17-year old decapitated by Batman roller coaster at Six Flags in Georgia

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BigJ

Lifer
Nov 18, 2001
21,330
1
81
Originally posted by: isekii
Well for one, the workers who might just do maintainance around the coaster won't need to worry about getting hit by it. Also there could be errors where the coaster isn't completely shut down and actually running,

how about this quote from OP's post


"His death is the second reported in connection with the ride since 2002, when a maintenance worker was hit in the head by a rider's foot as it passed overhead. The ride opened in 1997."

If it was lets say atleast 15-20 ft in the air, would the worker have gotten hit ?

Actually, quite possible considering:

A 58-year-old park worker, Samuel Milton Guyton of Atlanta, was killed May 26, 2002. Guyton was in a restricted area on a platform when he was kicked in the head by 14-year-old girl on the front car of the ride. The girl was hospitalized with a leg injury.

Also, Guyton was a groundskeeper. He had no business being in that restricted area at that time anyway.
 

Demon-Xanth

Lifer
Feb 15, 2000
20,551
2
81
"He didn't do anything wrong," Ferguson said. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

...you mean climbing two six foot fences with warning signs to enter the wrong place isn't doing anything wrong? And the wrong time for that place happens to be pretty much any time the park is open.
 

buck

Lifer
Dec 11, 2000
12,273
4
81
Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
"He didn't do anything wrong," Ferguson said. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

...you mean climbing two six foot fences with warning signs to enter the wrong place isn't doing anything wrong? And the wrong time for that place happens to be pretty much any time the park is open.

I read that too, wtf?
 
Jun 19, 2004
10,860
1
81
Can you imagine going to the photo booth they have after you get off the ride and being able to buy a picture of you on the coaster, blood spattered with a look of sheer horror on your face and a head floating through the air in front of you?

 

Alistar7

Lifer
May 13, 2002
11,978
0
0
Originally posted by: MisterJackson
Can you imagine going to the photo booth they have after you get off the ride and being able to buy a picture of you on the coaster, blood spattered with a look of sheer horror on your face and a head floating through the air in front of you?

That would be gold. I'll take two copies, one digital please.....
 

Loop2kil

Platinum Member
Mar 28, 2004
2,605
21
81
my guess is he was trying to find another way to break in line to ride again.
 

Captante

Lifer
Oct 20, 2003
30,316
10,814
136
Originally posted by: SillyOReilly
Originally posted by: rh71
Teenagers are unpredictable. I don't know about simple stupidity / darwin / etc. Climb fences, get into areas they shouldn't be in - they will do things throughout their lives that shouldn't be done and the scariest thing is this could probably happen to anyone their age.

Now if he knew the ride was coming along any second/minute and he was trying to dodge it to retrieve something, then that's a different story.
It wouldn't happen to me at that age.

Don't speak for all of us.


No kidding ... I did a lot of crazy things when I was a teenager but even at my worst wouldn't have tried somthing this stupid.

 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
2
0
Originally posted by: BigJ
Originally posted by: isekii
Well for one, the workers who might just do maintainance around the coaster won't need to worry about getting hit by it. Also there could be errors where the coaster isn't completely shut down and actually running,

how about this quote from OP's post


"His death is the second reported in connection with the ride since 2002, when a maintenance worker was hit in the head by a rider's foot as it passed overhead. The ride opened in 1997."

If it was lets say atleast 15-20 ft in the air, would the worker have gotten hit ?

Actually, quite possible considering:

A 58-year-old park worker, Samuel Milton Guyton of Atlanta, was killed May 26, 2002. Guyton was in a restricted area on a platform when he was kicked in the head by 14-year-old girl on the front car of the ride. The girl was hospitalized with a leg injury.

Also, Guyton was a groundskeeper. He had no business being in that restricted area at that time anyway.

Yep, only two incidents in over 10 years of the ride. Both involving people who were in a place that they shouldn't have been. I'd say the Batman ride is reasonably safe.
 

destrekor

Lifer
Nov 18, 2005
28,799
359
126
Originally posted by: isekii
Well for one, the workers who might just do maintainance around the coaster won't need to worry about getting hit by it. Also there could be errors where the coaster isn't completely shut down and actually running,

how about this quote from OP's post


"His death is the second reported in connection with the ride since 2002, when a maintenance worker was hit in the head by a rider's foot as it passed overhead. The ride opened in 1997."

If it was lets say atleast 15-20 ft in the air, would the worker have gotten hit ?

rides quite often swoop low to the ground, how low depending on the type of coaster...

