Six Flags to add seat belts to Goliath roller coaster after fatal accident
Six Flags will add seat belts to Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia and Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America following the fatal Oct. 12 roller coaster accident. The company first announced the new safety measures Friday, Oct. 23, and confirmed Raging Bull as an additional coaster receiving seat belts on Sunday, Oct. 25.
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation announced new safety measures Friday, Oct. 23, including plans to add seat belts to Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia and other roller coasters with similar restraints.
In an email to guests and passholders, Six Flags President and CEO John Reilly said the company is reinforcing safety precautions across its parks following the Oct. 12 fatal accident.
“We are reinforcing safety precautions at our parks and taking additional measures, including adding seat belts on Goliath and other coasters with a similar restraint,” Reilly wrote.
Courtesy of Six Flags
The company has also engaged independent engineers and ride inspection specialists to review safety procedures across its entire portfolio of rides and attractions. Reilly said Six Flags is reinforcing employee training and operational procedures.
The decision to add seat belts does not establish that Goliath’s existing restraint system malfunctioned. Georgia authorities have not announced an official cause of the fatal accident.
Which other Six Flags roller coasters could receive seat belts?
On Friday, when the seatbelt announcement was made, two attractions stood out as possible candidates to also receive seatbelts: Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure and Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America.
Like Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia, both are Bolliger & Mabillard hypercoasters featuring individual clamshell-style lap-bar restraints without separate seat belts. Both also remain among the eight roller coasters temporarily closed following the fatal incident.
The other six closed coasters — Diamondback, Orion, Leviathan, Behemoth, Fury 325 and Thunder Striker — already have supplemental seat belts. Several received them after opening, while others were equipped with them from the beginning.
Six Flags has confirmed that Raging Bull at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, as well as Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey will receive seat belts following the fatal accident involving Goliath at Six Flags Over Georgia.
Courtesy of Six Flags
Kristin Fitzgerald, Six Flags’ director of public relations and communications, confirmed the modification to Lake and McHenry County Scanner.
Raging Bull and Nitro remain closed, with no announced reopening date. Six Flags said reopening will depend on completing the necessary work and safety reviews, including a state inspection before the coaster resumes operations.
Courtesy of Six Flags
Reilly concluded with a personal statement.
“I know trust is earned through actions and not words. As CEO of Six Flags, I take that responsibility personally. We will continue to communicate about our progress and hold ourselves accountable to our commitments to you.”
Six Flags said its parks will remain open throughout Halloween weekend, with more than 220 roller coasters operating across the company.
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