Man with no hands forbidden to ride rollercoasters

[Woody Woodpecker]

Source: NBC Universal/9News

ARLINGTON, Texas - A man says Six Flags Over Texas staff told him he couldn't ride the park's roller coasters because he does not have hands.

Michael Green said he waited in line for an hour Friday only to be told he could not ride the Texas Giant.

"I'm very furious, sir," he said. "This is the first time this has ever happened to me."

Green, who lost his hands when his home caught fire when he was 15 months old, said he has learned to live without them.

Read more: http://www.9news.com/news/world/272038/347/Man-with-no-hands-forbidden-to-ride-rollercoasters

---

I say let Green ride, and also own Six Flags franchise after he's done with the lawsuit. Right?

[B2G]

1. Let him sign a waiver and ride

[rug]

8. How?

[B2G]

12. How to get him to sign a liability waiver?

I'm guessing he would use his foot.

[MADem]

13. Or his mouth...or a prosthetic hand to hold the pen...! nt

[rfranklin]

2. It's a safety issue...if he was injured there would be liability...

On the other hand don't they let people ride with their hands thrown up in the air?

I don't think the disappointment and embarassment deserve $3 billion worth of compensation, do you?

[leftyohiolib]

16. they dont "let" people ride with their hands up they're told not to do that but people being what

they are, they do it anyway. although they havent thrown any one out for doing so so maybe in that regard they could be found complicit.

[cstanleytech]

21. Not to mention the other passengers could sue six flags for emotional trauma if

not physical if he was injured in front of them on the ride or injured them himself if he went flying out of the seat.

[PavePusher]

25. "safety issue"... How?

You get belted/clamped/caged into those things, you don't rely on hands to hold you in place.

[OnyxCollie]

3. Sometimes it's better to err on the side of caution.

Police: Ride workers knew Iraq vet had no legs
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-20079137.html

BATAVIA, N.Y. - Police say the death of a legless Iraq war veteran who was thrown from a roller coaster in upstate New York was an accident but say the man never should have been allowed on the ride and workers violated park policy.

Genesee County Sheriff Gary Maha says signs at the Ride of Steel roller coaster at Darien Lake Theme Park & Resort clearly state riders "must have two legs."

Maha said park operators clearly violated that policy but investigators found no criminal activity, including intent, and they would not face criminal charges. Civil liability could be determined later if a lawsuit is filed, he said.

Sgt. James Hackemer, 29, died Friday when he was thrown from the last -- and second highest -- of three hills on the coaster. He fell about 150 feet and landed on grass.

What good is a lawsuit if you're dead?

[IamK]

32. he should get a couple of old school hooks....

nobody messes with people with a hook....

[Journeyman]

4. Odd. My experience on most roller coasters is that my hands have nothing to do. . .

with whether or not I remain in the car. In fact, many times it is frighteningly obvious that were the lap restraint to give way there's no hope I'd be able to "hold" myself in the car -- only the lap restraint or shoulder harness secures me in the seat.

Definitely a situation where each case should be individually assessed. I hope Six Flags adjusts their policy accordingly.

[abelenkpe]

11. I was almost tossed from the Rebel Yell

it didn't have any restraints at all. And I was holding on!

OK maybe this speaks of how long ago it was.....
Certainly about what part of the country it was in.

[Chiyo-chichi]

17. And when you got off the ride you cried "More, more, more!"?

[abelenkpe]

27. Billy Idol!

Now that song is stuck in my head

[coalition_unwilling]

19. Judging from the name of the ride and your presence here on DU now, I would

argue that the evil forces of the universe were conspiring against you. But truth and justice prevailed after all and you are here among us (and I am glad this is so

[abelenkpe]

28. Thank you! :) nt

[obamanut2012]

22. Which Rebel Yell?

[abelenkpe]

26. The one just north of Richmond, VA nt

[obamanut2012]

31. I've ridden that one

Years ago, like 20. A good wooden coaster!

[Ian David]

5. Questions after legless veteran falls from roller coaster in New York state

Questions after legless veteran falls from roller coaster in New York state

Associated Press
In Print: Monday, July 11, 2011


BUFFALO, N.Y. — A roller coaster in upstate New York remained closed Sunday amid questions about the falling death of an Iraq war veteran who had lost both of his legs to a roadside bomb but was allowed on the ride.

Sgt. James Thomas Hackemer was ejected Friday from the 208-foot-tall Ride of Steel coaster at Darien Lake Theme Park Resort, between Buffalo and Rochester.

Amusement park industry consultant Dennis Speigel said two things should be considered when determining whether someone should be allowed on a ride. "One is rider responsibility, and then there is operator responsibility, and those two issues have to homogenize," Speigel said Sunday. "This just seems to me that it was a bad decision on both parts."

<snip>

Rules posted on the park's website for the Ride of Steel say guests with "certain body proportions" may not be able to ride it, but it doesn't give specifics. The rules specifically bar people without both legs from riding at least two other coasters in the park, the Motocoaster and the Predator.

