The amusement ride accident attorneys at Denena & Points note that theme park owners and some safety experts claim that about 80% of theme park ride accidents can be attributed to rider misconduct. Rider misconduct includes actions like standing up on moving rides when you’re supposed to remain seated; sticking arms and legs out of ride cars when you shouldn’t; throwing objects out of moving rides, messing with ride hardware, and other dangerous activities.
Kathryn Woodcock is the Director of the “Tools for Holistic Ride Inspection Learning and Leadership (THRILL) Laboratory at Ryerson University in Ontario, Canada. The THRILL Labfocuses on the study of the human factors in amusement rides. The Lab studies how human factors related to rider behavior, accident inspections, and ride control interfaces. Woodcock maintains that the human factors present the most dangers and unpredictable events of an amusement ride.
For instance, Woodcock says that when riders become overexcited by the thrill of a ride, they’re likely to forget any safety warnings they might have read or heard. When riders are bored, they’re more likely to purposely disregard safety warnings and try something risky to feel the extreme rush they’re missing.
Woodcock mentions that ride accidents occur more often on the older-style, more sedate amusement rides than on the latest, multi-million dollar high-tech flights of fancy of the amusement ride world. This statistic might be due in part to the younger generations’ upbringing on extreme sports, “Jackass” risks, and ultra fast paced activity.
So the lab looks at ways to enhance the sense of speed and motion during a ride, provide activities like 3D video games and foam dart targets to occupy riders, and add color lights to distract in order to keep riders amused and occupied at all times during a ride.
The Lab is also exploring ways to improve ride safety inspections and make the ride inspection procedure more predictable, comprehensive, and efficient: comparable to aviation pre-flight inspections. Improved and standardized safety inspection procedures could go a long way towards improving ride safety. Investigations by our amusement ride accident attorneys often find that a failure to inspect or properly maintain a ride contributed to an injury or fatal accident.
If you or a loved one have been injured by a theme park ride and you have questions about how you could obtain fair compensation for the harm, contact our amusement ride accident attorneys for a free and confidential legal consultation. Learn how we can protect your legal rights. And learn your available options for winning just financial compensation from the ride owners responsible for your injury. Our aggressive and experienced amusement ride injury attorneys could guide you to a full recovery after your undeserved accident. Contact us toll free or online to schedule your free case evaluation.