Lawsuit filed in 2003 Holiday World death

[Eagle Driver]

Lawsuit filed in 2003 Holiday World death
(Friday, May 6, 2005) - The father of Tamar Fellner, the 32-year-old woman
who fell to her death from the Raven roller coaster at Holiday World theme
park in 2003, has filed a lawsuit against the owners of the park and
Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, Inc., the company that designed the trains
for the ride, claiming negligence. The lawsuit, which seeks compensatory and
punitive damages, claims that the Raven was "in a dangerous and defective
condition unreasonably dangerous to prospective users and consumers."
An investigation into the woman's death revealed that the ride was in
perfect operating condition at the time of the accident, and that the
victim, a roller coaster enthusiast, may have unlatched her safety belt, as
several witnesses say they saw her in a "virtual standing position" as she
was riding. Based on the evidence of the investigation, an independent
inspector concluded that the victim "engaged in conduct contrary to the
rules of operation and in disregard of verbal instructions and posted
written warnings."

"These actions resulted in Ms. Fellner placing her body in a position that
the ride was not designed to carry human passengers," he said.

"Once in this undesigned riding position, the forces exerted on the body
resulted in Ms. Fellner leaving the passenger carrying area of the car and
falling down through the wooden structure to the ground... [resulting] in
the unfortunate loss of Ms. Fellner's life."

The family's attorney dismissed the eyewitness accounts and the findings of
the independent investigator, telling reporters, "She was not standing up,
she didn't try to stand up and she didn't monkey around with either of the
restraints."

In reponse to the lawsuit, Holiday World president Bill Koch issued a
statement saying, "As was stated in the three investigative reports, the
Raven was in excellent, safe running condition, and it is today. I have
ridden the ride myself, as have my 11-, 14-, and 16-year-old children. I
would not allow anyone to ride the Raven (or any other ride) if I was not
firmly convinced that the ride is safe."

The Raven has been in operation for 10 years, during which time no other
passenger has been ejected from the ride.

The case is Fellner v. Philadelphia Tobboggan Coasters and Koch Development
Corporation.



Is anyone really surprised?

[Oship]

On Sat, 7 May 2005 02:28:36 -0500, "Eagle Driver"

Post by Eagle Driver
Is anyone really surprised?

I'm just surprised they waited nearly 2 years to file it. Typical
these days, let's blame someone else for your (on in case your
relative's) bad behavior or poor choices.

I know we've flogged this horse several dozen times, but it merits
repeating again in the context of this lawsuit. The bottom line is
that Tamara Fellner, sadly and very unfortunately caused her own death
by violating the ride's safety policy, not only by circumventing the
safety device but then by standing up on one of the most airtime laden
sections of the ride. Did the park force her to do this? No, it was
her own decision to act recklessly. Was her death sad and tragic?
Absolutely. Was her death a hard thing to accept and get though by
the HW staff and management? Absolutely. Was it their fault?
Absolutely not....a fact that was substantiated by the inspector who
investigated the accident. He found the ride to be in perfect working
condition and is quoted as saying that Tamara Fellner:

"Engaged in conduct contrary to the rules of operation and in
disregard of verbal instructions and posted written warnings. "These
actions resulted in Ms. Fellner placing her body in a position that
the ride was not designed to carry human passengers,"

If you think about the inspector, he very likely worked for either the
state or the park's insurance company. In either case, they would
have shut that ride down in a microsecond if they found that it was
"in a dangerous and defective condition unreasonably dangerous to
prospective users and consumers, " as the attorney stated in the
lawsuit.

State agencies regulating amusement parks don't like amusement rides
to begin with. They shut down rides often and with glee, I might add.
They would probably liked nothing better than to find the park
negligent in the accident, and probably left no stone unturned before
concluding that the park was not at fault.

Insurance companies dislike having to pay out claims. That's a well
known fact. If they even thought for an instant that HW may have been
liable, or that the Raven was unsafe, it's likely that the Raven would
still be closed to this day.


I really got ticked off by this lawyer's comment that Tamara Fellner
"was not standing up, she didn't try to stand up and she didn't monkey
around with either of the restraints."

