Kid loses hat, goes after it, loses head too.

[shemp]

More Flags! More Fun! Six Flags!

Teen Decapitated In Six Flags Accident (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/28/national/main4216930.shtml)

(AP) A teenager was decapitated by a roller coaster after he hopped a pair of fences and entered a restricted area Saturday at Six Flags Over Georgia amusement park, authorities said.

Six Flags officials are uncertain why the unidentified 17-year-old from Columbia, South Carolina, scaled two 6-foot fences and passed signs that said the restricted area was both off-limits and dangerous to visitors, spokeswoman Hela Sheth said in a news release.

Authorities were investigating reports from witnesses who said the teenager jumped the fences to retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman roller coaster, said Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce. Three security guards were keeping visitors away from the ride on Saturday.

[TragicMonkey]

I've been on that ride! It was kind of lame.

[XBoxWarrior]

Well, you beat me 2 it...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/28/theme.park.fatality/

A teenager died Saturday when he was decapitated at the Six Flags Over Georgia theme park outside Atlanta, authorities said.

The 17-year-old park visitor was killed after scaling two 6-foot fences around the Batman roller coaster, said a statement issued by park spokeswoman Hela Sheth. He was struck by the coaster and killed, she said.
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It was unclear how fast the coaster was moving when it struck the teen, but according to the park's Web site, the ride reaches speeds of 50 mph.

"We do not know why this person was intent on gaining access to this restricted area," the statement said, noting that multiple signs are posted stating, "Danger Zone," "Do Not Enter" and "Authorized Personnel Only."

"Some witnesses have stated that the individual was trying to retrieve something he had lost," Sheth's statement said. "Others reported that he was trying to touch the ride. This is merely speculation at this point, and we are working with park visitors and local police to learn more."

No one on the ride was injured, she said.

Police said the incident occurred about 2 p.m.

The victim's family was at the park with him, Sheth said, and park representatives were with them Saturday evening.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family," she said.

Ok......bolding mines.

But Two Freaking Six Foot Fences for a Cap?

I say Darwin Awawrd Nomineeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

ETA: should be a Darwin Award Winner........if my vote gets counted

[I Ratant]

Wait'll the parents and their shysters get done with this one!
"Six Flags -should have known-.... yada yada yada"

[calebprime]

Decapitation!! ONE FLAG!

[Travis]

The fences were not electrified, there were no programmed robots with stun guns waiting on the other side and there were no remotely operated vents that release a knock out gas. Clearly the park was just asking for someone to get decapitated.

[Alex C]

Just one of those sad events :(. Sure he shouldn't have been hopping them fences, but death as a punishment was most severe. I feel for the family.

[GeeMack]

Just one of those sad events :(. Sure he shouldn't have been hopping them fences, but death as a punishment was most severe. I feel for the family.


Huh? Death wasn't a punishment. It was the unfortunate result of a negligent act on the part of the victim. Everyone takes risks. Injury and death occur more often when the risks are more extreme. This one was obviously very poorly calculated. In the big picture it's a good thing that the only person who suffered the physical injury was the person who elected to take the risk. It could have been much worse.

[Kopji]

It would really suck to get off the ride and find out that you had someone's head stuck to your shoelaces.

[jj]

A tale of an idiot.
Written large, with a bad ending,
Where a good ending would be better.

A hat, a head, a kid, now dead.

What an idiot.

I feel very sorry for the family. Feeling sorry for the idiot won't help him any. :(

[Beerina]

Don't worry, it's just text, no picture.

I hope Shemp left the neck-hole alone.

[shemp]

Don't worry, it's just text, no picture.

I hope Shemp left the neck-hole alone.

I used the others and left that one for the Marquis.

[four elevener]

Wait'll the parents and their shysters get done with this one!
"Six Flags -should have known-.... yada yada yada"


Well, the coaster shouldn't have gotten in the way of him trying to retrieve his cap. Hello!!

[thrombus29]

Decapitation!! ONE FLAG!


I almost just wet myself. Is that a tri-state area thing?

[Sir Robin Goodfellow]

I wonder if a lawsuit will be successful. I just can't see a jury finding the park negligent when they obviously made every effort to keep people out of the danger zone (well, no robots or knockout gas, but still).


Something similar happened in Regina a few weeks ago. Some graduating high school students were having a party outside of a golf course, and they were drinking. One young man scaled a high fence and entered the area where the golf course stored their grass maintenance equipment. He somehow started a little tractor and crashed it into the fence. It appears the fence fell on him and killed him. My first thought was what kind of settlement the family would get.

