Friday, September 20, 2019

Test Dummies Fall Out of Roller Coaster and Land on Hotel. A Real Story.



I suppose the work of test dummies is a never-ending experience. I always wondered what they did during their downtime. It's possible you can only spend so much time at a job that involves testing vehicles by being in them when they crash. Now, I know what test dummies do when they are on vacation. They go to an amusement park in New Jersey and ride roller coasters. I'm sure that falling out of a roller coaster is something best left to the professionals. When there was a need to determine roller coaster safety, test dummies fell out of one in New Jersey and crashed into a hotel. It seems like the dedication and commitment to our protection by test dummies knows no boundaries.

Below are excerpts from the story with my valuable insights in italics.

The vice president of a Jersey Shore amusement park insists that a roller coaster is safe more than a week after two test dummies fell out of it and crashed into the roof of a nearby hotel.


Maybe this particular roller coaster, called the GaleForce, should have a warning in front of it. This warning could state the roller coaster is safe for people, but test dummies have fallen out of it and landed in a hotel. I can just imagine test dummies standing up after landing in the hotel.

“Why do we leave our job of being involved in car crashes all day to then go on vacation and fall out of a roller coaster?”
“Let's face it, people may work from sun to sun, but the work of we test dummies is never done.”
“Good thing we're staying at the hotel where we landed.”
“Yeah, it worked out well.”


The GaleForce roller coaster was undergoing a routine safety check when two water-filled dummies fell off the ride and plummeted into the Ebb Tide Suites next door, damaging shingles and plywood.

I'm sure the test dummies consider their time in the amusement park as a working vacation.  I'm sure the park workers had an interesting conversation.

“We want to test the GaleForce roller coaster for performance and safety. It is too dangerous for people to be on. We need the help of test dummies.”
“You talking about my cousin Harold?”
“No, he lives in California.”
“Oh, yeah, right.”
“You ever consider working as a test dummy?”
“No.”
“I think it is a career path you may want to consider.”
“Thanks, I guess. Why do we need test dummies?”
“Oh, if anyone gets hurt as a result us performing a safety check on the roller coaster, they could file a lawsuit against us. This could cost us millions of dollars and ultimately shut down the amusement park. That's why we asked professionals such as test dummies to come and ride it as part of the safety check. If they are thrown from the roller coaster, the test dummies will just get up, go have lunch, a few drinks and look for another ride to fall out of as part of their time here at the amusement park.”
“Can you make certain they land on their hotel?”
“We'll do the best we can for them.”


No one was hurt during the incident. A roofer responded to the scene within an hour to make repairs and the test dummies were trashed, according to Brian Hartley, the Vice President of the theme park

(Sarcasm Alert)

Now we get the meat of the stories. The test dummies experienced serious damage as part of the amusement park's test ride. I like how the story mentions that roofers responded within an hour. I wonder if the Society for the Prevention of Trashed Test Dummies (SPTTD) will get involved with this injustice.

Hartley said the dummies had leaks that went undetected and they lost their mass and shape, causing them to fall.

“Obviously it’s not something that would ever happen with a person in it,” Hartley said. “You know you don’t lose rigidity in a person. The lap bar comes down. You’re secured in there.”


I wonder if the test dummies had leaks because they were terrified of the roller coaster? That would explain many things. I hope people don't lose rigidity, but if they get really scared, it is possible for this to happen and for them to have leaks that go undetected. A person is secured when the lap bar comes down, but the opportunity to fly out of the roller coaster and land on your hotel is eliminated. I suppose test dummies to have some advantages over people.

“The lap bar did not fail,” he said. “Nothing failed on the ride at all.”
The GaleForce undergoes about two hours of testing every day that it's in operation and has been open since the incident, according to Hartley.

I wonder if the amusement park reached an agreement with the test dummy community about this ride. I'm sure the amusement park attendance by members of the test dummy community has dropped considerably. There could have been serious negotiations, but I'm sure in the end, the test dummies were given a fair deal for all test dummies in New Jersey.

Here is a link to the story.



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