KS - Caleb Schwab, 10, dies on 17-story Schlitterbahn waterpark slide, Aug 2016

[gregjrichards]

I am glad these companies are forced to pay out big dollars. Perhaps they wont make short cuts in the next design or they'll stop designing all together. Sure is better to spend an extra $1million on straps that function properly than $20 million on death settlements.

I totally agree with you I just hope they see sense and do the new ride properly. I know it won't bring Caleb back but I'm glad these reckless companies were forced to pay so much when there was talk when it happened of there only being a settlement of $250,000 due to state law.

 

[MaryG12]

I am glad these companies are forced to pay out big dollars. Perhaps they wont make short cuts in the next design or they'll stop designing all together. Sure is better to spend an extra $1million on straps that function properly than $20 million on death settlements.

Better yet, hire someone - a real park ride engineer - who is certified in designing park rides.

 

[gitana1]

I am glad these companies are forced to pay out big dollars. Perhaps they wont make short cuts in the next design or they'll stop designing all together. Sure is better to spend an extra $1million on straps that function properly than $20 million on death settlements.

Couldn't be said better. You can't take shortcuts with safety measures. This never should have happened.

 

[gitana1]

So the life of a 10 year old is worth 20 million dollars. That's good to know I guess.


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I see it as the cost of being so negligent that an innocent child dies as a result, is 20 million.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

So the life of a 10 year old is worth 20 million dollars. That's good to know I guess.


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Unfortunately, the life of the 10-year-old is still worth nothing to Schlitterbahn and their associates. Only the death of a 10-year-old has a value.

I will be so glad when that tower is torn down. It makes me feel sick every time I see it.

I took some photos of it a few months ago to post here and never did - I'll get on my phone as post them now.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

The top photo is to give some perspective of how tall the tower is. I know someone commented that it didn't seem that tall, but when you see it up close compared to items around it, you can tell how big it is.

The second photo is to show more of the ride.

Editing to add that I wonder if the company is planning to simply relocate the ride to one of their other parks and modify it to meet height regulations.

 

[SeesSeas]

Unknown when the water slide will be torn down.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article148513129.html
MAY 04, 2017 6:00 AM
Family of Caleb Schwab receives nearly $20 million in Verrückt settlements
Schlitterbahn agreed to decommission Verrückt once a court allows it, although it remains unclear when that will happen.
“The Schwab family and all those impacted by the accident will forever be in our thoughts and prayers, and our deepest condolences are with the family,” said Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio in an email to The Star. “We are thankful to have reached a settlement with all parties. We will be removing the ride from our Kansas City park when given permission by the court, which we have yet to receive.”

 

[SeesSeas]

I am glad these companies are forced to pay out big dollars. Perhaps they wont make short cuts in the next design or they'll stop designing all together. Sure is better to spend an extra $1million on straps that function properly than $20 million on death settlements.

Not so sure that the companies are making any settlements payments. All of the companies would have liability insurance. Are all of the settlement amounts paid from the insurance companies? I think so.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article148513129.html
MAY 04, 2017 6:00 AM
Family of Caleb Schwab receives nearly $20 million in Verrückt settlements
[…]
All told, the settlement amounts total $19,732,125 to the Schwab family. The breakdown among the four parties is as follows:
▪ $14 million from SVV 1 and KC Water Park, two companies associated with Texas-based water park company Schlitterbahn.
▪ $5 million from Henry & Sons Construction, the general contractor on the 17-story ride that broke records for the height of a water slide.
▪ $500,000 from Zebec of North America, which manufactured the raft that carried up to three riders down the slide.
▪ $232,125 from National Aquatics Safety Co. and its founder, John Hunsucker, which consulted on Verrückt.
[…]
Hunsucker, the owner of Dickinson, Texas-based National Aquatics Safety Co., referred questions to his insurance company when reached by phone Wednesday.
“All of this was handled by my insurance company,” he said.
Hunsucker would not disclose the identity of his insurer.
“I don’t think I need to share that with you,” he said. “It’s not my policy to comment on this.”

