cmangi

Somebody lend Thorpe Park 50p to put in the meter.... (I’m suddenly aware there are about 2 generations that will no longer get this joke!)

Hi All, I'm a bit of an amateur photographer and took my camera with me on Tuesday (10/07/2018). Quite happy with some of the shots. Please note that I have personally taken the images and if you do wish to use them elsewhere then please ask my permission first, but just really wanted to share these! Hope you like them.

So this happened on 10/07/2018. A stoppage at the top of Tidal Wave. Had my camera with me and got a photo. Was quite surprised that it doesnt look like the staff member had any type of harness on, happy to be proven wrong tho!

Hi, Really late reply. I have never had any issues on rides. Last year around June we went to visit family in Canada and myself and some of my cousins went to Canadas Wonderland. I am male and 34 years old, most of my cousins were around 20-23. I went on loads of rollercaosters and a rew flat rides without any problems, including Behemoth. However, Leviathan..... I completly blacked out around 3/4 of the way down the first drop, and came round just before the turn around point at the car park. I entered a dream like state and had really vivid thoughts, before remembering I was at a theme park and telling myself to wake back up. I was ok for the rest of the ride and when it finished we went and got some fries and a coke for the sugar! I didnt go on much else after, just a copuple of smaller things. Generally when going down larger drops I tense my stomach, and being such a large drop with a lot of g force, I think tensing my stomach stopped me breating and caused me to blackout. I have watched the red bull air race and they always say that under high g force you need to regulate your breathing otherwise you will black out. Hope this isn't too late and provides you with some useful feedback!.

Just to put this entire thing in perspective , six people have died on a balcony that collapsed. Does this mean all balconys are unsafe and should be closed off? Should all balconys be torn down?

Yes and no.No - nothing is 100% safe. Everything we do is a risk, but we calculate the risk constantly in our minds and weigh up the risk vs the benefit. Getting out of bed is a risk (could pull a muscle in your back, could twist an ankle standing up etc) but it's something we need to do so the risk is worth taking. Is going on a roller coaster a risk worth taking, to a lot of people yes, but a lot of people are 'scared' or more accurately their brain thinks the risk vs reward for going on the roller coaster is not worth it. Yes - They have a very small incident rate, the safety systems and fail safes should make an accident impossible. The rules and regulations should make them as safe as practically possible. There will be risk assessments which will reduce any possible risk to 0, or as close to 0 as as it can be. So theoretically everything should be done to make t as safe as humanly possible. So on a balanced view, yes it is safe, but it's impossible for ANYTHING to be 100% safe. You might have guessed, I work as a risk manager ;-) lol.

There is a certain irony and problem with the way we view life in this country.. Or more, they way the media are controlled and allowed to report on things. The 4 victims in this accident were named ASAP, the injuries have been reported on with little sensitivity to the 4 victims, the friends and the families. The videos were shown as soon as possible, showing their full faces, covered in blood and their screams. Yet a 14 year old boy who has committed attempted murder is not named and gets his face blurred out of photos. I know we all think this has had some poor reporting, but the media in this country is a complete shambles in general!!

Apparently One Direction have sent a video message to one of the girls injured. They have also offered her tickets to a concert of her choice and will meet her backstage. A nice gesture, but hasn't the poor girl suffered enough ;-)

https://queue-times.com/park/thorpe-park Judging by Thorpes queue times, I would say it's having much less of an effect on the general public than I expected! I doubt it's a wider problem, the amount of work to safely remove and assess the incident is huge. And even if they cordon off the area, there are still access concerns for cranes and specialist equipment. I really can't stop thinking about this and have been wondering why so few trains have any kind of shock absorbers or bumpers on the front. I know it's a near impossibility that this should happen, but I do risk management, and part of that is saying "if the impossible were to happen, how can we reduce the impact it will have?". I wonder if it re-opens, we will see some kind of bumper on the fron and rear of cars. This is purely speculation, but it would be a simple upgrade in theory.

Has there been any word yet from John Wardley? I'm surprised there appears to be no comment as it is one of his designs. I have no idea how much he would have worked with Gers on the control system, block brakes and ride operation?

Oh yes. Don't worry. I'm going to complain, but will sit and write a detailed and concise letter. I have complained to the NHS, Local MP, train service and many many more. I'm a seasons letter of complaint writer! I plan to address her dis-interest in the interviewee. Constantly taking any words said by interviewee out of context. Her aggressive manor and demeanour. Her constant interruption. Her rudeness throughout. He insensitive questioning when asking if someone had lost a limb. Her attempt to sensationalise the story by implying the rides had been running unsafe, with no evidence or even suggestion as to why she kept questioning this, and making the point time and time again. And that's just off the top of my head! It will probably be tomorrow when wife and baby go out before I can write a proper letter.

The sky news app has an interesting headline: "The boss of Alton Towers has told Sky News safety measures "were not adequate" at the theme park - as four more rollercoasters were closed after an accident. Nick Varney said the group was adding "another layer" of safety measures to existing rides as a "precaution" against the prospect of another accident. Alton Towers has been closed since the record-breaking Smiler ride came to an abrupt halt when two carriages collided, injuring 16 people, on Tuesday." At what point did he say safety measure were not adequate???

I actually feel very disgusted with the interview. The response to video of the interview on Twitter echos the feelings of this forum. I actually feel strongly enough to report this to the Broadcasting standards guys. Does anyone know how to go about doing so. And does anyone else dancing joining me in complaining. I'm surprised she doesn't get slapped with lawsuits for making slanderous claims like "so all your rides were unsafe before then, that's what you are saying isn't it?".

I am asking Sky News how I can officially complain about her. She was scare mongering, she was overly aggressive, she didn't listen and had her own agenda.

This Sky news interview is awful. This woman is a complete bitch. Nick Varney is doing very well. She is being absolutely ridiculous, what a joke. Merlin should refuse to do any work with Sky news ever again. How stupid is this woman on the news?