issues a recall after it becomes aware of a problem. Sometimes it’s the catastrophic injury or fatality from a safety hazard that serves to bring the design flaw or manufacturing defect to NHTSA attention. Sometimes the auto manufacturer is already aware of the hazard, but hasn’t issued a recall on its own, hoping to skirt the dangers and avoid liability.
If you’re the unfortunate victim of the manufacturer’s delay, you deserve full financial compensation for the harm you suffered from the hidden safety hazard. At Denena & Points, we’ve made it a mission to hold auto manufacturers accountable for the harm they cause to unwitting victims.
Automakers already charge you a pretty steep price for their vehicles. Injury, pain, suffering, and disability from a hidden defect shouldn’t add to that already high price you pay for your car.
If you have questions about a defect in your vehicle or an injury you’ve suffered, give our Houston auto defect lawyers a call at 877-307-9500. We’d be happy to answer your questions and provide you with the advice you need to make informed decisions. Your initial consultation is entirely free and absolutely confidential.
Amusement ride accident lawyers note a promising development in the area of amusement park ride safety. ASTM International, a global leader in the development of voluntary safety compliance standards, has begun an initiative to develop standards to govern amusement railway trains.
You might not know that many of the harmless looking amusement train rides you see at transportation museums, zoos, carnivals, and other places are not yet governed by a cohesive set of safety standards. Many of these railway rides are assembled and run by train enthusiasts and hobbyists who may be exacting on matters of scale and historical detail, but who might not be well versed in the safety requirements for running the trains for other peoples’ amusement.
If you worry that “voluntary” standards sound like they won’t do much to ensure your safety on the trains, consider that throughout the amusement ride industry, many of the already existing safety standards are voluntary ones. But owners and operators seek to comply with the voluntary standards to avoid the costly liabilities associated with failures to comply. Accidents from amusement rides of all types are surprising rare. But when they do occur, amusement ride accidents tend to be particularly serious, causing gruesome and deadly injuries.
ASTM seeks to address the problems and dangers posed by a lack of cohesive standards governing amusement railway trains. Accidents on such amusement railway rides are relatively rare, but they can be fatal. ASTM’s subcommittee on Special Rides and Attractions is focusing on the development and delivery of international voluntary consensus standards in two major categories affecting amusement railway rides.
1. Practice for Amusement Ride Steam Locomotives (ASTM wk31185), and
2. Practice for Amusement Railway Ride Tracks, Devices, and Facilities (ASTM wk 35400).
The standards intend to provide owners and operators of amusement railway rides with a handy reference that they can use to operate, maintain, and inspect their railway rides. A generally accepted and followed body of standards could allow the train system owners and operators to better ensure the safety of their employees and guests.
The final ASTM standards will cover roadways, rails, rail joints, ties, turnouts and other equipment related to the operation of the amusement railway rides. ASTM wk35400 will apply to the design, manufacture, installation, operation, maintenance, and inspection of “permanently installed amusement railway ride tracks and their associated devices and facilities.”
ASTM has invited all interested parties to help participate in the development of the two amusement railway ride standards. The owners and operators of amusement railway rides will be the primary users of the standards. Their employees and guests will be the primary beneficiaries of the standards.
Good standards could help avert such needless tragedies as occurred at the Texas Transportation Museum in San Antonio when a worker was killed during operation of one of the amusement railway rides. But even with the best, most comprehensive standards, human error and mechanical failure can still lead to sudden accidents.
If you’ve been injured or lost a loved one to an amusement ride accident and you have questions, contact our amusement ride accident lawyers for a free consultation. We have answers and solutions that could help you obtain just financial compensation for your injuries and cope with the aftermath of a devastating accident.
This Houston car crash attorney was hoping to see strong positive results after all of the high profile campaigning by public safety organizations and nonprofits against drinking and driving during the holiday season. I expected that the staunch application of the Texas “no refusal” program might succeed where public service messages might fail.
But Christmas day brought news of yet another drunken driver slamming his vehicle right into a Houston police car. I’ve written before about the odd frequency with which drunken drivers drive right into police vehicles. It’s like there’s a DWI driver homing signal or something. I guess it just surprises me that they drive right into marked patrol cars. It probably shouldn’t.
I was also just reading a piece by the Montgomery County Police Reporter mentioning that in just 3 days, 30 DWI drivers had been booked in towns north of Houston. I haven’t seen the numbers yet for Houston itself. But the drunken driving accident mentioned in the preceding paragraph speaks for itself.
Drunken drivers evidently weren’t deterred by the various campaigns against drunken driving. They haven’t been deterred by increased penalties in Texas for drunken driving. Apprehending drunken drivers and keeping them behind bars and off the streets might be the only solution for the problem of drunken driving in our Houston area.
The holiday season magnifies the problem of drunken driving. More than the usual number of drivers indulge in too much Christmas cheer and then get behind the wheel. But the rest of the year is by no means free of the dangers of accidents caused by drunken drivers. Texas continues to lead the lead the nation in drunken driving fatalities.
If a drunken driver has injured you, you know the high costs of DWI accidents. And you probably need help coping with the heavy physical, emotional, and financial burdens the drunken driver’s crash has caused you.
Contact our Houston car crash attorneys for a free legal consultation about your accident. We’ve been helping the injured victims of drunken drivers to obtain just financial recoveries for their injuries for more than 12 years. Our experience and dedicated counsel could help you too. Call today, or contact us through our website. Let us help; it’s what we do.