Then came anyone tell me why, when the train returned to the station
sans Ms. Fellner, was her safety belt undone? Am I supposed to
believe that it was someone else's fault other than Ms. Fellner?
Oh I see....maybe the enthusiast sitting in the seat behind her saw
her fly out of the train, thought to himself: "Gee, this will be bad
for the park. I'll just unlatch my safety belt, crawl up over into
the seat in front of me, unlatch hers, then get back into my seat and
put mine back on. That way when the train rolls into the station,
they'll find her seat belt undone and assume that she undid it, and
the park won't be blamed for the accident"

Or maybe the park's management sent a ride op out to jump into the
train at one of it's lowest track spots, unlatch her seat belt, then
jump back out so that her seat belt was undone when the train reached
the station?

Does any of that make any common sense at ALL? Of course not. But do
you what a lawyer friend of mine says whenever I pose a question to
him about the lack of common sense in a court ruling? He simply
replies: "I'm only concerned with the law, and how it can benefit me
and my clients. I could care less about common sense!"

My guess is that this guy probably figures that the park will jump at
the chance to settle out court to avoid more bad publicity, whether
they were liable or not. Quite a few companies do that in these types
of cases. Just pay them to shut them up and avoid the bad press, end
if they did nothing wrong. I hope HW doesn't become one of those
companies.

No before some calls me an insensitive $%^$#, or something wore, I am
not insensitive to the parents of Tamara Fellner. I can't begin to
imagine what they went through losing a daughter in that manner. It
must have been a nightmare for them to realize that she's gone and
never coming back. But at the same time they need to come to grips
with the fact that their daughter chose the wrong course of action,
and it resulted in her death. She chose to violate park, and for that
matter state, safety laws, and it resulted in a tragedy. I do feel
for their pain and suffering, but at the same time I hop that HW
fights their lawsuit tooth and nail.

In conclusion, I URGE ALL OF YOU WHO WERE ON THE RAVEN THAT EVENING
AND WITNESSED TAMARA FELLNER STANDING UP, UNDOING HER SAFERY BELT, OR
EVEN TALKING ABOUT WAYS TO GET AROUND RIDE SAFETY DEVICES, TO CONTACT
HW IMMEDIATELY AND OFFER TO TESTIFY ON THEIR BEHALF IT THE NEED
ARISES!!

Sam Marks is always taking us to task on this newsgroup for not
policing this hobby vigilantly enough. Sometimes I agree with him,
other times I feel he is too overzealous. But in this case, if we
don't stand up for HW, it's a signal that we don't care enough about
this hobby to take a stand hen we see a travesty or justice being
committed.

MARK

P.S. I've just slipped into my best asbestos suit on...because I just
KNOW somebody will flame me for something I said in this post, but so
be it. These are my feelings on this subject, and I stand behind
them!

[Joe Schwartz]

Post by Oship
I really got ticked off by this lawyer's comment that Tamara Fellner
"was not standing up, she didn't try to stand up and she didn't monkey
around with either of the restraints."
Then came anyone tell me why, when the train returned to the station
sans Ms. Fellner, was her safety belt undone?

Not just undone, but tucked into the seat cushions. That clearly
indicates a willful action, not a random seatbelt failure.

[Dave Althoff, Jr.]

Oship <***@adelphia.net> wrote (among other things):
:
: In conclusion, I URGE ALL OF YOU WHO WERE ON THE RAVEN THAT EVENING
: AND WITNESSED TAMARA FELLNER STANDING UP, UNDOING HER SAFERY BELT, OR
: EVEN TALKING ABOUT WAYS TO GET AROUND RIDE SAFETY DEVICES, TO CONTACT
: HW IMMEDIATELY AND OFFER TO TESTIFY ON THEIR BEHALF IT THE NEED
: ARISES!!

...And I urge all of you...ALL OF YOU...NOT to do as Mr. Oship suggests.
Not at this time, anyway.

Think rationally for a moment. And let me emphasize that this is my
personal opinion on the matter; if Raven Maven disagrees with me, then
please do as she says. I'm sure you all know I have no connection with
the park at all...

