Credit: MJRGoblin via FlickrGuests recently had a terrifying experience when a high-speed roller coaster stalled mid-ride.
Roller coasters may be designed to give you a thrill, but in reality, they’re far safer than their biggest haters may assume. Your odds of getting injured on a roller coaster are extremely slim – in fact, they’re lower than your odds of being struck by lightning – with every ride designed with strict safety measures in mind.
However, there is always a possibility of the unexpected. In recent weeks, we’ve seen multiple “rare” instances occur at theme parks across the world, from a deadly derailment at Gröna Lund in Sweden, to the ominous crack that appeared in the support pillar of Carowinds’ Fury 325.
On Monday (July 3), another unexpected incident occurred at the Wild Adventures theme park in Georgia. A sudden stall brought the Park’s Boomerang roller coaster to an abrupt halt, leaving the train stuck on the track.
Related: Guests Stuck Hundreds of Feet In the Air After Terrifying Malfunction
Speaking to local news station WALB-TV, a young Guest described how getting stuck on the roller coaster left him in need of a paramedic.
“My heart was hurting,” said Rishon Phillips. “I was crying. They put me in a wheelchair to send me to the medic part of the theme park.”
Phillips’ cousin also spoke to the station, explaining that “it was going good when we first got on, but when it was time to drop to go backwards, it got stuck. We didn’t know anything until my cousin walked up and started yelling to us that the ride was stuck.”
According to a statement given by Wild Adventures, the sudden stop was “triggered by a safety feature activation,” and riders were stuck for approximately 10 minutes before the ride continued. However, it turns out that Guests weren’t too happy about being forced to continue on the ride.
“Instead of them letting them get off the ride while it was stuck, they made us finish the ride out knowing that everybody was scared. So, it was kind of shaky for everybody that was on the ride,” Kennedi Anderson told WALB-TV.
Wild Adventures spokesperson insists that the Park’s “ride inspection practices meet ASTM F24 standards and follow manufacturer inspection requirements. This practice includes daily inspections of ride components before the park opens. Wild Adventures conducts additional supplementary inspections based on each ride’s manufacturer requirements and internal operational standards.”
Have you ever had a scary experience on a roller coaster? Let us know in the comments!