Mister Coaster, thank you for your reply. You raised some very interesting points, but I think I just need to find a better way to state my observation. The Jazz was correct that I wasn’t addressing historical park safety or ride construction quality or any of those specific issues. My comment had more to do with a broad observation about what I perceive to be a growing trend among Americans in our reaction to the human condition in relation to general safety.
When I read the eyewitness’ quote, I saw two different meanings within the context. On one level, the quote was addressing the shock and horror of what they had just seen with their own eyes. On another level, they seemed to be expressing disbelief that an amusement park ride in this day and age could be unsafe. And it was this second part that I had been attempting to tackle with my original post. I got the feeling they were living under the dangerous illusion that perils and hazards had somehow been regulated out of American life. Since I see this reaction more and more frequently, I am disturbed by this mentality.
I saw the same types of reactionary quotes last week after those unfortunate people in Tennessee were killed by a dragster that lost control and plunged into the crowd lining the roadway. To paraphrase, they seemed to be saying, “Why weren’t we more protected? Why weren’t there more regulations, codes, and standards to protect us from such a deadly situation?”
Contrarily, my decidedly unsympathetic reaction was, “If you were so concerned about safety, why were you standing on the shoulder of the road to watch a drag race? And how can you have the nerve to act surprised when someone got hurt?”
Grancey and I are at the beach this weekend, and I see the same reaction dangerously permeate the most mundane aspects of life. For example, there is a unified flagpole warning system up and down the beach, and we see family after family ignore the red flags. They all seem to say, “Nothing can happen to us. This is a state-owned beach, for crying out loud. They wouldn’t let people swim here if it were dangerous.” Or coming home from the movie theater tonight we kept dodging groups of people who would casually walk across the US Highway to get to their cars, oblivious to the fact that if it’s night then I can’t see them because of the oncoming traffic’s headlights. And when I would pass by them after swerving they would glare at me as if saying, “Watch it – we had the right of way.” I guess they’d rather be dead and technically correct rather than alive and safe.
Life itself is dangerous. Over-regulation of safety issues seems to be producing a generation of Americans who don’t think about taking responsibility for their own safety – they just wait for government regulations to do their thinking for them. And when people stop thinking about safety because they think they’re safe, they get hurt in a big way.
This position of mine has nothing to do with the girl who lost her feet. But as I said, I was addressing the eyewitness’ comments about her accident and not the accident itself.
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Living is easy with eyes closed.
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