One thing I would say is that while any accident is of course terrible and shouldn’t happen (one accident is one too many), our hobby is still, relatively speaking, incredibly safe. Accidents in the theme park industry are freak events that really don’t happen very often at all, and major accidents that result in serious injury or death are even rarer.
For some idea:
I’m not saying that theme park accidents are to be brushed aside by any means; one accident is one too many, and theme parks need to entertain as safely as possible.
However, my point is; if you think you’re taking your life into your hands by going on a theme park ride, goodness knows what you’re doing by going on the roads to drive to the park. Take solace in the fact that theme park accidents are still major news; that must surely speak volumes about how rare they are.
(+
@Matt N as your new post overlapped with me writing this one)
We should expect (and demand)
far higher statistical safety for amusement rides compared to road accidents, considering how non-dynamic ride operations are compared with the complexity of different individuals driving different machines (at the same time).
I don’t think it’s a good comparable.
We do expect better, and we get much better, that was kind of my point!!! For somebody to suggest that UK theme parks have had a lot of accidents lately is somewhere between a sensationalist exaggeration and completely untrue.
Road transport and Theme Parks are both supposed to be safety driven industries. You’re right, they’re not really comparable in many ways, but as a marker of how effective those safety measures are it’s a good comparison. When you compare how likely you are to be hurt on the road vs a ride, it’s a good comparison. It’s interesting that you mentioned how none dynamic ride operations are, when a good percentage of ride accidents are caused by user error or guest stupidity, the one dynamic element remaining. Just like road accidents. The main difference being that the amusement industry is always taking steps to remove the possibility of human error and rider stupidity. The automative industry is catching up, with things like auto breaking, lane assist, and even ai accident prediction and prevention, but, as you rightly pointed out, will never be anywhere near the standard of the amusement industry.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I agree with you, we shouldn’t be comparing apples and oranges, but not necessarily your reasoning. It’s my belief that roads are inherently more dangerous because humans need to travel, and over the years, that need has led us to accept a higher level of danger, even if there are numerous advances in technology already that could reduce the risks. Whereas we don’t ‘need’ to ride amusement rides, so we, quite rightly, hold that industry to a much higher safety standard.
But you’ve sidetracked me onto a different thing altogether now, my original comment was just that the suggestion that we’ve had a lot of accidents in ‘theme parks’ recently was nonsense. And (fingers crossed for the victim of this most recent one) most of the accidents we have seen have not been life threatening.
Just for clarity, and anybody that reads
@Matt N ‘s post and thinks ‘that’s a lot,’ it should be pointed out that those statistics include slips and trips, cuts and bruises, wasp stings and insect bites… Basically any trip to the first aid office!!!
Edit: hahaha, you posted that as I was typing
@rob666 But it seems to agree with my point… We accept the risk on roads through necessity more than anything.