 

[gregjrichards]

Not so sure that the companies are making any settlements payments. All of the companies would have liability insurance. Are all of the settlement amounts paid from the insurance companies? I think so.

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article148513129.html
MAY 04, 2017 6:00 AM
Family of Caleb Schwab receives nearly $20 million in Verrückt settlements
[…]
All told, the settlement amounts total $19,732,125 to the Schwab family. The breakdown among the four parties is as follows:
▪ $14 million from SVV 1 and KC Water Park, two companies associated with Texas-based water park company Schlitterbahn.
▪ $5 million from Henry & Sons Construction, the general contractor on the 17-story ride that broke records for the height of a water slide.
▪ $500,000 from Zebec of North America, which manufactured the raft that carried up to three riders down the slide.
▪ $232,125 from National Aquatics Safety Co. and its founder, John Hunsucker, which consulted on Verrückt.
[…]
Hunsucker, the owner of Dickinson, Texas-based National Aquatics Safety Co., referred questions to his insurance company when reached by phone Wednesday.
“All of this was handled by my insurance company,” he said.
Hunsucker would not disclose the identity of his insurer.
“I don’t think I need to share that with you,” he said. “It’s not my policy to comment on this.”

Hopefully their future insurance premiums will rise significantly as a result of the payouts. I bet there is a drop in visitor numbers since this tragedy occurred. It is going to take a long time for public trust to be fully regained again.

 

[Indy Anna]

And the amusement park tragedies continue. This one was at Drayton Manor theme park in Tamworth, UK on a Splash Canyon water ride. The ride looks similar to Verrückt.

http://nypost.com/2017/05/09/girl-dies-on-water-park-ride-during-school-trip/?ref=yfp

 

[Littlegreenlady]

And the amusement park tragedies continue. This one was at Drayton Manor theme park in Tamworth, UK on a Splash Canyon water ride. The ride looks similar to Verrückt.

http://nypost.com/2017/05/09/girl-dies-on-water-park-ride-during-school-trip/?ref=yfp

No, the ride is a rapids ride, nothing like verrückt. At the moment it looks like the girl was standing up on the boat to change seats, a horrible tragedy but an accident


http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/drayton-manor-splash-canyon-girl-who-died-at-tamworth-theme-park-named_uk_5912c3f0e4b05e1ca20323cd

According to one parent at the Jameah Academy, an integrated Islamic day school for girls in Leicester, the girl fell from one of the boats when it hit a rock.

She told the Mail Online: “When the girl got up to change seats just then it hit a rock and she got knocked out of the boat and fell in the water and the water currents dragged her in.”

The parent, who asked not to be named, said the girl disappeared from view after falling from the ride.

 

[Tssiemer]

They act like they don't know her cause of death. Surely her body was found right?


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[JohnPaul]

Not so sure that the companies are making any settlements payments. All of the companies would have liability insurance. Are all of the settlement amounts paid from the insurance companies? I think so.

of course they are, that is the entire point of having insurance,



most large settlements like this are never 100% collected anyway,

getting a court judgement, and actually collecting that judgement are two entirely different ballgames,

its not as simple as walking up and asking for your 20 million dollar cheque (or whatever amount may be just an example),

the court judgement is only the beginning of the process, not the end,

there will be appeals that could take 5 or 10 or more years, these cases drag on forever,

it could be 5 or more years before they even receive one penny on a case like this,

i have been there and done that and have the t-shirt both as a plaintiff and defendant (although never a case this large).



.

