The 2011 "Ride of Steel" Accident | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror 

At one point in time, about 15 years ago, it was determined that I was too fat for one of the coasters at Knott's Berry Farm. Was it embarrassing to be in that situation? Of course it was. That said, thanks to the kids running the ride not being terrified of addressing me over a safety issue, I was not hurled to my death! Since then, I've lost 200lbs, and am coaster-ready.

A key piece of information was left out of this story. The staff tried to keep the Sgt. off the ride, specifically because he didn't meet the "you need both legs" rule. He threw a fit and threatened to sue for discrimination... so the staff backed off and let him on. I lived near Darien Lake and this was massive news for what seemed like ages.

Fascinating Horror should re-upload this with information about how the veteran actually was belligerent and intimidated the workers into letting him ride on threat of a discrimination lawsuit

This is almost entirely the guest’s fault. He was too short for the ride, was rude to staff, and ignored procedures/rules. The staff should have intervened and not let him on but he had blatantly disregarded all rules and even threatened to sue. This is why we listen to the attendants and follow the rules. Worst case scenario, if they refused to let him on, he sues and the suit is thrown out because of the clear rules that have been in place for however long the park existed and he’d be alive today. However, he just had to throw a tantrum about it and force them to let him on. Edit: I also wanna say that (this isn’t an excuse at all but) I get why the staff had been so intimidated and gave in. Yes, they still should have intervened but put yourselves in their shoes, y’all. These kids are fresh outta high school being screamed at and threatened by a double amputee war vet, they were probably scared as hell. My job isn’t even close to as potentially life-threatening but people get in my face, yell, and make threats all the time (yay Hospital work). It’s real easy to get intimidated or scared, especially if you’ve never been put in the situation before. I think it was wrong of them to let him on but I totally understand why they might have given in.

7:45 Ride attendants DID challenge him… several times. They also noticed he had no legs and DID take action. They actually did attempt to refuse him a few times, however Mr. Hackemer unfortunately pulled the discrimination card and threatened to sue. I wish he was actually kind and complacent like in the video. I’m upset the family sued too. :(

This is in my back yard and this was huge news. The ride operators definitely tried to refuse him to ride, but he basically threw a huge tantrum and threatened to sue for discrimination. He intimidated the young ride staff into letting him kill himself. A very unfortunate situation, but I've not heard anyone put most of the blame on the staff. They tried to do their job and he still got on the ride. But he was doing what he wanted to do! I hope that staff was assured that they should kick off anyone who was clearly unfit to ride, no matter what they threatened.

When I worked for a Cedar Point Amusement Park, during our training we were shown Sergeant Hackemer’s story to remind us to NEVER let a guest on with this kind of disability. We were even trained to deal with threats against the workers if we didn’t allow them on if they weren’t tall enough, didn’t fit the seat, etc. We screwed safety protocols into our 16 year old heads to prevent any accidents. I still think about this story even long after I stopped working for Cedar Fair. This guy survived the war but not a roller coaster 😭

As a veteran of Iraq myself, I am surprised at the Sergeants actions… I looked at the pamphlet for Disabled persons, the Superman ride was clearly not allowed… seems to me the park did their due diligence, the signs were in place and legible, the pamphlets were offered and provided…I dont think the family should have gotten anything, he was obviously being careless and disrespectful. A soldier should know better, we literally have it grilled into us to pay attention to details. And always have the right gear and safety in mind.

Hey, just wanted to say thanks for the good subtitles. I like to watch youtube with a hard of hearing friend, and we really appreciate creators that actually subtitle their vids instead of using the auto generation.

The victim’s family said “he died doing what he wanted to do,” if they really felt that way, why did they sue the park? He chose to put himself in harms way, but others had to pay for that.

Was at Six Flags with a good friend a few years back, and she's a pretty heavy set person. When we tried to get on the Batman, the safety bar wouldn't lock when the attendant tried to secure it on her. The guy, who probably wasn't much older than our teenage selves, was clearly awkward and uncomfortable telling her she couldn't ride because of her weight, but after watching this, I'm now eternally grateful that he withstood that undesirable situation and didn't let her on...

You can literally just read on the wikipedia about how hard the ride attendants fought to not allow him to ride. It delayed the ride for ten minutes, with how long he argued that he should be able to board.

