The other theory is that AT realised the mistake in not reversing train 2 and hit the emergency stop which applied the trim brakes which modified the speed down to 20 MPH but was unable to bring it to a complete stop before hitting train 1. If so, AT know a lot more than they're letting on.
Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers - carriage collision
- Thread starter DJMK4
- Start date
A lot of that description from the employee bares a similarity to ski lifts, which I once worked as an operator on during a winter season some years back. I had to take and pass a train drivers exam before officially starting on the job and legally being allowed to operate.
Soldato
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- Derbyshire
When I was trained for the Black Hole, Hex, Submission and Oblivion I was fully one-on-one trained for each, having to pass a test afterwards before being allowed to work unsupervised on the ride.
Examples of test questions included course of action if XYZ happened, memorising track layout, hand signals etc. The tests weren't hard but did require you to learn a fair bit of information - Liken it to driving theory as it was easily passable if you actually tried.
Casting my mind back it took 2 full working days of training for me to be passed off on Oblivion, plus reading the manual on the bus.
I had a 2005 Hex Ride Hose/Operator manual, but sadly I threw it out a few months ago during a big clearout!
I still have a drawer full of 'jump the queue' ride passes and 1.4m wristbands from back then too!
There is no hiding the fact that the staff are, on average, a special bunch, the majority being inner city college dropouts.
Many got sacked throughout the season, which at best were a March -> October contract.
The good thing about Alton Towers is that the two seasons I was there (2004 and 2005) I was young, yet everyone got the 21+ wage.
The laughable thing was that the operator of the ride got £0.20 per hour more. I was under 18 at the time so whilst I could be a ride assistant, I could not operate the ride. Not that I'd want to anyway, as I'd have been trained on Submission and Enterprise, which would have been a boring lonely working life! Everyone hated the 'prise!
I worked there in 2004. They sent me a letter saying 'you were good, come back!' - I did not apply for the job.
I worked there in 2005. They sent me a letter saying 'you were good, come back!' - I did not apply for the job.
I went for the interview with the manager from the previous two years and I was told I was unsuitable. The mind boggles!
The highlights of Submission were that when it went upside down money would fall out, and the occasional pair of big ****.
The highlight of Oblivion was that went it started to climb the lift money would fall out, in an area easily accessable to the staff. Free KFC!
Examples of test questions included course of action if XYZ happened, memorising track layout, hand signals etc. The tests weren't hard but did require you to learn a fair bit of information - Liken it to driving theory as it was easily passable if you actually tried.
Casting my mind back it took 2 full working days of training for me to be passed off on Oblivion, plus reading the manual on the bus.
I had a 2005 Hex Ride Hose/Operator manual, but sadly I threw it out a few months ago during a big clearout!
I still have a drawer full of 'jump the queue' ride passes and 1.4m wristbands from back then too!
There is no hiding the fact that the staff are, on average, a special bunch, the majority being inner city college dropouts.
Many got sacked throughout the season, which at best were a March -> October contract.
The good thing about Alton Towers is that the two seasons I was there (2004 and 2005) I was young, yet everyone got the 21+ wage.
The laughable thing was that the operator of the ride got £0.20 per hour more. I was under 18 at the time so whilst I could be a ride assistant, I could not operate the ride. Not that I'd want to anyway, as I'd have been trained on Submission and Enterprise, which would have been a boring lonely working life! Everyone hated the 'prise!
I worked there in 2004. They sent me a letter saying 'you were good, come back!' - I did not apply for the job.
I worked there in 2005. They sent me a letter saying 'you were good, come back!' - I did not apply for the job.
I went for the interview with the manager from the previous two years and I was told I was unsuitable. The mind boggles!
The highlights of Submission were that when it went upside down money would fall out, and the occasional pair of big ****.
The highlight of Oblivion was that went it started to climb the lift money would fall out, in an area easily accessable to the staff. Free KFC!
Last edited:
Man of Honour
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- Stoke on Trent
Since I work in this area I have to agree with delta.
I've said before on these forums that during my last 5 years in negligence and 20 years of being a Union Man who attended injury tribunals I have come to the conclusion that if a 'man in the street' tells you he got x amount for an injury then just knock a zero off.
I see the outcomes of trials and I always sit there and think 'Is that all they got for that?'.
Recently we paid out on a really bad case, this is proper life changing stuff and not just one leg, and this person got £1,250,000.
However in this case Alton Towers will pay out big because they have the experience of the recent Thomas Cook episode to learn by.
Soldato
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- 30 Sep 2005
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- 16,842
Alton Towers will almost certainly settle this out of court, with an nda. They don't want photos popping up across all of the media.
The lawyers will say to expect 200k which is the norm, however I'd bet Alton Towers will offer 1m if she stays quiet.
The lawyers will say to expect 200k which is the norm, however I'd bet Alton Towers will offer 1m if she stays quiet.
Man of Honour
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- Stoke on Trent
Definitely, if not more.
I would have said that the carriages stopping on track was safety related wouldn't you?
some might say my list was specifically chosen from cases which would prove you wrong.
think long and hard though about how long a 20 something year old is expected to live and earn for....
just cause it works on house doesn't mean its the 2 second miracle cure for everyone....
