Amusement Park Forced To Suspend Roller Coaster That Kept Breaking Bones Of Riders

The fastest accelerating roller coaster in the world has been suspended after multiple riders reported suffering broken bones.

According to VICE, since December, at least six people sustained bone fractures after riding 'Do-Dodonpa,' a roller coaster that goes at 'super death' speed in the country's popular Fuji-Q Highland Park.

Fuji-Q Highland Park

Not only have people experienced broken bones but a spokesperson for the park said that four of those injured claimed to have broken their neck or back.

The ride was built in 2001 and goes from 0 to 180 kilometres per hour (111 miles per hour) in 1.56 seconds - making it the quickest roller coaster in the world.

Up until 17 August this year, officials say that there were no reports of broken bones since the ride opened 20 years ago.

According to an initial investigation carried out by the park, no technical issues were found but the ride's manufacturer, Sansei Technologies, has apologised to those hurt but said they don't know what caused their injuries.

Fuji-Q Highland Park

It's thought that the issue could be to do with the ride's rapid acceleration which, at it's peak, is more than three times the force of gravity.

Having said that, it is just prediction and Naoya Miyasato - an architectural professor from Nihon University who studies roller coaster designs, claimed that broken bones are unheard of.

He told NICE World News: "Roller coaster designs must all abide by government-approved standards, so the fact that there are multiple similar accidents is unusual."

Mr Miyasato went on to add: "If a rider can't withstand the acceleration, then they sustain injury, which could be what's happening here.

"If they detected no serious concerns with the actual ride, then it could be the way people were sitting. But if a person was sitting incorrectly, say with space between their backs and their seat, it's the responsibility of the park employees to check their seating position."

Fuji-Q Highland Park

Reports say that Do-Dodonpa requires riders to lean back against their seat and over the shoulder restraints are used to keep people in position with as little space as possible between the back and backrest.

But one of the riders claiming to be injured said she may have been sitting forward while she was on the ride.

Topics: News

Rebecca Shepherd

I'm Becky - a journalist at LADbible. I graduated with a First Class BA in Journalism before going on to cover criminal court cases, medical tribunals and breaking news for the national media - which inevitably and eventually became as glum as it sounds. Can often be found rocking a bag for life - which I made a 'thing' way before Rihanna. You can contact me at [email protected]

@RJShepherd94