I've worked this ride, and worked with the employees who were working it that day. The lap bar was working properly and locked into place; he downplayed his condition and was very rude to the operators. The ride operators WERE aware of the rules, and fought him about it. Obviously the ride should have never left the station to begin with, but he was told. And got into the seat anyway. We are not allowed to help guests into their seat, so it was one of his own family members that put him in there.

I lived nearby when this happened. I remember clearly it was reported that the staff did warn him and his family that he can't, but they made a big fuss and threatened to sue for discrimination. That's what was reported when it happened.

My sister was there for this, I used to live in Holland NY and they were having a field trip for her class, she told me that she remembers them telling the guy he couldn’t go on because of his disabilities. And then he died before she could get on next. She told me everybody was in shock and didn’t say anything. That’s all I remember.

Love Fascinating Horror, but this story was spun the wrong way, leaving me to question future spin on these stories. The vet purposely ignored and lied about knowing safety measures and procedures. It was the vet’s own damn fault. He was too arrogant and pig headed. Some have claimed he was a complete a**hole to staff about riding the coaster. Playing the, ”I can do anything” card when in reality he clearly couldn’t. And his family sued when it was their fault. This video made him look like some heroic victim, when he was wasn’t. Vets can be moronic idiots just like those who did not serve and were at fault in prior videos. You do not need to sugar coat this guy all because he served in the military.

As a former ride op for Six Flags, I'd have to say back in the 80's-90's you had to recert every season like supervisors as well. The guest "MUST" have enough limb to stay under restraint. NO single riders on certain rides. Head CAN NOT be taller from the top of head rest. I had a fellow that wanted to ride a launch coaster. His head was taller than the headrest. I told him he couldn't ride. He waited for a super to tell his dumb arse his neck would snap during the launch! 0-60 MPH! in 4 seconds. He wouldn't get off until told to. Hot summer in Houston, with line growing longer. GeeeeZZZZ!

As a New Yorker nearish Darien Lake, I can say that the comments that mention how the staff did warn him is correct. Along with Mr. Hackemer challenging the staff, I remember hearing there was pressure from the guests in line to let him ride as well.

I've lived in WNY all of my life. I can assure you that employees told him he was not allowed to ride. There are only two restraint devices on the ride, both going over your thighs. The man had threatened to sue for discrimination if he was not alllowed on. Being young and most definitely nervous the employees gave through and let him on. This story was NEVER aired on national news due to being cleared up about a year after the incident occured. You can go to our local news, WIVB, and look at the story yourself there. I usually don't comment on videos, but those facts need to be cleared up.

It's always startling to me how little emphasis people place on personal responsibility.

So he declined a pamphlet claiming he had one already. He obviously didn't read it then. He declined assistance onto the ride, a point at which an assistant may have challenged him about his height. It may have been clear at that point that the restraining bar wouldn't be suitable. I've known people with disabilities get very angry with people offering help. If these operators were young they may have felt intimidated. I don't see why the blame was put solely on the park. Nobody takes responsibility for their own actions anymore.

I feel sorry for the nephew who had to saw his uncle sitting next to him being ejected from the ride, that is life time trauma.

The fact that the rules say "you must have two legs" and him literally not having any legs is hilarious in a very messed up way.

When I worked on a ride in Disney world, it wasn’t uncommon where we would have to redirect guests to another attraction because of their disabilities could potentially cause harm to them if they rode our ride. Once I had to height check a little person to make sure she was tall enough to ride. I felt so bad for asking but we had to be sure she would be able to ride safely.

I live near this park and have been on this ride several times myself. This was huge news when this happened and I remember clearly that when reporting about it, it was stated that he threatened to sue the park for discrimination. It's a sad story all around, after this they added a second further restraint and are super strict with how it fits and do not hesitate to ask people to get off.