Royal Navy amputee, 45, is turned down for 2,600 jobs in a year 'because of disability' (daily fail)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...leg-missed-2-600-jobs-YEAR-just-disabled.html
Shes not going to have a great time of it is she. Actually she could go into the media after this, she'll be famous for a little while at least. :/
we've got a girl in work who has a leg amputated (noon's entirely sure how high but its above the knee) from a car crash she definitely couldn't be shop floor staff while she's a good engineer from what i gather, it takers her a ****ing age to move around the jigs etc. just a lim pwhen walking on flat ground, but when having to manoeuvre the rather awkward stairs and walkways and toolboxes/airlines and cables she is much much slower than a normal person and obviously much more reliant on hand rails etc in case she trips (i imagine its harder to know you've got your foot snagged in a cable when you cant feel it )
You mean, it's not lupus?
And how is she stopped from earning anything? She's not. My main client is severely disabled. He earns about 300k a year. I've already mentioned my uncle who is a fairly senior officer in the army.
The jobs people have listed that she's restricted from aren't particularly high paying. Average for an air hostess for example is about 25k in this country. Over 45 years that's just over a million. That's not including tax, insurance or any other deductions.
Pretty sure you don't pay tax on injury settlements although may be wrong there!
just watched the raw footage can't imagine the horror of these people having to sit for 4-5 hours with crushed legs.
It was only going at 20MPH as well.
I'm sure the rolling back and forth at the end must have been agony for those 4 at the front.
It was only going at 20MPH as well.
I'm sure the rolling back and forth at the end must have been agony for those 4 at the front.
You know how much energy is being displaced at 20 mph at the weights involved???
The people alone weigh about 1.5 tonnes and the car over 2. Lets say 3.5 tonnes of energy hits a stationary 2 tonnes without people. OUCH!!
Not going to end well that's for sure.
Quick edit:
Forgot to mention rollercoasters don't have crumple zones!
I get the impression their legs were the crumple zones unfortunately.
just watched the raw footage can't imagine the horror of these people having to sit for 4-5 hours with crushed legs.
It was only going at 20MPH as well.
I'm sure the rolling back and forth at the end must have been agony for those 4 at the front.
I found how they all scream at the same point whilst its rocking particularly harrowing...
Crap Kay Burley interview.
What a cow that woman is.
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/606822303112962048
What a cow that woman is.
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/606822303112962048
Associate
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- 9 Jul 2013
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- 2,201
Already posted a while back ^^ and yea, she is.
Dodgems at 20mph? Very doubtful.
Feel sorry for the girl She will be going through some seriously testing times.
With regards to the compensation, it will easily be well into 7 figures.
There is so much to take into consideration that she will need :
* Bungalow - Not sure how this works if she doesn't already have a house, they usually add on whatever it would cost to have a similar m2 bungalow as their current property.
* A new prosthetic leg - £30,000 each, with a life expectancy of 3-5 years (Total = £340k - Her life expectancy will be lowered due to the other problems that come with aboe knee amputees such as arthritis and hip problems brought on by the increased stress on the rest of the body)
* Modifications needed in the house - she will need a wet room and likely to shower sitting on a bench. Wheelchair friendly doors and rooms as inevitably she will spend time in a wheelchair for the rest of her life while she deals with sores on her stump that can happen quite regularly.
* Loss of earnings for the rest of her now reduced life span
* All the suction moulds for the prosthetics that she will needs throughout her life
* Standard valuation of a limb - I think it's around £70k for a leg but could be wrong there.
* + so much more that I can't think of right now.
So, as you can see although she will get a hefty sum of money in one go, apart from the £70k for losing her limb, the rest of the money is purely to make the accident have a little impact as possible on the rest of their life and rightly so.
Having been around this kind of amputation, I really feel for this girl. This good news is her age and the fact she is of a normal weight. She has a good base to adapt to this as well as you could hope for. Above the knee amputations are a *****. Absolutely no amount of money in the world would make up for it and I say that from experience of living with an amputee.
She will be going through some seriously testing times. With regards to the compensation, it will easily be well into 7 figures.
There is so much to take into consideration that she will need :
* Bungalow - Not sure how this works if she doesn't already have a house, they usually add on whatever it would cost to have a similar m2 bungalow as their current property.
* A new prosthetic leg - £30,000 each, with a life expectancy of 3-5 years (Total = £340k - Her life expectancy will be lowered due to the other problems that come with aboe knee amputees such as arthritis and hip problems brought on by the increased stress on the rest of the body)
* Modifications needed in the house - she will need a wet room and likely to shower sitting on a bench. Wheelchair friendly doors and rooms as inevitably she will spend time in a wheelchair for the rest of her life while she deals with sores on her stump that can happen quite regularly.
* Loss of earnings for the rest of her now reduced life span
* All the suction moulds for the prosthetics that she will needs throughout her life
* Standard valuation of a limb - I think it's around £70k for a leg but could be wrong there.
* + so much more that I can't think of right now.
So, as you can see although she will get a hefty sum of money in one go, apart from the £70k for losing her limb, the rest of the money is purely to make the accident have a little impact as possible on the rest of their life and rightly so.
Having been around this kind of amputation, I really feel for this girl. This good news is her age and the fact she is of a normal weight. She has a good base to adapt to this as well as you could hope for. Above the knee amputations are a *****. Absolutely no amount of money in the world would make up for it and I say that from experience of living with an amputee.