Best wishes for the injured. Always taken as read in a story like this one of an accident on a theme park roller-coaster. But the question of the fun value of roller-coasters and fairground rides rears its head. Because we instinctively feel the fear on a roller-coaster, a fear that it is designed to inspire in us. At the same time intellectually we know the high standards of engineering which goes into making them, and the safety inherent in a ride which has to be perceived to be dangerous, but is actually ultra-safe.
Which is why the billing of such rides can sometimes seem a touch unfortunate. Alton Towers bills the Runaway Mine Train(!!!) as follows: (You) “rattle along the rickety rails and mine shafts, past trees and rivers, on a speeding locomotive that’s out of control – and getting faster every second.” Not so much fun when it actually is out of control. Or is it? Is the correlation between perceived danger and fun when you survive even better when you realise there was a high chance of injury and the runaway roller-coaster actually is a runaway.
Still, you may not be able to go on the Runaway Mine Train for a while, but you can have a virtual spin here.