Test Dummies Fall Off Roller Coaster And Land On Roof Of Motel

The owners of a New Jersey amusement park are trying to assure customers that the GaleForce roller coaster at Playland’s Castaway Cove in Ocean City is safe after two test dummies fell off the ride during a routine safety inspection.

The two water-filled dummies fell out of their seats during the test and crash-landed on the roof of a motel next door, causing some minor damage that was repaired later in the day. Nobody was injured as a result of the mishap. When inspectors checked the roller coaster, they found that the lap bars were still locked down and determined that the ride did not cause the dummies to fall out.

Brian Hartley, the Vice President of the theme park, explained that the dummies had sprung a leak during the safety test and lost their shape and form, which allowed them to slip out of the lap bar.

“Obviously it’s not something that would ever happen with a person in it,” Hartley told NBC Philadelphia. “You know you don’t lose rigidity in a person. The lap bar comes down. You’re secured in there.”

The park has been running extra safety tests on the roller coaster every day since the incident out of an abundance of caution.

“Safety is our top priority,” he said. “It’s something we do every single day. We’re checking the rides in and out. We’re going to have to do a better job at checking those tubes and making sure there’s no leaks obviously before we send them out.”

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