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OTSRs...obsolete?

BigBad

BigBad

Mega Poster
When I was young, I noticed that when coasters inverted, they had OTSRs, and when they didn't invert, it was just a lap bar. Since then, whenever I've encountered a coaster the inverts without OTSR, I've considered it bush league. At least in the 90s, B&M was the king of inverting coasters, and that's not how they would do it, I thought.

About a week ago, I got to ride Wicked Cyclone, my first RMC. It was terrific and not at all a second- or third-rate ride like Flight of Fear. Those three rolls on Wicked Cyclone were awesome. The engineers really balanced the G forces to give weightlessness, which I've not encountered on B&M's "zero-G" rolls. Not having OTSRs blocking my hands and vision was very nice.

I have changed my mind about OTSRs.

In fact, I'd like to eliminate them in almost all circumstances. I can see doing OTSRs on dive coasters to eliminate being bent at the abdomen during the the holding brake, and the same sort of logic applies to flyers when riders are face-down. Aside from those exceptions, I think almost all OTSRs can be replaced with the Mack-style lap bars that do not attach to the floor. Imagine zipping around on a wing coaster with no track above or below and no harness in the way.

Thoughts? I don't see anyone major revamping their trains to do this in a situation like an invert, though it would be nice. Mack does offer an invert with no OTSRs, though. It looks like more of a transport ride than an thrilling invert like Banshee, but the technology is there.
 
There was actually a resurgence of the OSTR not too long ago... from what I understand this was following a few accidents, both those involving guests being thrown from the rides and guests injuring themselves by headbutting the seat in front. OTSRs provide an easy solution to both problems.

Being thrown is due to being improperly secured, usually from being unusually proportioned, causing the lapbar not to connect with the body in the correct location. Most restraints work by preventing you from straightening your leg and standing... Or rather, from allowing your body to be straight and slide out, if you can imagine that on something like a b&m invert. If a lapbar designed to connect at the waist is obstructed by the stomach, it doesn't matter how small you are, or whether the lapbar is down far enough mechanically, you can straighten the body and with the help of negative g force, slide upwards. This is also one reason for bags and other loose items not being permitted on rides - if something is wedged between you and the restraint, you may find you are able to stand. There used to be a really good animation on youtube illustrating this, but it's vanished to my knowledge.

Seatbelts and other modified lapbars solve the problem, but they also slow loading down.

As for headbutting - I believe this was a phenomenon that lead to the Intamin launched coaster OTSR, and I'm pretty sure it's why Tempesto has its awful restraints, too. Abrupt brakes sending a guest forward and potentially hitting their head is dangerous, OTSRs prevent that.

I'm in favour of OTSRs > lapbars in general because I believe that efficiency trumps ride experience. Safety trumps them both.

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It has always been my understanding that OTSRs are best recommended for those rides with lots of inversions/lateral g-forces as a way to help secure riders' upper body for greater comfort.

It is nice however to see the likes of RMC stick with lapbars on their roller coasters (heavy laterals as well, no?), as there is no denying the comfort of simple upper body freedom while riding.

Are we on the brink of an OTSR-free revolution? I suspect not. Remember, train modifications take money; and as we have seen time and time again, many parks do not want to front that bill. (The Vekoma MK-1212 train, Gravity Group Timberliner, etc.)
 
I do believe that OTSR’s are becoming redundant now as advancements in technology allow riders to be just as secure with a lapbar as they would with an OTSR. Take the accelerators for instance, Intamin can chop and change between restraints depending on parks requirements as shown with TTD and Stealth. One has lapbars one has OTSR’s. I think the only thing that keeps OTSR’s still going is assumption that the GP want to feel as secure as possible when boarding a rollercoaster, whilst us enthusiasts have a greater element of trust in rides and largely prefer the more open vulnerable sensation that lapbars offer whilst others could be put off by this.

Joey said:
I'm in favour of OTSRs > lapbars in general because I believe that efficiency trumps ride experience.
Click to expand...

Joey, out of interest could you explain your reasoning for this? The coasters I've been on with lapbars (Maurer and Intamin) have had simple pull down lapbars with no seatbelts where as OTSR’s typically have seatbelts as well. This surely means OP’s have more to check with the OTSR’s meaning they are probably less efficient than lapbars? Just curious.
 
Don't forget that OTSRs help restrict how far riders can reach outside the train. I'm sure I read on either TST or TTF that The Smiler has OTSR for this reason.
 
I've heard, admittedly on the grapevine from various lower level people in the trade, that OTSR are put on tall/fast/multi-looping coasters in the UK for insurance reasons. Whereas in the USA and Europe they are a little less arsey about that sort of thing and make a judgement call between safety and ride experience.

Restraint requirements are down to the park, as a manufacturer will build to order. A good example of this is Wodan at Europa. The standard GCI trains come with seatbelt as well as a lap bar. However, those clever Germans realised that adjusting, fastening, checking (and unfastening) would slow down operations. Therefore Europa worked with GCI to develop trains without belts yet still have high safety qualities. The end result is a slightly lower, angled and deeper seat. Don't ask me how it works but it just does!