Believe me or not, I actually worked a few summers at this exact park. Granted my time there was a couple years after this incident (2014-2016) but my first summer there I worked rides and let me tell you, the scars of this incident were everywhere in the way they trained and how quickly they transferred ANY employee that made ANY kind of safety violations during ride procedures there. I myself was transferred to the water park for the remainder of the summer after I made an error securing the door on a seat of the Ferris Wheel (there was no one in that particular cart so no one was in danger but the mere mistake was enough to get me booted). I never personally worked Ride of Steel but I heard from employees that did just how much they were watchdogged to get everything right after this. The sheer stress of the process gave me terrible nightmares and paranoia while working the job so i'm glad that I got into the midway games from then on. They were not messing around with the safety of the park after this. All this being said, I can also speak to the sheer belligerence of Guests at the park when they are even remotely told not to do something in line or God forbid being prevented from riding the ride. While I can only speculate based on rumors and talk from employees that were there when it happened the story I heard was that this man and/or his relatives were pretty actively hostile towards the ride operators and refused any and all interaction with them as alluded to in the video. There was absolutely no ability for the operators to do their job much less want to deal with another irate and impatient Guest. I'm not making excuses for them nor saying that this man's death was anything short of a tragedy, but if what they went through at the time was even a fraction of what I did years later I can understand how this happened especially since there were probably dozens if not hundreds of other Guests in line also giving them a hard time. Just for a personal example, I was once threatened with physical violence from an enormous adult man for preventing him from trying to take his tiny child onto a ride she was less than half the height required to go on. People will go to extraordinary lengths to get what they want and sometimes overworked and stressed employees simply don't have the courage and/or the authority to stop them. Apologies for this comment being really long but seeing this video pop up randomly in my suggested videos brought back some memories XD

I went to this park as a kid and wanted to go on the ride of steel, but I was too small. My parents vehemently told me height and size restrictions are there for a reason. Crazy to think it happened on the exact ride they said that about.

I’m from Buffalo and rode this coaster many many times, and if you have, then you KNOW you needed legs to securely ride as the force literally would lift you out of your seat. The bar / guard pressed down tightly on you upper thighs, so yeah you needed to have legs 🤷🏾‍♀️

I think the family needs to be held accountable, too. How they looked at that coaster and thought; "hey, you're missing the main thing holding you in place on this high- speed, g-force ride, so, yeah, let's totally try our luck, lol!" is genuinely beyond my understanding.

Apparently it’s pretty well known that staff definitely told him he could not ride and he threatened to sue. I don’t understand why this video explicitly says he was not warned. Like it would be horrific either way, but this way there’s some undeserved blame on the staff. Obviously they should have refused him to board the ride regardless of his threats.

He's absolutely partially responsible! There is no way he could have possibly looked at a ride with a lap bar and not thought there was a risk. He chose to attempt to ride anyway. He put himself in a position where someone else's questionable decision making lead to his death. A drop of common sense on his part would have prevented this.

Ironically... I know the guest who was injured (he was given a huge pile of money), and I was also there the day James had passed away. Walking towards the Ride of Steel we were immediately stopped by a group of staff telling everyone to move back and turn around. My friend looked at my and said 'Jeez, they act like someone died or something.'

Yeah I'm not sure I'd be blaming staff. If you're getting on a ride that holds you in by your legs, it's probably better to have some legs.

Why is it always somebody else's fault? The Sgt refused to read or acknowledge the safety warning for the handicapped. Nobody takes responsibilities for their own doing anymore.

As a disabled person and reading the comments covering the way this man actually behaved, it is not discrimination if it is a rule to keep you from dying or being seriously harmed. His behavior screams of someone who does not understand that disability does, in fact, mean there are things you /cannot do/. The narrative of "disabled people can do anything", while well intentioned, is not true and lets people in denial of their disability put themselves in extremely dangerous situations to prove a point. Disabled people can do anything in terms of living fulfilling lives, not defy the laws of physics and riding a rollercoaster /clearly/ identified as unsafe for you. I do feel bad that someone lost their life, but if he harassed workers who were basically children into letting him on despite their better judgement, then he is the dumbass who ignored the warning label.

I remember the horror of riding roller coaster with my grandma when some rides didn't have height restrictions and the restraint was a single lap bar for the 2 person car. She was very heavy leaving a solid foot between me and the bar. I had to hold on for dear life. Maybe that's why I still have dreams about riding a coaster with no restraints.

