 Six Flags to increase number, size of signs
Tom Henderson <grayzson@yahoo.deletethis.com> wrote:
:
: "> I think its time to hook up the fences to low voltage electricity, that
: > will keep people off of it. It works up at my brothers farm keeping deer
: > off the property - works on people too I assume.
: >
: > Larger & more visible warning signs won't help either. Do we need to
: > print the warning signs in ten languages too??
: >
: >
: German shepherds, land mines, and coils of razor wire underneath all
: coasters. Maybe deep blackwater moats filled with alligators and pirahnas
: too?
Didn't there used to be alligators (or were they crocodiles?) in the
pond underneath Montu back when the ride was new?
Seriously, though...
A few years ago, I was at Cedar Point. maXair was their new ride that
season, and surrounding that ride there is a nice lawn in the kill zone.
That lawn is elevated above the surrounding midway at the edges by the
height of a more-or-less standard curb, about 6"-8". Built on top of
that curb is a steel fence, not the 42" height which is normally
mandated, but more like 46" from the top of the curb. On top of this
fence is a steel railing which is angled outward at about a 45-degree
angle, and which adds another 8" to the top of the fence. So from the
midway to the top of the fence you have 8" of curb, 46" of fence, and
another 8" of railing, for a total height of a little more than 5' from
the midway to the top of the rail.
Some basketball player, not a particularly tall guy (maybe a hair under
6' himself), decided to retrieve a hat from the ride's kill zone.
After, mind you, the control operator had already hollered, "CLEAR!";
also note that this brain surgeon was fully involved with an area
adjacent to and therefore not visible from the ride's doghouse.
(Before I continue, I should stress that the incursion I am about to
describe took place after the ride was cleared to start, but before any
motion had begun, and so concluded without any newsworthy incident.)
Anyway, this guy spots his hat in the yard (why is it always a damn
hat?), so he steps up to the fence, does a standing high-jump to clear
it, retrieves his hat, then performs the same high-jump again in the
outboard direction. He cleared 5' of steel fence and concrete curb as
if it wasn't even there, without any obvious effort. This wasn't a
climb over as some of us will do with 36" queue rails when the line is
short, this guy simply leaped into the air, lifted his legs, and cleared
a 62" barrier that was specifically designed to be non-climbable and
hard to jump.
Folks, what this says to me is that fences don't matter. We might as
well go back to painting yellow lines around rides and leaving it at
that for all the good the fences do. What is needed aren't higher
fences, because you can't make the fence high enough. What's needed are
patrons who respect places that can kill them.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
/X\ _ *** Respect rides. They do not respect you. ***
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