It would be great if somebody came up with a restraint system that is secure, reassuring for the public and isn't intrusive that became the standard for all coasters.
 
I definitely think MACK are on the right track with their trains. The lapbar feels secure and the seats feel snug without being oppressive.
 
Chris Brown said:
Joey said:
I'm in favour of OTSRs > lapbars in general because I believe that efficiency trumps ride experience.
Click to expand...

Joey, out of interest could you explain your reasoning for this? The coasters I've been on with lapbars (Maurer and Intamin) have had simple pull down lapbars with no seatbelts where as OTSR’s typically have seatbelts as well. This surely means OP’s have more to check with the OTSR’s meaning they are probably less efficient than lapbars? Just curious.
Click to expand...
Yeah sure. So, most larger coasters with lap bars have extras - leg braces, seatbelts, etc. Seatbelts on lapbars are massive time wasters compared to OTSR's, because with the over shoulder, staff have access to and tug at the seatbelt as part of their checks. With lapbars, the seatbelt is often completely separate, hidden under the lapbar making it hard to check. Or it's awkwardly attached to the lapbar. Either way, it's never out in the open like on a shoulder harness.

It's worth noting that seatbelts on OTSRs are typically there as a guide for the maximum rider size, not for added safety - to my knowledge... Most coasters, and certainly all newer coasters, which have OTSRs but lack seatbelts have individual warning lights to notify staff when restraints are not down far enough. A good example is the Gerst Eurofighters, but most flat ride restraints work this way too.

Ian said:
Restraint requirements are down to the park, as a manufacturer will build to order. A good example of this is Wodan at Europa. The standard GCI trains come with seatbelt as well as a lap bar. However, those clever Germans realised that adjusting, fastening, checking (and unfastening) would slow down operations. Therefore Europa worked with GCI to develop trains without belts yet still have high safety qualities. The end result is a slightly lower, angled and deeper seat. Don't ask me how it works but it just does!
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I was talking about in my prior post! Making a deeper seat would make it harder for the body to straighten out.

Wish I could find that video...
 
Yeah, I hate the big coasters with lapbars and extras.

Like, you know, Fury. Or Helix.

The B&M Hypers have the perfect restraints and there's no excuse for not having more stuff like that. Or at least the Macks. We can do it nowadays why don't we.

Does Skyrush have seatbelts? I can't remember.
 
The harness has a buckle, but no belt went across my lap when I rode last summer.

Skyrush probably isn't the coaster on which harnesses should modeled, though. I can't see how it's much different from the Helix or Lost Gravity harnesses, and I didn't find the restraints on Skyrush to be too bad, but I've heard lots of praise for the restraints on Helix and a lot of complaining about Skyrush.

I've not ridden a modern Mack coaster, but I like their idea. In fact, my dream is to have the harnesses come down from above to get something like a floorless hyper; not having my feet touch anything on Skyrush was awesome and added something to the airtime sensation. It wouldn't have been the same to have my legs jammed into the car like on some of their other rides, even an airtime ace like El Toro. B&M clam shells would not quite accomplish that, short of raising the seats up way high.
 
Skyrush being kinda... sorta... Floorless... Or at least having a seat raised up, means access to seatbelts is improved anyway. More so than conventional sit downs... Where you're in a bucket. I wasn't thinking about these, thanks for bringing them up.
 
I prefer otsr over lap restraints with shin restraints or non NM clamshell. If it's the u bar my legs are absolutely crammed and it's uncomfortable. Mack has it right and I've never found issue with OTSRs.

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Joey said:
This is exactly what I was talking about in my prior post! Making a deeper seat would make it harder for the body to straighten out.

Wish I could find that video...
Click to expand...
The video I think you're taking about is about fat people on coasters? If so, it was posted in the NTG accident topic. I've been through the topic and the video has been removed.
 
^That's the one. It showed how some woman's gunt was the cause of her flying out.

It probably offended someone.
 
Yup! That's the one. Larger people than her probably rode fine, but because of where the bar lay and her, she was able to stand.

That said, there's plenty of witness reports that she was concerned her bar wasn't low enough and of staff muttering concern. So, it may well have looked very unusual, but if the computer says the bar is locked, what are staff to do? And I know from experience guests twist or misunderstand staff talking to one another. I remember once saying "I'll fix it in a sec" about an unrelated guest issue another staff member struggled with, without thinking, and a guest paniced about because they thought I meant the ride. I still can't see how that accident was the staff members fault unless they were specifically trained to ensure the bar sat on the thigh. That's the manufacturers responsibility.

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Like Tempesto at Busch Gardens, I think the OSTRs are there to make the GP feel safe, even though the ride its self it completely safe with just lapbars.

In the future I see things like Vest Restraints & those wierd hybrid restraints like Mack and Intamin use.
 
I definitely believe it is a coaster-by-coaster basis. Some rides will never go to lap bars (an obvious example is the flying coaster), but I definitely see more manufacturers making the switch over to lap bars in the future for standard roller coasters. I'd love to see B&M give it a shot at some point for their looping coasters!
 
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