Such a shame - a true accident. When I was about 7-8 yrs. old, my parents & I were at an amusement park, which had a roller coaster I wanted to ride very much. I was too small to ride, but the operator told my parents that if 1 of them ride with me, I could ride. My mom was terrified to ride, so my dad, who'd been drinking a bit, said he'd ride with me. Well, when we created the big drop, I literally came up out of the car. My dad snatched me back in, & sat on me until the ride was over. When we got off, my mom told dad he was white as a sheet, & he told her, "I was drunk when I got on, but I'm sober as a judge now!". I was VERY lucky.

Honestly according to people who were there when it happened, he was being stubborn. Yes, we can blame the workers for not being stern enough to maybe call security or explain. However, his death is also his responsibility. Suddenly living with disability can distress someone and make them wanna live "normal", that's understandable..but to simply being ignorant about safety and wanting to be treated like everyone else in this matter is plain stupidity. It's just very unfair to put all the blame on the teenager workers when a middle aged vet man also kept pushing and demanding to be let on the ride.

I go to Darien lake every other year or so and let me tell you that the ride of steal has a horizontal seatbelt at your waist and another horizontal bar at the waist too, your legs are the main thing keeping you in it, the fact he was allowed to ride without legs is insane to me

We covered this story back then on CF, and you've missed the part where the guy was determined to ride and basically put himself in the seat. It changes the feel a lot the way youve reported it in this video. Otherwise, good job,

How nice of the world to blame the staff; can't speak ill of a dead veteran...seriously, if the ride keeps you safe with a lap bar, and you don't have a lap...it was totally on Mr. Hackemer to have the slightest bit of common sense, and not put ride operators in the position of having to remind him of such basic stuff. No one wants to say no to a guy in a wheelchair, so sometimes, guys in wheelchairs have to think about that.

Things to avoid after watching this channel: -Amusement Parks -Ships -Planes -Clubs -Shoppingmalls -The ice cream parlor

as a ride op i’ve had to deal with many guests like this and its incredibly concerning the lengths people will go to when they are in denial. im glad when there was unruly guests who were adamant their child should ride when the kid was clearly not meeting the coaster requirements, my supervisors were quick to step in and remove them from the platform.

“He died doing what he loved/feeling normal” Uhhh, yeah until the overwhelming terror of impending death hit him.

The fact that the family sued the park was the real fascinating horror here.

This is just so sad. As a former ride operator, I can understand that when you're processing tons of guests, it can get stressful and require multitasking. But I feel like the training I received was very thorough and that there's no way I'd have let a double amputee ride our rides where ejection might be a concern. (Then again, that was at a Disney park, and they tend to have more intensive training in general.)

I am a Buffalo, NY native I was 13 years old and at the park on the date of this incident. I saw this man in line for the ride, as I was getting on and off….. I remember being so disturbed that I saw him in line after I learned what happened later that day. Seeing this video just made me remember this forgotten memory. Thank you for covering something near my home town!

Yikes! I'm in no danger of getting on a coaster voluntarily in the foreseeable future, but that's a good thing, because I'm also a double amputee.

Few things: Rider was well aware that his disability was significant enough that it wasn’t safe to ride everything. So much so that he specifically went to ask staff about it. Declined a pamphlet he or his wife could carry around and read requirements. The rider had prosthetic limbs, but despite the fact that they could have greatly improved his experience at the park, left them at home. I guarantee the “if I don’t wear my prosthetics and am in a wheelchair we can cut lines easier and not be questioned”. I’ve never known anyone disabled who didn’t say this… they usually have the “well if I have to live disabled then taking full advantage of handicap accommodations is one of the few benefits I will utilize in places like Disney etc” Rider gets on the ride having no conversation with staff or taking time to read the sign that says you have to have two legs. I’m sorry but this entire situation was his fault not the park. He was very well informed and knew his disability was a safety hazard on some rides but was grossly negligent. This was comparable to sitting in a seat at the emergency door on a plane for extra foot room knowing you can’t physically open that door if sht goes down. Signs literally saying “don’t sit here if you think you might be unable to open the door” are posted on the door and flight attendants even say you can change seats if you feel you can’t properly operate the escape door. Plane has accident and family wants to sue saying their loved one was unable to open the door and flight staff should have interrogated him about his ability to sit there. A woman just fell through a draw bridge that was lifting despite alarms, flashing lights, and the ground literally moving in front of her. She wasn’t blind or deaf and thought she could do what she wanted and now her family will sue bc she made poor choices. People need to be held responsible for dumb/reckless sht they do. It’s not “victim blaming” bc they aren’t a victim.

