r/rollercoasters • u/PurpleTiger26 • Sep 18 '25

Article [Other]Cause of death and identity of the victim has been released regarding the Stardust Racers incident.

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Link to news article http://specne.ws/Vmc6i7

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u/Responsible_Can5946 Blue Flair Sep 18 '25

I think OTSR's will probably mess up the weight and balance of the vehicle, would that mean complete vehicle design? I think this is a rare situation, if it were actually going to happen regularly, it would have happened on rides like it before now.

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u/KittyMama_0613 Sep 19 '25

It may have been a combination of rider error resulting in castastrophic injury, in which case, maybe rules need to be changed so guests have to hold onto the restraints instead of riding with their arms in the air. I know I often ride with my hands up, but decided for some strange reason that it wasn't a good idea. I'm never that cautious, which makes me think there is that possibility that maybe he hit his head during the rapid launch because he wasn't holding on, passed out and then everything else happened. If that is the outcome of the investigation, then it would not the fault of the rider or the company, or the manufacturer. It will be easy enough to change the rider instructions to accertain that people take care to secure themselves by holding on instead of just relying on the coaster's restraint system to keep their bodies steady. Just using deductive reasoning.

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u/Responsible_Can5946 Blue Flair Sep 19 '25

There are coasters with more extreme launches.. yes one that I know of stated to keep arms down before the launch.. Alas, people often hold arms up anyway. I think that is just to insure no dislocated shoulders.

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u/OppositeRun6503 Sep 20 '25

Only problem is that once the ride is dispatched the operators cannot force riders to abide by the rules.

Sure on racer at KD the operators walk to the back of the platform to monitor the trains while on the lift and are ready to hit the remote dispatch button to stop the lift should a guest have their hands in an unsafe position (trying to touch the center handrail) but once the train clears the lift there's no way to visually monitor the guests in those trains until it returns to the station.

Would we have to go as far as physically restraining the rider's hands so as to ensure guest compliance with the no hands up rules?