 

[MzOpinion8d]

Unknown when the water slide will be torn down.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article148513129.html
MAY 04, 2017 6:00 AM
Family of Caleb Schwab receives nearly $20 million in Verrückt settlements
Schlitterbahn agreed to decommission Verrückt once a court allows it, although it remains unclear when that will happen.
“The Schwab family and all those impacted by the accident will forever be in our thoughts and prayers, and our deepest condolences are with the family,” said Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio in an email to The Star. “We are thankful to have reached a settlement with all parties. We will be removing the ride from our Kansas City park when given permission by the court, which we have yet to receive.”

Notice how the quote says "we will be removing the ride from our KANSAS CITY park when given permission..."

Definitely makes me think they're going to move it to another park and modify it somehow. I wish part of the settlement was that the ride be destroyed entirely.

 

[Indy Anna]

No, the ride is a rapids ride, nothing like verrückt. At the moment it looks like the girl was standing up on the boat to change seats, a horrible tragedy but an accident


http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ent...-theme-park-named_uk_5912c3f0e4b05e1ca20323cd

Okay, I see now. I thought the tall roller-coaster-looking ride was the one she fell from and didn't know how far she fell to the water. There's a picture of the Splash Canyon ride more than ½ way down this page: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/201...must-stay-shut-have-answers-daughters-death1/
A picture of the little girl who died is at the top of the page.

I remember seeing a conveyor system supporting the rafts yesterday, but this shows the conveyor launching the rafts into the water: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-39876412
Here is a video of the ride: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/f...ide-days-before-girl-11-drowned-a3536121.html
It shows a family standing on one of the rafts just days before the girl drowned. Why are people not fastened in?!

A MUM whose son fell off the theme park ride on which schoolgirl Evha Jannath died says she warned bosses the attraction was unsafe.

Vikki Treacy wrote to Drayton Manor after Patrick, ten, plunged into the water on Splash Canyon. She said of Evha’s death: “Had they taken my incident seriously, maybe it wouldn’t have happened.”

<snip> https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/3531584/splash-canyon-drayton-manor-death-safety-warnings/

Splash Canyon and 3 other rapids rides in the UK have closed temporarily: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-39884216

It will be interesting to see what changes, if any, are made in the UK rides. I'm unconvinced there will be any major changes in US rides. Large corporations are typically unfazed by litigation or insurance settlements. The only thing that matters to them is their bottom line. MOO

 

[Littlegreenlady]

Writing on my phone so can't work out how to quote.

Sorry i didn't realise that the photos actually show the rollercoaster next door to the rapids... I only know because we were at the park last weekend &#128512;
So i see where the confusion lay. Who would expect the British press to show accurate photos
&#129315;&#129315;

There are no straps on the boats because if they did, then in the event of the boat capsizing, it can mean people are trapped under water.

I don't think there will be a massive change. At the moment all signs point to an accident. There might be more safety signs and warnings but generally no changes.
The ride manufacturer will have told the other ride owners to have shut their rides down until they know for sure if it's a ride fault or not. They did it with the Smiler accident earlier in the year as well. .

You're right about the big corporations, they are only interested in the profits. The sad thing about Drayton Manor is that it's a small park, family owned. They've run it for years but they don't have the cash to hand that larger parks do, so i fear for the parks future. There have been other small parks in the UK that did have to close after accidents.



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[perfectingpink]

Are these type of rides covered under the new laws in Kansas?

WPD investigating possible shocking at Towne West

A 15-month-old was taken to the hospital in critical condition after she went unresponsive while she was holding on to a guard rail at a carnival at Towne West on Friday night.

http://www.kwch.com/content/news/WPD-investigating-possible-shockig-422177243.html

 

[perfectingpink]

New amusement ride law shuts down Kingman County carnival

http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Ne...s-down-Kingman-County-carnival-421682833.html

 

[KaaBoom]

New amusement ride law shuts down Kingman County carnival

http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Ne...s-down-Kingman-County-carnival-421682833.html

Good, most amusement parks should be shut down. If they can't afford safety, then they should not be operating.

 

[perfectingpink]

Good, most amusement parks should be shut down. If they can't afford safety, then they should not be operating.

I absolutely agree!