Stupid or smart?

GoYanks34 said:

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/10/12660218-afraid-of-lightning-strike-new-jersey-teen-jumps-from-chairlift?lite

I'm a little torn on this one although it gives me another reason why I never ride skyrides! In her defense that storm down here was brutal with a lot of cloud to ground lightning. It came in really fast and it looked like the Armageddon for a while!

Jen

This is too funny, and I'm not talking about the incident itself..I was just about to post this story from the Daily News with a comment of "This one's for you, Jen!!!" If anyone's ever been on the Seaside boardwalk, that's not much of a drop to the soft sand, and I'm sure that's why she took the chance. Like any other drop, if you land wrong, injury is possible. But she admitted she simply freaked out. It appears the ride staff didn't know someone had jumped until later. Empty seats are certainly not uncommon on that ride...

Mike

Doesn't NJ have a rider responsibility law like PA, OH, and VA? If so, and the park/police felt like being real buttheads, they could charge the girl for her actions. In this case, she may be able to get off due to the actual circumstances, but what if someone just freaked because the ride stopped? Most GP don't have the ability to access whether something is actually wrong with the ride and whether it is a controlled shutdown by the ops that can be restarted with no problem.

I'm sure no park wants to see more people jumping from the rides just because they perceive danger. It could set a really bad precedent that could turn out worst next time.

Paul

Well, the odds of getting struck by lighting are very slim, the odds of getting injured by jumping off a sky ride are much, much greater, so I call stupid. That's not to say the girl is lacking intelligence, per se. People just do stupid things when they panic.

I'm willing to bet that this will mean seat belts in this sky ride's future, or some other increase in restraint. Possibly all sky rides will follow suit.