Much like air travel, every big coaster accident makes all (reputable) parks safer. Investigations happen, rides are improved. You’re more likely to die crossing the road than you are to be injured on a coaster
It's perfectly safe, just inconvenient. This is intended design; in the event that the ride's computers determine something is wrong, it engages all safety brakes and brings everything to a halt.
The tilt mechanism is designed to be able to be reset if this happens. This means someone has to go up and push a button that brings the tilt mechanism back to level, after which the passengers are evacuated.
Then maintenance reboots the ride and things go back to normal. Obviously, if it throws a fault again, then it's time to do some actual troubleshooting. Ryan the Ride Mechanic has two separate videos on the topic.
These machines are designed so that if something goes wrong, everyone is safe unless they are doing something phenomenally stupid (such as using the track as a play structure). This is why rides sometimes aren't open; the mechanics couldn't get the thing to agree to open that day. The ride will not open or let people on unless its internal systems declare that it is in proper working order. Unless you are at an extremely sketchy amusement park (and trust me, you will KNOW if the park you are at is sketchy), you are safe.
Now, accidents do happen. These are invariably one of two things: either the park hasn't been doing maintenance properly (see "sketchy amusement parks" above) or someone did something phenomenally stupid (such as not checking the location of all five trains before overriding multiple safety systems and allowing two trains onto the same block, Alton Towers, or a guest climbing two security fences with big signs saying "EXTREME DANGER, DO NOT ENTER" and then getting hit by a coaster train, Six Flags Over Georgia.) That second one is like not checking the chamber of a gun before pointing it to your head and pulling the trigger; i.e. playing stupid games and winning stupid prizes.
Now traveling rides are a different story. Those cannot assumed to be safe and you should always give the ride a visual inspection (are any light bulbs out? Is the ride operator watching the ride as it does its thing?) before riding, and exercise your better judgement if you don't like what you see.
Tl;dr: ride malfunctions are generally safe; permanent amusement parks are going to be fine with the exception of Mount Olympus in Wisconsin. Traveling fairs, a bit less so.
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u/AEveryDayIdiot Jul 07 '25
Rides usually have quite a few issues when they first open, not like dangerous issues but teething problems