Horror IRL: Roller Coaster Known For Its “Super Death Speeds” Now Shuts Down
Josh Korngut
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Earlier this month the fastest-accelerating roller coaster on the planet shut down indefinitely. Why? At least six riders sustained broken bones within a number of weeks. The weird part is that officials are still unclear of what exactly is causing the injuries, Vice reports.
The Do-Dodonpa roller coaster is part of the Fuji-Q Highland Park in Japan. The ride is famous for its ability to go at “super death” speeds. Yikes. That said, the ride has been completely safe to ride for almost twenty years.
The terrifying death trap goes from 0 to 112 miles per hour in only 1.56 seconds. This earned the beast the achievement of being the fastest-accelerating roller coaster in the world. What could go wrong? Well, nothing since it was built in 2001. Until now.
Experts are no help yet either. No one has been able to pinpoint the exact problem with the coaster, leaving it unplugged since August 17th. No technical problems have been scouted from initial investigations, the park itself reports.
Experience the ride for yourself:
Japan hasn’t encountered a roller coaster death since 2007, and instances of injury in the country are incredibly rare. While the machine totes itself as going at “death speeds” it’s actually been totally harmless until now. The last death on a Japanese roller coaster was in Osaka’s Expoland, where a cart broke and sent the entire ride asunder.
Naoya Miyasato is a well-known professor of architecture working out of Nihon University who studies roller coaster design. He’s been looking into the recent incidents at Fuji-Q Highland Park. According to Miyasato, the occurrence seems extremely strange.
“Roller coaster designs must all abide by government-approved standards, so the fact that there are multiple similar accidents is unusual,” he said to Vice News. “If a rider can’t withstand the acceleration, then they sustain injury, which could be what’s happening here,” he also added. “If they detected no serious concerns with the actual ride, then it could be the way people were sitting.
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m using this story as another reason to stay the hell off of roller coasters.
Are you a speed demon? Let me know on Twitter via @joshkorngut. I’m always down to talk about all things Horror IRL! Dread Central is now on Google News.
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