Nearly every ride you could list some safety issues if you are looking for them in regards to the possibility of a person in restricted space getting hurt. But the fact remains that those people do not belong there. Nobody should be by the ride when its in operation - the ride doesn't continue operating while people work on it... at least it shouldn't.

Still amuses me that you don't see this kinds of things at Cedar Point. Well, problems have plagued the WildCat for it's entire time it's been running. Guess they keep it because it has that carnival feel to it. Cedar Fair parks have much better employee regulations, and are in general far better parks in the whole experience. The incidents that do happen at Cedar Point are the type that are far out of anyone's control, and not issues with people being hurt due to negligence or anything.

+
 

Darthvoy

Golden Member
Aug 3, 2004
1,825
1
0
Originally posted by: ArizonaSteve
Well look on the bright side. He won't be needing his hat now, since he doesn't have a head to put it on.

One ticket, please...

I wonder where his head was when he decided to ignore the danger signs and willingly stepped into the danger zone.

Make that two...
 

Cogman

Lifer
Sep 19, 2000
10,283
134
106
I have a tough time feeling sorry for the kid. The parents and friends I feel the most sympathy for (it sucks loosing someone you love). But the kid, come on...

"Hey guys, those two fences say 'do not enter' I'm going to go there to stick it to the man!"

Stupid, at least we don't have to worry about this kids headstrong offspring...
 

Alyx

Golden Member
Apr 28, 2007
1,181
0
0
Bad deal. But still I think this is one of those really really dumb people. He had to be within just a couple feet of the track and not figured it out.
 

pcslookout

Lifer
Mar 18, 2007
11,958
154
106
Do you all think when his head was cut off blood poured out or not really ? How is it in real life when someone loses their head like that so quickly ?
 

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,665
21
81
Originally posted by: Squisher
I thought I read he was trying to retrieve a hat he lost on the ride earlier in the day.

"Hey has anybody seen my ha---oh snap---my head!"
 

Regs

Lifer
Aug 9, 2002
16,665
21
81

RaistlinZ

Diamond Member
Oct 15, 2001
7,470
9
91
I bet you people will be taking those warning signs a bit more seriously from now on. Maybe Six Flags should change their signs to say: "Warning! Restricted area. No, we aren't just fucking around. Seriously, it's dangerous."
 

IEC

Elite Member
Super Moderator
Jun 10, 2004
14,440
5,426
136
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
HEADSHOT! :( i'm going to hell :(

I'm with you, I'm afraid...

I couldn't help but laugh even though I'm horrified that I'm laughing...
 

dbk

Lifer
Apr 23, 2004
17,685
10
81
How long does the ride take to come around? If he were really trying to get his hat back, why didn't he just wait until the train passed through that section?
 

ICRS

Banned
Apr 20, 2008
1,328
0
0
Originally posted by: dbk
How does does the ride take to come around? If he were really trying to get his hat back, why didn't he just wait until the train passed through that section?

HE WASN'T TRYING TO GET HIS HAT BACK. HE WAS TRYING TO GET BACK INTO THE PARK.
 

QED

Diamond Member
Dec 16, 2005
3,428
3
0
Looking at the online map to the park, you can almost understand why one might be tempted to cut through the restricted area to get back into the park. The parking lot where they were was on the far opposite end of the park as the main entrance, but the Batman ride was right there.

They probably thought they'd save themselves a fifteen-minute to half-hour round trip by not walking all the way around the park to the main entrance, then back through it to get the Batman ride.
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
2
0
update 2

The maiden voyage of Batman The Ride after Saturday's death of a South Carolina teenager brought thrills to riders and as well as thoughts of the tragedy.

"It wasn't Six Flags' fault," said Isaac Abernathy, 20, of Adairsville.

He was among the first riders.

"It was the fault of him being there," he said.

He thought about Asia L. Ferguson, the teen who died after scaling two fences in a restricted area with his cousin.

Ferguson was decapitated when he was hit by the ride.

But mostly, Abernathy enjoyed the ride.

"It's fast and curvy," he said.

"I love Batman as a child, and it's a fun ride to be on."

Deidre Dollfuss, Abernathy's girlfriend, enjoyed the ride with only a moment's thought of Ferguson's death.

"It was his fault. He shouldn't have been there," Dollfuss said.

Out-of-state visitors had no apprehension about getting on the ride.

"I wasn't really worried," said Katie St. Germaine, 14, of Michigan.

Her friend agreed.

"It was fun," said Rebecca Wilson, 13, also of Michigan.
 

LtPage1

Diamond Member
Jan 15, 2004
6,311
2
0
Did this thread really need another update for some random idiots' thoughts?
"It's fast and curvy." I mean, come on.

Darwin at work. I mean, how do you not hear one of those things coming? They're not exactly quiet.