Glad to see other WNY locals filling in some of the gaps. I don't feel bad for this dude, like at all, but I feel bad for the teenage ride opperators that likely got traumatized from this. It's not their fault.

"Dumbass died, please revisit your training" Joke aside apparently the dude got angry about not being able to ride and threatened to sue for discrimination. That's why he was allowed on, that's why he flew off of the rails and onto the asphalt where he met his final fate. Well, he certainly got the thrills he paid for. All it cost was a big post-mortem settlement. Hope it was worth it!

I lean towards the veteran being at significant fault in this case. I find i most reasonable that the veteran knew and understood that while it was _on paper_ or "officially" unsafe, in practical terms he would be safe and in no danger while on the ride. I'm going to look into this incident in search of greater detail since the content style of FH is on the lighter side. But I do find it significant that in this short video alone there are two separate instances of the veteran declining help/assistance/advice from ride attendants on-site. It's fair to believe this would have contributed to increasing any psychological unsteadiness ride staff were attempting to navigate. To find yourself in a situation like this, caught completely off-guard, where you're suddenly in a position where you've got to put on this authoritarian demeanor for the purpose of having to to tell a grown, double amputee to kick rocks.

I appreciate the sympathy for the young park staff. I’m sure this event haunts them, if it were me I’d always regret I didn’t say something in time.

I was in High School when this event took place, and live about 45 minutes from the park. I can remember everyone being confused as to why a man with no legs was allowed to board the ride. We were all familiar with the restraint system, which entirely secures one's legs, but nothing else. There's a lap belt, shin braces, and a lap bar. Three points of contact, all on the lower extremities. Very unfortunate event, and I'm pretty sure everyone who lives in the area remembers when it happened.

I live near here. I remember feeling bad for the kid running the ride because he originally refused to let the man on the ride, but he became argumentative. He was a veteran and threatened to sue the park unless he was let on... in a way, it was his own fault.

I’ve ridden this coaster many times from the first year it was built. I once saw the operators refuse to let someone ride because they were too fat. The man was very angry. (I can’t remember if that was before or after this incident occurred.) I can tell you, even in the front seat, you get a lot of air time on this coaster. I’d never attempt it if I had no legs like him.

He threatened to sue when the attendants did stop him. So they let him get on... That's kind of an important part here that is left off.

You always tell these stories with so much compassion while remaining unbiased and objective. It’s difficult to say who was in the wrong. He probably thought that the height restrictions were for children and figured his torso was of a grown adult man and the ride harnesses would have taken care of him. Then assumed staff would stop him if it were unsafe. I know I would have struggled to tell someone no at that age as well. They probably still lived with Mum and Dad and still think that adults always know what’s best. It also difficult to dictate to a differently abled bodied person what they can and cannot do.

Just over this spring break a 14-year-old boy here in Florida fell from a slingshot ride in one of the amusement parks and he died on impact. There’s a video that shows him being launched out of the ride and you can literally hear the thump he made when he fell. I’m hoping his story will be on here. In my opinion I kind of blame the workers because not only did they tell him he couldn’t go onto other rides because he was overweight But they let him go on that one knowing he was overweight and that poor boy knew that he was at secured inside of his seat so the sad part is he knew he was going to die. It’s all over the news and it’s pretty interesting so if you’re interested you could look it up

i'm 4'11" at ~120lbs and one of my biggest fears is being too small for a coaster. Half the time I don't feel secure in the harnesses at all and it really sucks bc i cant make my torso longer or something so there's no way to fix the issue. can't even enjoy the ride most the time because I'm holding on for dear life.

This one has always bothered me. To me, it’s on the guest to have enough common sense to know that if you’re lacking legs, you can’t go on a ride that secures you by the legs and waist. It’s just good sense.

I remember this being on the news. As others have said, it was reported that he WAS confronted and told it wasn't safe, but that he insisted, and they backed down because yeah, they were young. Rumors went around like wildfire that he had claimed he would sue the park for disability discrimination, but I don't remember any news outlets saying that. One other thing I remember is that for the rest of the year, they took down their TV ads, at least out where I was. Some said it was out of respect, and others said it was to save money for the ongoing lawsuit.

when i started working for an amusement park as a ride operator this incident was referenced as the reason we are strict about accessibility guests

Dude, your channel is one of the only few things on YT that I watch in 1.0x speed. Your storytelling is just too great to skim over. Cheers! :)

The attendants probably thought "well, he knows what he's able to do" and "someone else would've stopped him by now" and didn't speak up.

