NEWS
May 14, 2000 | JOHN SEEWER, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Roller coasters that drop, twist and turn riders at heights and speeds that were unimaginable just a few years ago are coming under closer scrutiny amid an increase in amusement park injuries. Some lawmakers and doctors are asking whether the human body is built to withstand what today's scream machines dish out. "Technology and ride design are outstripping our understanding of the health effects of high G-forces on child and adult riders," said Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.).
NEWS
October 25, 2012 | By Brady MacDonald, Los Angeles Times staff writer
The first volleys of the next roller coaster revolution have been fired in the forested Idaho panhandle, the emerging epicenter of thrill ride innovation. Located in the small town of Hayden, Idaho, Rocky Mountain Construction has burst onto the ride manufacturing scene seemingly out of nowhere, shaking the theme park industry like a rumbling coaster train rocketing along a rickety old track with plans to build two looping wooden coasters in 2013. > Photos: Rocky Mountain and the history of looping wooden coasters Not since the coaster wars of the 1980s and '90s have the possibilities for thrill rides, new and revamped, seemed so promising.