One of History’s Most Dangerous Theme Park Rides

Perilous Plunge was aptly named.

More on that in a bit.

I wrote this blog before the terrible news that a person had been killed on a different ride last Friday in Texas.

According to cbsnews.com, a woman died after falling from a giant roller coaster at Six Flags over Texas in Arlington; and witnesses say the woman had expressed concern about the safety bar not completely engaging as the ride was starting.

How tragic that park ride attendants didn't take her fears seriously or that she didn't immediately request to be let off the ride.

Now back to Perilous Plunge.

According to all-that-is-interesting.com, the ride was located in Southern California at Knott's Berry Farm.

When I was a kid, my family would regularly visit the park when we lived in San Bernardino, California.

But back in the dim recesses of history, the park was pretty tame and didn't have any scary rides that I remember.

Times have changed and people crave thrill rides more than ever before.

Billed as the tallest and steepest water ride in the world, Perilous Plunge was plagued with technical issues since it first opened on September 15th 2000, and in 2002 a woman was killed when she fell out of her seat at a height of over 100 feet.

New cars were ordered afterwards with safer harnesses, but In doing so the park failed to consider the difference in their weight and therefore the flume’s chain nearly broke due to stress.

Eventually, according to an article at ocregister.com, the ride closed for good on September 3, 2012.