Jun 29 2008
South Carolina Teen Decapitated By Roller Coaster
A teenager was decapitated by a roller coaster after he hopped a pair of fences and entered a restricted area Saturday at Six Flags Over Georgia, authorities said.
Six Flags officials are uncertain why the unidentified 17-year-old from Columbia, S.C. scaled two six-foot fences and passed signs that said the restricted area was both off-limits and dangerous to visitors, spokeswoman Hela Sheth said in a news release.
Authorities were investigating reports from witnesses who said the teenager jumped the fences to retrieve a hat he lost while riding the Batman roller coaster, said Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce. Police have declined to release the teenager’s name until an autopsy is completed.
The teen was struck and killed by the roller coaster “while it was in operation,” according to the park’s news release. Police said the ride was going full-speed when the teen was struck.
I’ve read about this on a few different message forums and have seen some pretty harsh comments regarding this kid’s fatal lack of judgment. I’ve seen accusations of this incident being “Darwinism in action,” or “thinning the herd.” I’m not going to say anything that crass. Sure, those comments may be true. What the kid did was totally stupid, but let’s all remember how much common sense we had back at that age. Anyone who never took a stupid and/or dangerous risk when they were young raise your hand. (Anyone who raises their hand is a liar) When you’re that age you have a false confidence that you are somehow “bullet proof.” Generally, you wise up as you get older, though some never do. It’s a sad tragedy and the family deserves everyone’s deepest sympathies….
For now.
This is where I become polically incorrect. I guarantee that somewhere right now there is a filthy, blood sucking lawyer who is salivating at the opportunity of calling up this kid’s parents and encouraging them go after Six Flags for tens of millions, all for his own greed. It doesn’t matter that there were fences up and the kid jumped both of them. It doesn’t matter that there were signs on these fences noting the danger and indicating the area was a restricted zone. None of that matters because these are the components of your modern day frivolous lawsuit. If these parents sue Six Flags, they lose all of my sympathy and deserve to be shredded to pieces up and down the blogosphere and throughout the media.
Absolutely. This is why we need a “loser pays” law.
Let’s say the family does sue Six Flags and loses. Six Flags STILL has to pay for defense lawyers, court costs, and suffer through the negative publicity such a trial would generate… and that’s if they win!
A lot of times, these parasite lawyers sue big companies knowing full well they don’t have a case. They know it’s usually cheaper for big companies to settle then to go through a protracted trial- even a trial they’d ultimately win. It’s like extortion with a law degree.
Loser pays isn’t a perfect solution, but it’s better than what we’ve got now.