[MattusMaximus]

Just one of those sad events :(. Sure he shouldn't have been hopping them fences, but death as a punishment was most severe. I feel for the family.


Who is doing the "punishing"? The kid did something dumb and the laws of physics killed him for it - simple as that. It's not like the universe has a grudge against kids or anything. As I tell my students, "The laws of nature don't care one way or the other about you. They'll kill you just as quickly and easily as the next poor bastard."

[MattusMaximus]

Don't worry, it's just text, no picture.

I hope Shemp left the neck-hole alone.


That is sooooo wrong :boggled:

[Primus]

Can you imagine being the person who actually kicked the guys head off in 2002? That must be distressing if your just going on a ride and next thing you know you've severed someones head off!
Thats the guy I feel sorriest for out of the 2 incidents.

[Darth Rotor]

At least nobody tazed him.

[Drudgewire]

Decapitation!! ONE FLAG!

http://www.lethalwrestling.com/upload/sixflags.jpg

MORE FLAGS!! MORE FUN!!

lol I just noticed it's only a head shot. Unintentional poor taste there. :D

[Ranb]

If someone does decide to sue the park, then it may not result in much. When a woman decided to sue Coors because her son got drunk and killed himself in a car accident, "Coors threatened to seek sanctions for filing frivolous litigation."

http://www.jointogether.org/news/headlines/inthenews/2004/coors-drunk-driving-lawsuit.html

Ranb

[Alareth]

Well, the authorities have ruled out the "Going after his hat" story and now believe he was taking a shortcut to get to the entrance for the ride.

Still stupid, still just as dead.

[Björn Toulouse]

Since amusement parks seem to attract either idiots or the oblivious into prohibited areas, maybe the fast rides should be constructed as to not glide so close to the ground.

[four elevener]

It's being reported now that the teen intended on grabbing the hands/legs of a passenger on the ride...for what, we'll probably never know. If this is true, it makes it an even more compelling argument for a Darwin Award.

[pgwenthold]

Since amusement parks seem to attract either idiots or the oblivious into prohibited areas, maybe the fast rides should be constructed as to not glide so close to the ground.


However, going "close to the ground" is actually a good feature of a quality roller coaster. It adds to the excitement of the ride.

In fact, the first inverted coaster in (at least the US) is that one at Magic Mountain in California. One of the coolest parts about that coaster now (that inversions are run of the mill) is that it is built on the hillside, and therefore tends to hug the ground over most of the run. It's not suspended, but the way it follows the landscape through the trees keeps it a good ride even today.

[Blue Mountain]

Whenever I hear of a story like this, I wonder about a few things. Like, what kind of person was this? Smart but hyper? A nice kid who just did one stupid thing and is now dead?

Or was it someone who habitually did silly things without thinking, leaving others to think (if not say) "I knew he was going to get it one day." Or a show-off, which almost amounts to the same thing?

I also wonder, had he survived this, if he would have gone on to lead a successful life. I have a brother who did silly things like this when he was a teen. Now he's married and living with his wife and two kids in the 'burbs. He's more successful than I am. I have a risk-adverse personality, which means I don't get many rewards, either.

[Travis]

I did some mighty stupid dangerous stuff when I was kid too. I had abandoned gold mines, huge cliffs and waterfalls enticing me to explore them.

[Don At Work]

Punishment? No. Consequence? Yes.

[BPSCG]

It's not like the universe has a grudge against kids or anything. As I tell my students, "The laws of nature don't care one way or the other about you. They'll kill you just as quickly and easily as the next poor bastard."The laws of the universe have a grudge against everyone.

Hard to think of two people as disparate as Frank Zappa and Garrison Keillor, but they both said similar things:

Zappa: You may love Mother Nature, but she'll kill you if you give her half a chance.

Keillor: It's February, and Mother Nature is doing her level best to kill you.

[TragicMonkey]

I did some mighty stupid dangerous stuff when I was kid too. I had abandoned gold mines, huge cliffs and waterfalls enticing me to explore them.

And don't forget the time you foiled that real estate developer who was disguised as a prospector's ghost! He would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.

[pgwenthold]

I did some mighty stupid dangerous stuff when I was kid too. I had abandoned gold mines, huge cliffs and waterfalls enticing me to explore them.

Man, we didn't have that. We just had the gunpowder we got by cutting open shotgun shells.

We had enough powder to make a pretty good sized bomb. Fortunately, we never figured out the best way to design the fusing system. I won't say anymore.