So, picking this up from reading other comments, imagine you’re working on a ride as a young teen, and this disabled vet doesn’t meet the requirements for the ride, unfortunately. Would you have the confidence to try and stop him despite the risk of possibly pissing him AND other people off? I probably wouldn’t. Really feel for the staff on this one.

Love your channel, saves me a fortune on theme park trips as I show it to the kids who are now terrified of theme parks!

I like these channels that give trustworthy sources to their stories! Subscribed immediately!

I was there the day this happened! A local reporter tried to talk to us to see what had happened but we were shooed away by my mother. We then went home to discover that one of my sister's friends had been killed in a hit and run a few hours earlier. Unimaginably wild day.

It sounds to me like bringing a hat on a rollercoaster is a spectacularly bad idea. Dying in an attempt to retrieve a lost hat is a surprisingly common theme in ride accident reports. Maybe this guy could even have survived the ride if he had held on with both hands at all times, instead of reaching for his hat. Then again, if one's safety on the ride depends on hanging on with both hands, the situation is not remotely safe at all.

I’ve ridden this thing probably a hundred times in my life and can definitely see why he flew out. You’re more than weightless at the top of those hills you’re being forced out of your seat

Reading all the comments here about how this guy acted makes me appreciate how many times this kind of thing has probably been avoided, either by good training or counter-belligerence by the staff. These were teenagers running this thing, I can't blame them for being intimidated and letting the guy ride, and at the same time I can't imagine how many accidents have been avoided in theme parks through history because the people running the ride were sticklers for the rules... we hear about these horrible accidents, but we don't hear about all the times it could have happened and didn't. Good on all those ride operators out there who have refused to be intimidated, or called a guest's bluff on suing the park.

Considering the number of times in other professions that I or other coworkers were hesitant to enforce rules because 95% of the time trying to results in a half hour of the person screaming at the top of their lungs at you, then having your manager come up and decide to "make an exception this once" to make the customer happy despite them blatantly being in the wrong... Yeah, I can easily see a gaggle of teenagers not wanting to go through that, especially with the added stress of it looking like you're "picking on the disabled person".

The real takeaway here is never wear a hat on a rollercoaster.

I’ve been on this ride and I’m not surprised that this happened after this ride uses lap bars instead of the shoulder ones like most coasters. And I understand he probably wanted to have “fun” but it’s never worth risking your life for. And In a way it sounds like he didn’t care about the idea of risking his life if he had to Manipulate the staff to let him on.

Also, the people in the line were chanting, "LET HIM ON! LET HIM ON!" After watching him scream at the ride operators.

Yeah, this dude should have been his own advocate. It’s unfortunate what happened, but c’mon; he was old enough, and had enough life experience, to know that he ultimately needed to educate himself on which rides were safe for him at any given amusement park before showing up, not blindly trusting a handful of teenagers getting paid minimum wage!

I felt bad for the staff who were probably intimidated by the thought of telling a middle-aged war veteran that he couldn't ride the coaster while watching the video, but the comments have informed me that they did their best and he was just a brat about it. In a sense, he got what was coming to him, he refused to acknowledge that rules exist for a reason and basically bullied his way onto a ride that he could not ride safely. Dumbass…

I really appreciate how you talked about the young people who were attendants on the ride. I didn’t think about them in the way you did until you explained how it probably was for them dealing with it at the time. I feel for the attendants and the victim’s family. Never for these huge corporations who get away with this stuff

If this is about the severely physically disabled veteran who fell off it's important to note that employees did tell him which rides were safe for disabled guests. He refused an information pamphlet about which rides were safe for physically disabled guests. There were signs posted on the ride itself that riders must have two legs to ride, which he either didn't see or ignored. The narrative that he wasn't warned by staff is a complete fabrication. If you would like to hear an accurate telling of this story Coaster College's video on the topic discusses a lot of misconceptions around this accident.

