thomas2 Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Man hurt in roller coaster at Yamanashi theme park KOFU, Yamanashi Pref. (Kyodo) A 37-year-old man hurt his right knee on a roller coaster when part of a plastic cover came off the ride at the Fujikyu Highland amusement park near Mount Fuji in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, the park's operator said Tuesday. The man was in the last car of the four-car Dodonpa ride Monday when the cover, which was on the connecting part between the second and third cars, came off and slid backward, hitting his knee, the operator said. The sit-down roller coaster has four connected cars, with two seats in each car. The plastic cover, which is 60 cm tall and 30 cm wide, weighs 3 kg, the operator said. The man suffered a minor injury probably because the accident occurred when the coaster was slowing down as the ride was coming to an end, it said. During the course of the ride each coaster goes as fast as 172 kph. The cover, which was secured by four bolts, appears to have come off due to cracks made from vibrations, the operator said. Staff found no problems in the coaster when they inspected it Monday before opening the park, it said. On May 5, Yoshino Kogawara, 19, was killed and 19 other people were injured when a stand-up roller coaster derailed and hit an emergency walkway handrail alongside the course at the Expoland amusement park in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. Investigators found that the axle that locks the left unit of five wheels on the second car was broken. Kogawara was in the second car. When the axle broke, the wheel unit dislodged, allowing the car to tilt and hit the handrail. Since that accident, amusement parks nationwide have been conducting checks on their roller coasters. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070516a7.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Argh!! What's with Japan and roller coaster incidents at the moment? Touch wood, this sounds in no way as serious as the Fujin Rajin II crash, but it's still a pretty powerful coaster and anything hitting you at the speeds it can reach would hurt a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrideseeker Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Argh!! What's with Japan and roller coaster incidents at the moment? Touch wood, this sounds in no way as serious as the Fujin Rajin II crash, but it's still a pretty powerful coaster and anything hitting you at the speeds it can reach would hurt a lot. I agree. The man should be lucky that the piece came off as the ride was slowing down. Well ok he is not lucky that it came of at all, but he should be thankful that since it did it came off when it did rather than sooner. I would hate to read the report about what happened if it would have came off during the launch or after the first hill. ~Matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homer Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 Wheel chucking Morgans, Togo Death Machines, and Plastic-ripping S&S's! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroTre Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 Because the 'vibrations' shook it loose? They just could have said "Because it is so freeking ROUGH!" At least it was at the end of the ride because a 3 kg hitting your leg at 106 mph would probably hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 By the time the TPR Japan trip occurs, half the coasters in the country will be closed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 This is old news. It happened 2 months ago. I don't think it even closed the ride for more then a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odene497 Posted July 11, 2007 Share Posted July 11, 2007 ^ I thought it sounded familiar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterNut17 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 Because the 'vibrations' shook it loose? They just could have said "Because it is so freeking ROUGH!" At least it was at the end of the ride because a 3 kg hitting your leg at 106 mph would probably hurt. Well, you'd also be going at 106 mph when it hit you, so it would actually just be a bruise or something. Try throwing something in the air as you're driving down the highway it doen't fly backwards at 70mph, it just falls right back into your hand. My point. Sorry. Coasternut"I have just waisted 60 seconds of your life"17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Disney Dood Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 ^ Not entirely. It does move back a little and when you are in a vehiclular apparatus you are in an entirely enclosed enviroment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterNut17 Posted July 12, 2007 Share Posted July 12, 2007 ^Another point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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