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Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015

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The horrible thing is that the lawyer is continuing to get stories in the press but the comments on social media are really starting to turn now...

In The Mirror's latest article there's endless comments from people questioning why it's still in the news and where the paper's priorities lie. People will always have endless sympathy for the victims but the more this is kept in the press the more the public will get fed up of hearing their stories.

If anything I think that those acting on their behalf should let it play out behind closed doors and let them all recover without any more unnecessary media attention.
 
Who knows. Maybe the victims are saying they never want the ride to reopen and the lawyer is echoing their sentiment, but Alton won't scrap a 18million quid ride after just 2 years. Won't open this year.... Probably true.... But it will be, possibly under a different guise next year.
 
I wouldn't read into this at all. I remember when the vertical lift lost a couple of guiding wheels so the headlines read something along the lines of 'Smiler Roller Coaster Loses Wheels whilst Carrying People!!!!!' Clickbait at its finest I'd say.
 
Scott said:
The horrible thing is that the lawyer is continuing to get stories in the press but the comments on social media are really starting to turn now...

In The Mirror's latest article there's endless comments from people questioning why it's still in the news and where the paper's priorities lie. People will always have endless sympathy for the victims but the more this is kept in the press the more the public will get fed up of hearing their stories.

If anything I think that those acting on their behalf should let it play out behind closed doors and let them all recover without any more unnecessary media attention.
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I completely agree.

The general public only has a finite amount of patience for a particular news topic; unless major developments come thick and fast, after a week the initial interest just disappears.

I feel we're on the tail end of stories relating to The Smiler, and in all likelyhood there are only two real newsworthy stories that will inevitably come:

1) When The Smiler re-opens. Should it be re themed, which I feel is unlikely, that will warrant another story by itself, but it will have a bigger focus on marketing than anything else.

2) When Merlin/Alton Towers settle the case, and considering the way this has been handled I'd be surprised if it isn't just settled out of court.
 
I'm sure when they release Joe, Leah and Vicky it'll be in the news as well, but that may be in the distant future..
 
I wonder if Towers' lawyers will be able to make a condition of any compensation that the actual sum isn't disclosed to the press. I'd have thought that would be their best bet to stop the press making a story out of that although I don't know if that is actually something that can legally be done.
 
Alexsutton said:
I wonder if Towers' lawyers will be able to make a condition of any compensation that the actual sum isn't disclosed to the press. I'd have thought that would be their best bet to stop the press making a story out of that although I don't know if that is actually something that can legally be done.
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Is that pretty much what a super injunction is for? So nobody can disclose how much it is, or even have it reported that compensation was given. I know that seems a tad much, but that could be the only way, which probably won't be done? Who knows.
 
A non disclosure clause as part of any settlement will almost certainly be involved, basically meaning that disclosing the compensation amount will negate the victim's right to that money, i have seen them signed on settlements worth only a couple of hundred, it is a no brainer.
 
The victims have no reason to sign a non disclosure clause. They tend to be used only if the event wasn't public and a company want it to remain so.
 
Leah said:
Also, this is really making me angry.

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-06-04/...-rollercoaster-told-to-mind-his-own-business/

Is it just me or does anyone else think that they should have expected an answer as they probably just went to the person in the game stand. it is probably part of the parks policy to ignore this.
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That makes me angry if it is a true story, because you would have thought any staff member who may have seen or been made aware of a stalled train would have phoned through to the op cabin. It sounds like the person quoted there spoke to a staff member on the entrance of the ride. I do find it hard to believe that he was told to mind his own business, but at the same time we do all know that Towers staff give very little detail when a ride breaks down (largely because they don't have much information to provide). Of course it may not be procedure for staff in this position to notify the op cabin of such an event, although I'm sure it will be going forward.

I'm pretty sure one of the outcomes of the investigation will be that the stalled train was not spotted by whoever was in the op cabin, whether that be the op, technical services or some form of management. I'm certain that if it had been spotted an evac procedure from lift one would have started pretty swiftly, yet with the train on lift one for around 10 minutes, give or take 5, this seemingly was not happening.

:)
 
What I ment is if anyone just went into the oblivion shop or something and said stop the smiler, they would probably assume that technical services were on it, as they were. Alternatively, someone else could have possibly already told them, and they did phone the smiler ops. In one way, the first reason is a little like how people filmed instead of calling an ambulance. They just assumed that the engineers already knew. If it was a technical issue, it wouldn't make a difference. Just think though, it is one in a thousand chance of it stalling would they believe it. When the smiler (or whatever it will be called) reopens, how many people will, as a joke, go to a member of staff and say that the smiler has stalled, or just see it broken down and tell them. If they e-stoped the ride, it could create lots more issues, from minor things like appalling throughput (more than normal) to stalls and technical faults.

However, this could be something that is changed with the new safety protocols, put in since the crash.
 
I think these things are like Chinese Whispers.

From the ITV article:

"I walked up the woman [lol!]. I said ‘Can you tell me what’s happening?’ She said, ‘There’s a technical problem, we’re dealing with it.’

I said, ‘You do know there’s a car on there don’t you?’

I was told to mind my own business and it’s got nothing to do with me.”"

First bit is supposed quotes, last bit is paraphrasing. Maybe she said something like, "Don't worry about it, we'll sort it out," and he interpreted it wrongly and gave it a different meaning.

As for the lawyer claiming that HSE told him the ride might be permanently shut, they may have said something like, "The ride won't reopen unless it is guaranteed to be safe." Or maybe they said, "Hello, this is HSE..." and he switched off and made up the rest of the conversation.
 
Tom.B said:
The Smiley?! Wtf is that creature on the map of the park? *facepalm*
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IKR. He even called it "The Smiling" earlier too, he has the typical conspiracy theorist voice too - and not just Ameircan. Anyway back more on topic, scanning the front pages the tabs are cooing down on this story as suspected. Isn't it illegal for the media to flout about figures on a closed contract sum? Or am I making that up.
I also feel a 2017 re-opening as tbh if a likely retheme and brand is on the cards, there are more pressing issues than to start a rebrand plans right now unless it opens mid-season, this could then allow SW8 for 2017 but I'm still skeptic on that.
Preferring 2018.
 
The latest it would reopen would be middle of the 2016 season. Just thinking with how long it will be SBNO so they might have some "unforeseen teething problems". it would take Alton towers just months to get it up to standard. Might take longer though if they have to retheme. Earliest for opening will possibly be soft openings at the end of this season. Maybe they should have given out "first ride on the smiler tickets" instead of free tickets.
 
I think Stelios means The Smiler will reopen mid-2016 or at the start of 2017 if there's a rebrand, and that SW8 will arrive in either 2017, or more likely 2018 - not that The Smiler will be closed until then.
 
I am absolutely confident it will re-open as the same ride on or before the start of 2016 season.

If it's human error then once new procedures are in place there is no reason for it to be closed.
 
I can't see them rebranding, they will get the same press coverage no matter what they do so why waste the money.
 
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