I grew up near Darian Lake and love the water park. This is probably one of the few times you have covered an accident at an amusement park that was NOT a case of park management ignoring maintenance/safety warnings until it was too late. Edit: Okay, for my fellow locals, I'm from Clarence in Erie County.

Love this channel so much, something so relaxing about just letting these lil disaster vids run in the background 😌😌

Title should be: "Man with too much pride argues his way onto death trap"

I always felt badly for his nephew. I couldn’t even imagine watching a family flying through the air. Plus the attendants did question him and it turned into a huge fight.

Sgt. had too much pride and not enough common sense. I get what he wanted and the dynamics of how it would be almost impossible for the attendants to challenge his wishes. He put himself and everyone else in a no win scenario. Yeah technically the park has some legal responsibility in this, but this is the same as someone not wearing a seatbelt and having a fatal accident that could have been avoided if belted in and then suing the car maker. Sad.

Even before reading the comments you could basically guess what had really gone down here. It's sad that we now live in such a pampered society that people refuse to take any form of personal responsibility for their own actions. While Sergeant Hackemer's story undoubtedly is a sad one, I think we draw the wrong conclusion of this particular event if we just say: More staff-training is needed.

I grew up 15 minutes from darien lake. As soon as we heard about this, no one could even believe he was let on the ride. Or got in the seat and decided to stay on the roller coaster. The restraint bar is literally on your hip. Your legs keep you in. There is only a restraint bar, nothing else. It is almost impossible to not fall out if you don’t have legs, let alone are missing a hip. The part that he fell off the ride during is near the end, and if you are a small person you end up bouncing around in your seat a little and you can feel the strong force trying to take you upwards. This is just unbelievable that something preventable like this would have happened. But, there are mostly kids working the rides at this park. I have heard that this man bullied his way onto the ride. It is the only logical explanation. The kids working the rides and people who frequent darien lake know very well about how the restraints work. Part of the ride being so thrilling is that you feel like you should have more than just a lap bar holding you in. So yeah, this was preventable completely.

As someone who used to work rides at Kings Island, it's interesting to have it pointed out how another park handles prep for guests with disabilities. At Kings Island, at least when I worked there almost ten years ago, guests would go to a desk at the front and answer some questions, typically about mobility, limb control, mental capacity, etc. and then be given a filled out form (either in pink or green, which would determine whether they go through the line or go up the exit). The form had checks next to each ride that was safe for them to ride so they and ride attendants would know ahead of time and would allow for speedier, more consistent work. It would also make things smoother for the guest as they wouldn't have to go through a process they might feel embarrassed having to do at each ride. If a guest came to our ride who was unable to, we would recommend another ride that was available to them that was nearby. Granted, they would have to get a new form every time they came to the park, but that was to ensure there wasn't a change in what they could and couldn't do since their last visit that could put them in danger on a ride they were previously safe on. At the time, it felt like a fairly standard system and I always thought every park had this sort of thing in place, if not, something better.

I live 20 minutes away from this park and they have season passes which pay for themselves if you go just twice. So I spent a lot of time here growing up. To get over my fear of roller coasters the ride of steel was the first one I rode back in 2001. Absolutely loved it. It’s more uncomfortable now with the added safety measures but I wanted to add that the attendants actually did stop him from getting on at first but he made a scene and threatened to sue the park for discrimination.

Darien Lake, where this ride is, is local to me and I’ve visited the park tons of times. I’ve been underweight and on the shorter side my whole life, as an adult I‘m 5 feet tall, 85 lbs. My dad never let me ride the Ride of Steel, and to this day I‘m still afraid of going anywhere near it due to my height and how narrow I am

I’ve ridden this many times, well aware of this story, and every time we come around that section it always gives me chills. I’ve been waiting for a video to be made on this ride Edit: loved reading the stories and comments made by people who live near Darien Lake! Hiiii :)

It wasn't really about his height. The seatbelt and restraints clamp onto your waist and legs. Without legs you can slide out of the restraints. He would need a restraint that went over your shoulders.

