Roller coasters can feel dangerous, deadly. How safe are they really?

Roller coasters can feel dangerous, deadly. How safe are they really?

Key points

• Jim Seay, who additionally previously chaired IAAPA's Global Safety Committee and now chairs the IAPPA Foundation Board of Directors and is president and owner of Premier Rides.
• A man died after falling from a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia outside Atlanta on Oct.
• A guest has died after falling off the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Oct.
• IAAPA notes more than 385 million guests safely experience over 1.7 billion rides throughout North America each year.
• Even one incident is too plenty of, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), whose members include parks of all sizes worldwide.

Roller coasters can feel dangerous, deadly. How safe are they really? Every serious ride incident is a tragedy. Here's how the industry tests and inspects attractions to protect millions of riders. Eve Chen USA TODAY. Six Flags over Georgia confirms fatal roller coaster incident.

Notably, a man died after falling from a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia outside Atlanta on Oct. 12.

Rides undergo a rigorous process of digital design, certified material fabrication, and months of in-park testing before guests can board.

Despite recent high-profile incidents, the chance of being seriously injured on a U.S. Theme park ride is one in 15.5 million.

When a ride stops during operation, it is often a safety feature indicating the system detected an anomaly that needs to be checked.

Meanwhile, a guest has died after falling off the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Oct. 12. Weeks earlier, Six Flags Magic Mountain confirmed that it was closing its X2 coaster after scores of guests noted brain injuries. Last year, a guest died after riding the Stardust Racers coaster at Universal Epic Universe.

Even one incident is too plenty of, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), whose members include parks of all sizes worldwide. Last fall, IAAPA President and CEO Jakob Wahl informed USA TODAY it was in their industry's core interest to deliver safe experiences "because if people don't feel safe. Then we all hurt."

Here's what park goers should know regarding ride safety in light of recent incidents. How plenty of theme park accidents are there per year?

According to the National Safety Council's 2024 ride safety report for IAAPA, there were an estimated 118 serious injuries and 1, 360 other reportable injuries throughout North American fixed-site amusement rides that year, based on ridership.

For context, the NSC defines serious injuries as those requiring immediate hospitalization for over 24 hours or resulting in death.

In practice, the report additionally identified parks attributed two-thirds of injuries to guest-related factors, like behavior or medical conditions.

IAAPA notes more than 385 million guests safely experience over 1.7 billion rides throughout North America each year. Coaster closures: Six Flags temporarily shutters coasters similar to Georgia's Goliath. How safe are rides?

By and sizeable, theme park and amusement park rides are highly safe.

"The chance of being seriously injured on a fixed-site ride at a U.S. Amusement park is 1 in 15.5 million rides taken, " according to IAAPA's website.

In fact, you're more probable to be struck by lightning, attacked by shark, or killed in a commercial plane crash than to be seriously hurt on a theme park ride in the U.S., according to statistics from IAPPA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nonprofit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers.

To understand how ride manufacturers and operators ensure guest safety, USA TODAY turned to two industry veterans who've both chaired the group that sets global standards for attractions safety, ASTM's Committee F24 on Amusement Rides and Devices.

Franceen Gonzales, who additionally served on ASTM's board and is COO of Enchanted Parks.

Jim Seay, who additionally previously chaired IAAPA's Global Safety Committee and now chairs the IAPPA Foundation Board of Directors and is president and owner of Premier Rides. How are rides created, tested?

Seay notes safety is front and center in every step of ride development.

Here's how he explained the process at Premier Rides. It has created attractions for the likes of SeaWorld, Universal and Six Flags (but did not work on Stardust Racers, X2 or Goliath).

First, highly skilled engineers design and test rides in the digital world, using the same technology and programming applied to design aircraft and space systems. Gonzales observed risk assessment is additionally a part of this process.

When it's time to start fabricating ride components, Seay remarked, "Every piece of steel that goes into that structure has certifications. To make sure it has the right strength, to make sure it has the right chemical composition." Even the welders working on the project have to be certified for the specific types of welds involved and have welds inspected.

Ride hardware, like nuts and bolts, is additionally certified. "It's very specialized hardware that's used for structures, " Seay remarked. "You can't go to Home Depot and buy the hardware that is going to put a ride together."

Once materials are delivered to the ride site, they're tested again to create sure nothing happened to them en route. As there are "very prescriptive values on how tight a bolt has to be tightened so that the connection is safe.", only after that does ride construction commence using third-party calibrated tools.

After the ride is built, it undergoes months of rigorous testing without anyone onboard. Guests may, nevertheless, see cars running empty or with test dummies.

"We will actually fail every system to make sure that when a failure occurs, the system sees it, the system shuts the ride down in a safe manner, " Seay remarked, adding that much of the initial in-park testing is done by the manufacturer with operator backing. What it takes to open a ride.

"It's designed, it's manufactured, it's installed, it's tested, and then oftentimes the regulator comes in and notes, 'I want to see the condition of the ride. I want to see it actually operating. I want to see that everything complies with our regulation.' OK, now you obtain a permit to operate, " Gonzales said, adding, "If a ride has a permit to operate, it means that there's been a lot of eyes on it and there's been a lot of testing and that it's safe to operate."

Different states have different standards and practices, but she observed most states have adopted ASTM standards into their regulations. Mobile operators, like carnivals which may cross state lines, are regulated differently by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Once the manufacturer hands the ride off to the operator, operational training ramps up.

"Now I've obtained to secure ready. I need to have some cycle time so that individuals understand and enjoy that ride, " Gonzales stated. "And that's where really that magic happens."

Meanwhile, the first riders may be individuals who've worked on the ride and are involved with safety. As operations are fine-tuned before opening to the general public, the ride may then open up to park staff and annual passholders.

It's significant to note that by time anyone is allowed on the ride, it is considered safe. Testing is not done with individuals on board. How rides are maintained.

Seay notes ride manufacturers provide operators particularly prescriptive requirements for maintaining rides, but larger operators layer on their own requirements that may go above and beyond what manufacturers require.

"These operators. They know more about the ride than most people because they are running it sometimes 12 to 14 hours a day, " he remarked, adding that maintenance teams inspect rides each morning. There's additionally weekly, monthly and annual maintenance. Some states additionally require annual inspections by regulators or third parties.

"I know that most of the large park systems do an annual inspection regardless of whether or not the regulator requires it, " Gonzales remarked. What stops a ride?

Attractions have a multitude of sensors and outputs constantly processing information in real time.

"When the ride stops, it's since the system has stated, 'There's something that's different. I need to stop. Let's go check it out.'" Gonzales remarked. "If everything's OK, then we can start up again."

She recognizes the wait can be frustrating for guests, but she compares it to a flight delay over maintenance problems.

"Never once in my mind am I ever thinking, 'No, let's just bypass that and let's take off and let's go to the next city and then maybe we'll figure it out then, '" she remarked. "We want to make sure that everybody is safe."

If there's an incident on a ride, she remarked the first priority is to take care of guests.

For now, roller coasters can feel dangerous, deadly. How safe are they really? Remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.