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Incident on The Smiler 02/06/2015

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Awful news, just thankful that no one died. I just hope Merlin now stick to their word and do whatever these poor kids need to see them through life.

I'm not surprised about the internal injuries, I have been thinking to myself about the force of the impact into the other car and the sudden "wham", makes me shudder. At least in a car you have airbags to cushion the impact and crumple zones, and anyone who has hit another car at low speeds can testify just how forceful on the body it actually is.

Although what makes me shudder more is the thought that it could quite easily have been me on that ride.
 
This is really sad news, I hope as well that merlin keep to their word and help long term with the people affected.
I do however believe that any ride in merlin/uk will be safer than ever. I'm not surprised that x sector is going to be closed for the foreseeable due to the close proximity of all the rides in this area.
My heart goes out to the girl and her family.
 
I wouldn't say its lack of duty of care, it was a freak accident. By which they really do need to act on duty of care to make sure all affected get the care they need to live their lives.
 
What a truly awful, life-changing injury. I feel incredibly sad for her.

Can anyone please help me understand how this collision could have occured at the 20mph Alton Towers claimed? Surely a train moving through the area where a stalled train would rest would have to be going at greater speeds than that? The damage and indentation to the front of the train is considerable
 
Tom said:
What a truly awful, life-changing injury. I feel incredibly sad for her.

Can anyone please help me understand how this collision could have occured at the 20mph Alton Towers claimed? Surely a train moving through the area where a stalled train would rest would have to be going at greater speeds than that? The damage and indentation to the front of the train is considerable
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Well, the train has just come off an inversion, and would have been accelerating into the stalled train. I'd have said it would be going at closer to 30-35mph at that point, as it still has to negotiate two more inversions to reach the second lift.
 
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With no impact defence on the front of the trains they would crumple at 20-35mph. Also I can imagine that the material used is light wieght to not slow the train down too much through the inversions.
The train probably was not designed for speed impact as they try and make situations like this virtually impossible
 
we need to think about the mass as well, impact force is not just speed. Shame i can remember the formula for this.
 
Someone on TT worked it out using NL2 and it came back with roughly 40mph taking into account conditions maybe 35-40mph?
 
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Hi All,

New to the forum but have been following TS since it was formed.

Definitely, a sad state of events. Thoughts go out to all involved, especially the girl who has lost her leg. Hopefully, Merlin will support her throughout the rest of her life, as much as they possibly can. Going by the way they have dealt with the matter so far, I have no doubt that Merlin will follow through.

I have to say of all of the news reports that I've seen or heard, ITV are the only ones that have reported on the story without 'sensualising' it. In fact, they were just reporting on how people actually aren't put off by being back at AT and have full confidence and trust in AT and the safety of the rides.
 
GaryH said:
Watching POV videos on YouTube, there is no way the train was only 20mph at the point of impact with a full load.
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One potential scenario is that the E-stop was pressed after the car left Lift 1. In this case, the trim brakes would have fired to slow the train down before it entered the knot - which might corroborate suggestions that the car "stopped" (or went slowly) through the last inversion before the crash.
 
Jordan said:
One potential scenario is that the E-stop was pressed after the car left Lift 1. In this case, the trim brakes would have fired to slow the train down before it entered the knot - which might corroborate suggestions that the car "stopped" (or went slowly) through the last inversion before the crash.
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Good point, you would imagine that E-stop would have been pressed as soon as they realised.

Looks like the park is very quiet today and the Guardian are reporting that not all rides are running at full capacity. From what I have seen Nemesis is one 2 trains and Air is on 2 train dual station operation. Air is probably only on 2 because of how quiet it is though. Thirteen will likely only be on 2 trains also because of how buggered it is.

:)
 
Th E-Stop would have stopped the cars on the air time hill by the marmalizer. They would have not made it around the inversion. Plus, as the eye witnesses said, they hit the train with full force.
 
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