Woman says her boat had problems before accident at Iowa's Adventureland Park

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Omaha World Herald-AP

IOWA CITY (AP) — A woman whose family went on an Iowa amusement ride shortly before an accident that killed an 11-year-old boy and critically injured his brother said Friday that her boat also had problems floating properly and felt unsafe.

Amber Estrada, 31, said the boat carrying her and her husband, their three children and nephew at times struck and dragged along the bottom of the manmade river on the Raging River ride at Adventureland Park on July 3.

She said the boat made a grinding sound that she could feel under her feet. Estrada, of Eagle Grove, Iowa, said her husband told her that he felt scared and wanted to get off the ride.

The couple made the decision to lean forward in their seats with their children because they were worried it would tip over, she said. They were able to reach the end of the ride safely, but “unfortunately that did happen to another family,” she said.

Read more: https://omaha.com/news/state-and-regional/woman-says-her-boat-had-problems-before-accident-at-iowas-adventureland-park/article_8df00b52-e66e-11eb-ac4f-9bb600dde15e.html

[Gaugamela]

1. Those rides are designed to make you feel radically unsafe. They are operated by high school

drop-outs with bad teeth. The rides work until they don’t. In a libertarian utopia they would all work flawlessly because it would be bad for business if they didn’t.

I don’t know why anyone would get on one.

[alphafemale]

2. You are far safer in the Amusement Park

Than you were in your car getting there.

Or even in your own home.

[rsdsharp]

3. Adventureland isn't a sleazy carnival. It's a large amusement park

that’s been there for decades. It’s similar to Six Flags. The rides are all permanent.

The Raging River ride is more than 40 years old. It was inspected by the state the day before. This incident is the first time one of the floats has ever flipped over.

Far from making you feel “radically unsafe” this ride’s major attraction is that it cools you off on a hot summer day. I’ve ridden on that ride, in that park, probably two dozen times over the years. The accident is tragic, but you don’t know what you are talking about.

[Mosby]

4. Not everyone has good dental insurance.

FYI.

[Warpy]

5. Um, no, it was carefully designed by a Swiss company that specializes

in 100% safe adventures. It was well designed.

If the boat dragged the bottom, either it was overloaded (unlikely) or the sides were underinflated (more likely).

I think you might be confusing it with a rustbucket Tilt-a-Whirl at a county fair. This was closer to Disney World than it was to that.