r/news • u/Bloated_Hamster • 7h ago

Visitor dies after accident on Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia

https://www.waff.com/2026/10/12/visitor-dies-after-accident-goliath-six-flags-over-georgia/
11.4k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

78

u/trireme32 5h ago

Yeah — I really wonder how many of the other anecdotes on here were a result of kids’ minds amplifying a level of danger combined with 20-year-old memories. Notice how pretty much all of them were “when I was a kid maybe 20 some odd years ago.” If all these anecdotes were actually 100% true about the danger they were in, then roller coaster deaths would be a lot more commonplace.

64

u/kheret 5h ago

A lot of people think their restraints are “loose” when they’re in between lock points, and that’s probably a lot of what people are talking about.

5

u/philkid3 2h ago

This is correct. Working in the industry, a ton of people report their restraint is “broken” because it clicked one way or the other on them since it was BETWEEN locking points.

It’s working just fine. They just don’t know how it works.

AND EVEN THEN it is still removed immediately for an inspection before anyone else can ride it.

18

u/calebeedude 5h ago

People who know absolutely nothing about coaster safety love to give their opinions on coaster safety. Literally a neurodivergent special interest of mine and these people think they know better than me.

15

u/lFightForTheUsers 4h ago

I mean, I'm AuDHD as fuck and I'm still concerned about what the hell happened at SFOG today. Especially when I went here in the summer and rode this one about 5 times. I'm not gonna be insensitive when someone lost their father today in a horrible way.

All we can do is wait and see what the investigation says. Really wondering if it was like what happened at their original park years ago, where someone fell off the Texas Giant. They were obese and should have never been allowed to ride, but the operators didn't check the restraints properly and there was no secondary seat belt etc just the lap bar. In response they upgraded the trains to a more secure variant and improved operator training.

4

u/philkid3 2h ago

You can be sensitive and concerned without talking about how you almost died when you were 13 and would have if you didn’t hold on for dear life and that sort of thing happens all the time.

6

u/Lifes-a-lil-foggy 4h ago

Maybe you should add this specific park to your research then. Being a special interest of yours does not discount locals experiences or this specific park’s safety record.

2

u/snootyworms 3h ago

I mean, I'm pretty neurodivergent and I think if studying coasters you should also be aware of possible user experiences and adverse experiences that actually happened, as opposed to just how they are supposed to work. If enough people are complaining of adverse experiences, it's a possibility that specific ride/park might have maintenance issues, or certain body sizes/proportions aren't completely accounted for in the current restraints.

9

u/ncolaros 3h ago

If all these people were telling the absolute truth, many more people would be dead a year from roller coasters in the US. A lot of people claiming that holding on saved their lives, but I have a hard time believing their child/teenage bodies would do anything against the forces they'd have to contend with.

0

u/snootyworms 2h ago

I wasn't there so I can't tell you exactly how those rides went, but at least it seems like even if they weren't at risk of falling out, they seem to have a throughline of injury from not being secured enough, so they end up banging against the ride. You might say that's part of the point but I don't think actual physical injury is supposed to happen. They might not fall out, but I've already seen stories in this thread of younger kids getting their arms stuck between restraints and having to be physically yanked back and held by the people riding with them or they would have been very injured or worse.

It doesn't mean coasters are bad or we have to shut them all down, but even I can admit when my special interests have faults. I love sharks, and they generally don't attack people on purpose, but you know damn well I'm not just going to go swim with Great Whites, because a curious Great White means I'm out a leg.

7

u/bosshawk1 3h ago

99% of them are exactly as you describe. A mechanical restraint failing on a roller coaster in the US is virtually unprecedented.

1

u/BobLabReeSorJefGre 1h ago

The same can be said for Europe, Japan, Canada, and these days most parks in China, Korea, the Middle East, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and certain Latin American countries.

•

u/Version_1 11m ago

Also, enthusiasts basically never have these stories, despite riding more coasters in a year than most do in their entire lives.

1

u/philkid3 2h ago

Yes. It’s basically the same thing as what causes Mandela effects. They are so sure of the infallibility of their own memories they can’t stop and accept they might remember wrong.

(Some of them also might be lying.)

Also, you cannot hold on to a roller coaster. Your grip is not strong enough. If the only thing that is going to stop you from flying away and dying is holding on with your hands, you are going to fly away and die.