The park knows there are witnesses to events of that evening. The park
knows how to reach the population of this group. And I am quite certain
that the appropriate people at the park already know what we think of
them, and that there are many people here who are willing to supply
information, testimony, possibly even photographs or recordings if necessary.

The park is also undoubtably in the process of doing its own legwork with
regard to this suit. Whether we were there or not, whether we saw
anything or not, whether or not we have anything to add to the case, it
is NONE OF OUR BUSINESS unless the park asks for our involvement.
Remember, not only is the park dealing with this as-yet-unresolved
two-year-old incident, they also opened for business this weekend, which
means the LAST thing they need is a bunch of unsolicited emails,
letters, and phone calls from well-meaning enthusiasts. I just don't
see how it could possibly be helpful until the park is prepared for it.
I'm not saying we shouldn't be involved if we can help, but I am saying
that we need to let the park call the shots here. The last thing we want
is for something bad to happen because one of us got in the way.

A single communication from the park would, without a doubt, elicit many
volunteers willing to offer their assistance in any way possible. I
suggest that for those of us who are willing, our best course of action
is to wait until the park makes that request before jumping to their
defense.

Out of respect for the park, I urge everyone to, yes, be prepared to
offer anything you can, as suggested. But take your cues from the park.
They know there is useful information out here, and I am certain that if
they want our assistance, they will undoubtedly ask for it. Until they
do, I suggest we can be more helpful by staying out of their way and not
interfering with their handling of the case.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
/-\ _ _ *** Open daily! Ride safely! ***
/XXX\ /X\ /X\_ _ /X\__ _ _ _____
/XXXXX\ /XXX\ /XXXX\_ /X\ /XXXXX\ /X\ /X\ /XXXXX
_/XXXXXXX\__/XXXXX\/XXXXXXXX\_/XXX\_/XXXXXXX\__/XXX\_/XXX\_/\_/XXXXXX

[Oship]

On Mon, 09 May 2005 06:21:12 GMT, "Dave Althoff, Jr."

Post by Dave Althoff, Jr.
: In conclusion, I URGE ALL OF YOU WHO WERE ON THE RAVEN THAT EVENING
: AND WITNESSED TAMARA FELLNER STANDING UP, UNDOING HER SAFERY BELT, OR
: EVEN TALKING ABOUT WAYS TO GET AROUND RIDE SAFETY DEVICES, TO CONTACT
: HW IMMEDIATELY AND OFFER TO TESTIFY ON THEIR BEHALF IT THE NEED
: ARISES!!
...And I urge all of you...ALL OF YOU...NOT to do as Mr. Oship suggests.
Not at this time, anyway.
The park knows there are witnesses to events of that evening. The park
knows how to reach the population of this group. And I am quite certain
that the appropriate people at the park already know what we think of
them, and that there are many people here who are willing to supply
information, testimony, possibly even photographs or recordings if necessary.
The park is also undoubtably in the process of doing its own legwork with
regard to this suit. Whether we were there or not, whether we saw
anything or not, whether or not we have anything to add to the case, it
is NONE OF OUR BUSINESS unless the park asks for our involvement.
Remember, not only is the park dealing with this as-yet-unresolved
two-year-old incident, they also opened for business this weekend, which
means the LAST thing they need is a bunch of unsolicited emails,
letters, and phone calls from well-meaning enthusiasts. I just don't
see how it could possibly be helpful until the park is prepared for it.
I'm not saying we shouldn't be involved if we can help, but I am saying
that we need to let the park call the shots here. The last thing we want
is for something bad to happen because one of us got in the way.

I stand corrected, Dave. You are most correct! The investigators
obviously have the names of all the people they interviewed in the
aftermath of the incident. I hadn't thought of that. But in case
anyone is contacted regarding testifying in the park's behalf, please
do the park a huge favor and testify for them.

Thanks Dave for having a bit cooler head than I. It's just that I do
get a bit peeved at the stupidity of some lawsuits and the shysters
who promote them.

As Dave says, be prepared to help HW in any way possible, but wait
until contacted or the park sends out a general request for help in
this matter.

MARK