World’s Fastest-Accelerating Coaster Suspended Because Riders Keep Breaking Their Bones
upstart writes:
World's Fastest-Accelerating Coaster Suspended Because Riders Keep Breaking Their Bones:
The fastest-accelerating roller coaster in the world has been suspended until further notice, after multiple customers reported broken bones from the ride.
Since December, at least six riders sustained bone fractures after riding Do-Dodonpa," a roller coaster that goes at super death" speed in [Japan's] popular Fuji-Q Highland Park, the park's operator said. Four of them said they broke their neck or back, a spokesperson for the park told VICE World News.
[...] Built in 2001, the ride goes from 0 to 180 kilometers (or 112 miles) per hour in 1.56 seconds, making it the fastest-accelerating roller coaster in the world. But the park said it was the first time riders broke their bones on the ride since it went into operation two decades ago.
In 2017, the ride was even modified to bring the top speed from 172 kilometers per hour to 180, but the park said there were no reports of serious injuries, including bone fractures, until December.
No technical issues were found upon initial investigation, according to Fuji-Q Highland. The ride's manufacturing company, Sansei Technologies, apologized to the injured customers but said it also didn't know what caused the injuries.
Roller coaster rides that result in severe injury are rare. Thelast[sic] roller coaster-related death in the country was reported in 2007, when an axle on a car broke during a ride in Expoland in Osaka and sent the roller coaster crashing into a guardrail.
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