More:
http://www.tampabay.com/incoming/questions-after-legless-veteran-falls-from-roller-coaster-in-new-york-state/1179874

[DaveJ]

15. Legs keep the body restrained in RCs, not the hands

I dislike roller coasters these days mainly because it would be pretty much impossible to escape from the grip of their seat harnesses. Hands should not be required to ride. Many people have hand abnormalities, they shouldn't be denied on.

On the other hand, local carnival rides seem ridiculously dangerous. There was one that would definitely had thrown me off if I wasn't holding on.

[petronius]

6. My first reaction is that 'holding on' should never be a consideration

in roller coaster safety. Either the ride is safe as designed, with proper restraints, or it is not. If the former, hands are irrelevant - if the latter, no one should ride...

[AtheistCrusader]

10. Yeah, that's where I'm stuck too.

The only thing that makes sense to me, would be the requirements to use the catwalks and other evacuation equipment, should the ride malfunction.

That happened to us on a big one at Universal Studios. Had to walk off the ride from a stopped set of cars. Closed the ride down for days.

[surrealAmerican]

34. I totally agree.

If this ride is only safe when people are holding on with their hands, it's not actually safe for anyone.

[abelenkpe]

7. Safety first

People really shouldn't throw their hands up on roller coasters that don't have bars or other restraints holding them in either. Especially if they are skinny or small. I totally get why he's upset though.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. I'm a little confused what having no hands has to do with being safe in the ride.

Nobody has to hang on to remain safely in the vehicle, or people would be dying all the time.

Maybe it has to do with requirements for safely evacuating the ride if something goes wrong?
Trying hard to picture what the objection might be, and i'm not coming up with much.

[RZM]

14. This is the same park where a patron lost their legs on a ride 5 years ago

So I can understand their emphasis on caution.

[Blue_Tires]

20. Another Six Flags in Md. had a girl die when she got tossed off the coaster, iirc

[cthulu2016]

18. Um... which lawsuit are you referring to?

The discrimination lawsuit for barring him from the ride or the lawsuit when he's killed or injured and Six Flags is sued for allowing him onto the ride?

Do you suggest he sign a liability waiver before getting on the ride? How about if he lands on someone when he falls out?

Maybe the park doesn't want the publicity of somebody getting hurt, whether the guy would sue or not.

As to whether hands are necessary to roller coaster safety... that's fun to talk about on the internet but does anybody really suggest that ride operators should be forming conculsions on the fly about what does or soes not seem safe to them? I doubt the guy loading people onto the rides, or even the manager of the park, is an engineer, and even an engineer wouldn't want to make the call off the top of his head.

They probably do not have a speciffic policy for no-hands. And when the instance presented itself, they went, "When it doubt, err on the side of caution."

Barring a person with no hands from a rollercoaster may be silly, and even against seeming common sense, but it is is less absurd than making a person who had surgery on their ear ride around the hospital in a wheelchair... but hospitals have all sorts of liability-based rules that seem silly. We all deal with liabiliy-avoidance rules all day long.

There was a recent case where a man with no legs was allowed on a roller coaster because he was a wounded vet, and then fell out.

Do you suppose his family received a settlement? I don't know, but it is likelier than not. (Six Flags would have offered a settlement even if not sued to prevent a future suit.)

We, as a society, can't have it both ways.

Six Flags didn't bar this guy from the ride to be mean to people with no hands. The barred him from the ride because Six Flags quite sincerely does not want anyone falling out of the ride. Not because they are nice, but because it is expensive to have people fall out of rides. And bad publicity.

[frylock]

24. as has been stated upthread, if the coaster requires you to hang on with your hands for safety..

then the ride is inherently unsafe. i haven't used my hands to hold on to a coaster since i was 9.

[frylock]

23. i've been on that coaster several times..

never once did i use my hands to hold on.

[tawadi]

29. They could have told him before he waited an hour. eom

[Honeycombe8]

30. It's a liability issue. Hands do help riders...

stay in place and not slide too much into others. They'd help keep you inside in the event of a minor mishap (the restraints release but you're not upside down or going full speed). They also help you get in and out of the car safely.

But they should have a sign that says the restrictions clearly posted, so people don't wait in line for a ride they can't get on.

How embarrassing for the man, though. I'm sure it made him feel less than a full person. I guess he's been allowed on other roller coasters, though, or he wouldn't have assumed he'd be allowed on this one.

I don't know. I'm no expert.

[ejpoeta]

33. Last year a guy fell out of the superman ride

And died. Darien lake got sued. He had no legs. It's a safety issue. Though I don't see how not having hands would be a safety issue.

[ManyShadesOf]

35. So it's required that you throw your hands up in the air when you ride?

He's got the butt for the seat, the feet for the floor, the money for the ticket and the patience to wait an hour. Let the man ride! (If their safety straps only hold you in at the last moment by your hands, they gots trubble)