Ride Accidents at Cedar Point and Six Flags Over Texas

Friday, July 19 2013 has been a dark day for the amusement industry. Accidents have occurred at two of America’s biggest amusement parks.

Shoot the Rapids at Cedar Point

The Sandusky Register reported that a boat flipped over and injured riders on Cedar Point’s Shoot the Rapids. The seven people in the boat were evaluated and treated by Cedar Point emergency medical staff while one of the seven was taken to an area hospital for additional evaluation and has since been released. Shoot the Rapids was plagued by design problems before the ride finally opened in June, 2010. The manufacturer of the flume ride, Intamin, has a growing track record of malfunctions and accidents on their rides. Shoot the Rapids will remain closed until a thorough investigation into the cause of the malfunction has been completed.

Six Flags over Texas confirmed to the Dallas News that a woman was killed today while riding the park’s signature attraction: the New Texas Giant roller coaster. The Texas Giant recently underwent a complete transformation from a classic wooden roller coaster to a modern steel coaster that reopened in April 2011 to many accolades. The Texas Giant will remain closed until further notice and Six Flags has even closed Pandemonium, another roller coaster with trains manufactured by the same company as the Texas Giant’s trains, Gerstlauer. Tweets about the Texas Giant accident from other park guests paint a disturbing picture:

“Literally just witnessed someone fly off of the Texas giant two seats in front of me.” @joshfleak

“restraint came undone, coaster turned and she was gone” @joshfleak

“We are deeply saddened about a death this evening on the Texas Giant. Our prayers are with the family and friends.” @SixFlagsOverTX

Tags: cedar pointintaminride accidentssix flags over texas