Coaster paper I am doing

***Chip*** · #1 02-28-2002, 03:53 PM

For my English class I need to do a persuasive essay. I am pretty sure I am going to do an essay on coaster safety and I want to show that coasters are safe. I already have opposition (Markey, CPSC, etc) and now I need to back myself up. I have knowledge of coasters and stuff, but I need to be able to back myself up. I need to know how restraints hold people in, how G-forces hold people in, and other things. I know that rider error plays a big factor in accidents and I can find stuff about that, but I need stuff about coasters being safe. Does anyone know any sites or books or anything where I can find information to back myself up? I need info on how they are safe and stuff. Help would be [I]greatly[/I] appreciated!

Raging Rider · #2 02-28-2002, 04:33 PM

Dang, I have to do the same kinda paper and I'm doing the same topic!

***Chip*** · #3 02-28-2002, 05:01 PM

But I bet yours isn't for a college English class, now is it? You might be able to get away with making stuff up :) I, on the other hand, have to get all these facts from sources. I'm pretty sure I might be able to find something in the library about coaster safety, but I also want other reliable sources to back myself up.

CrystalKat · #4 02-28-2002, 06:06 PM

Scott Rutherford's <U>The American Roller Coaster</U> has a section on safety devices: pg. 75-79, complete with a couple of diagrams.

I'd also recommend going to [url]http://themeparks.about.com/cs/ridesafety/[/url] , which has a tremendous amount of information about coaster safety from both viewpoints.

Have fun! :D

Rider · #5 02-28-2002, 06:13 PM

Just post information from your story here and claim that "haux" is not you :D.

Anaconda · #6 03-01-2002, 06:52 PM

We had to do something similar and assign a letter to someone who is shunned (we were reading the Scarlett Letter at the time)
and I did Ed Markey, and gave him a D for "Destroyer" and I used statistics to prove that they were safe. Also, if you go to thispagecannotbedisplayed, they have an editorial that'll help you.

Aaron · #7 03-01-2002, 08:38 PM

David Bennett's book Roller Coaster has some information on roller coaster safety, as well as some physics formulas that deal with things like centrifigal force and G-forces.

***Chip*** · #8 03-02-2002, 04:37 PM

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Melissa [/i]
[B]Scott Rutherford's <U>The American Roller Coaster</U> has a section on safety devices: pg. 75-79, complete with a couple of diagrams.

I'd also recommend going to [url]http://themeparks.about.com/cs/ridesafety/[/url] , which has a tremendous amount of information about coaster safety from both viewpoints.

Have fun! :D [/B][/QUOTE]

Okay. I just ordered that book. Thanks, Melissa! Hopefully it'll get here before I actually start writing my paper and stuff. Thanks a million, folks! If anyone has any other info, please post it here!

PhantomRevnge67 · #9 03-02-2002, 06:10 PM

get into details about coaster saftey. tell the people that coasters really are safe. most accidents on coasters happen becuase people dont follow directions. if more people would follow riding instructions, there wouldnt be so many people getting hurt.

TITANium Alloy · #10 03-02-2002, 10:02 PM

Here you can use some of these facts. I got them off of "Extreme Machines: Rollercoasters" a rollercoaster video that I taped.

You have a 1 out of 90,000,000 chance of having a fatal injury on a park visit

If you go to a park and ride 10 rides, that would be safer than staying at home for the same length of time.

It is 7 times safer to ride 10 rides in 2 hours than the drive to the park. It is 14 times safer than riding on a bicycle, and is 20 times safer than riding a horse.

Hope those will help you on that essay.

***Chip*** · #11 03-17-2002, 11:52 PM

Okay. Scott Rutherford's book is going to help me a lot, since I can cite it as a source. It has most of the info I need. Now I just need examples of how the media portrays coasters as being unsafe and stuff. You know, like when Titan stopped on the lift hill? I need links to those stories and stuff. Can anyone help me with this? Thanks.

TITANium Alloy · #12 03-18-2002, 12:02 AM

Actually, you couldn't use when Titan stopped on the lift because that proved that Titan was safe. The sencors on the lift discovered something was wrong and shut down the ride. Another reason why Titan stops on the lift alot is because the stupid ride ops. They send the train to early so the block system has to stop the train on the hill. Most likely you can use the incident with S:RoS at SFNE when the train crashed. Or when the beast crashed. You might even be able to use CP's Vertigo. But Titan would not work unless you're explaining how the safety system worked.

Hector · #13 03-18-2002, 02:55 AM

Actually he could use titan as an example. Haux asked for examples of when the media portrayed coasters as bad. From what I heard the media had a feild day with it, and made the situation much much worse then it already was.

[url]http://members.aol.com/rides911/accidents.htm[/url] is a great site that has a lot of roller coaster accidents documented.along the left hand index there are new publications articles on roller coaster safety.

From a [URL=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,165350,00.html]Time article,"[/URL] [i] So how dangerous are amusement parks? Well, there are certainly more perilous summer pleasures. According to the CPSC, more people were injured in 1999 using trampolines (98,889) golf equipment (47,386) and bicycles (614,594) than the 7,260 injuries sustained at fixed-site U.S. parks and attractions (and that includes the go-karts). Only 138 required hospitalization — and that's out of 309 million people who attended amusement parks that year. The CSPC puts fatalities at two per year over the last two decades. [/i]
Those are some good statistics to me.

[URL=http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=\Nation\archive\200203\NAT20020301a.html]CNN[/URL] has done a piece that is Pro-Markey and gives only a few lines to the oppposing side of the argument at the very bottom.

Here's another one. [URL=http://www.ocregister.com/local/physics0s0205cci5.shtml]The OC Register[/URL] has printed this aritcle that too me makes Montezoom's Revenge look like it was at fault for the death of Justine Bolia who died of a ruptered Brain aneurysm, they failed to mention that walking could have done the same thing.

there are many more on the first site. I would post more but I'm getting angry at just how biased these articles are.

***Chip*** · #14 03-28-2002, 11:25 PM

Can anyone tell me where I can find information about brain aneurysms bursting? What causes them to burst? I want to know where you found out that they can burst when you sneeze, walk up stairs, or play basketball. I want to use that in my paper, but I need a source. Where can I find a website that says how they can occur?

bigt2022 · #15 03-29-2002, 02:03 AM

also include that safety is getting better all the time as accidents are corrected and that the manufacterers learn from their mistakes.