Being an ex ride operator while growing up, I can safely say that it's a difficult job that often goes by unnoticed. Parents especially can be extremely rude and uncaring, because I guess when they're on vacation they're allowed to leave basic human decency at the park entrance. Due to this, most just kinda go about our business until it becomes monotonous. So some mental fatigue absolutely sets in. Then again, they aren't hiring engineers to run these rides. They're hiring late teens, early 20s people and paying barely more than minimum wage, so it's not like the financial incentive is there. If they hired enough people with proper training and paid them well enough to care more, park tickets would cost WAY more than they already do, and I'm sure wouldn't bring in as much money. So, kinda a bad situation in all areas. Anyway, ill get off my soap box lol great video as always!

Oh shit. I've been to that amusement park a couple of times. I went on a haunted house ride there once when I was like. Maybe 5? It was me and a friend. The ride operator was drunk. He forgot we were inside the haunted house. He turned the ride off before our cart exited... Needless to say, my mom was furious. I have this incredibly vivid memory of being in the middle of a haunted house as a child, and then pitch black. No sound. It was exactly as terrifying as you can imagine. We decided to get out of the cart, because nothing was happening and it was pitch black inside of a haunted house lol. We ended up tripping on the tracks that the carts rode on and I remember that both of us were covered in black grease by the time we got out. Eventually, the ride turned back on. I will never forget the sight of the cart going through the doors at the exit, suddenly allowing the daylight to pour in. We knew where to go. And we went.

The man threatened to sue for discrimination if they didn't let him on when they tried to stop him. He sure didn't deserve to die, but he definitely takes some of the blame.

I have a Ride of Steel story! I live right near Darien Lake, and I remember when this happened...I’ve ridden it lots of times since, but I’ve gotten more and more nervous over time (not their fault, just me getting older, I think). The last time I tried to ride it, several years ago, I was in a group of three, and I was the odd one who was going to ride alone. A very drunk man was in line behind me being creepy, standing close and taking selfies angled to get me in them. I was so uncomfortable, and I told the girls I was with, “if he tries to sit next to me I’m not even going to ride,” and sure enough when it was our turn he crowded me so that I had to sit in the far seat and he could sit next to me, so I got up and walked right out the exit line without riding. I was so upset, having waited in line for so long in the heat. I waited at the exit for the rest of my group. Almost as soon as the ride started, right as they were cresting the first hill, there was a sudden downpour...my friends got totally blasted by the rain and soaked. The ride obviously doesn’t run in the rain for a reason, and when the ride ended, the brakes couldn’t quite grab the slick tracks enough and the train slid a little bit past the end position, which meant the restraints couldn’t release. So my friends were stuck on the ride until the attendants could get it into the correct position to allow their restraints to release. And the drunk man who I would have been riding with if I hadn’t left went completely nuts, screaming and swearing and flailing around and my friends were so freaked out by him (he was in the seats directly behind them) that one of them ended up panicking and crying, and in the end I’m just really grateful I didn’t ride next to him because I would have been stuck there. Obviously, the rain shut down pretty much the whole park and they gave us vouchers to come back another day. Which we did!

i remember being a tiny underfed kid who had a lot of issues with not being the right size/weight for rides and so i would end up trying my best to pretend to be bigger than i was to sneak onto them. i remember a time on the tower of terror at disneyland during the freefall my dad and a stranger had to pull me down as i lifted out of my seat. that instance didn't bother me because a foot drop didn't hurt very much and it was kinda fun anyways. i was never afraid of rollercosters until at a seasonal fair i was upside down 100ft in the air and feeling myself move through the chest restraints. it was genuinely painful holding on and i think i only barely did it. i didn't have the most attentive parents so till this day no one really knows about how i felt clinging to bars too large for me knowing if i gave into how much it hurt i'd die. anyways, now you do

I remember growing up going to this amusement park and hearing the story at the age of 9. It scared all of us, none of us knew if it was true but , when we did find the truth out it made the ride more scary.

While I do understand the vet for wanting to be treated like a "normal" human being, he clearly should not have been let in. Today, the family would not win a court case IMHO because there would be footage available from 46 angles and sound recording of him bullying his way to the ride. Of course it's tragical. But who in their right mind expected a 20 year old to stand in the way of a 40-ish combat veteran? Frankly, if you are warned and there are signs then if you enter it should be your responsibility from that point. You WANTED it.

Letting the guy ride was really a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Imagine the alternate headline: "Disabled veteran told he can't ride rollercoaster." Cue boycotts, negative media attention and maybe even a lawsuit. That's a tough choice to lay on some kid making $12/hour.