An Arizona man said he climbed off a moving roller coaster after a safety bar became unlatched on Sunday, and his dizzying escape was caught on camera.
The man, who was celebrating his niece’s birthday at Castles and Coasters in Phoenix, was riding Desert Storm, a double-loop roller coaster, when the lap bar unlatched seconds into the ride. He told NBC affiliate KPNX.
He asked not to be identified but shared cell phone video of the coaster disaster with KPNX.
“When you start climbing, you hear the usual clicking sound of a roller coaster chain,” the man told The Phoenix. “I was almost to the top and I heard a click that wasn’t the same as the chain going up, so I checked the lap bar one last time and it came off.”
He immediately decided to get out of the vehicle and climb onto the catwalk, which he thinks may have saved his life, he told KPNX.
“I only had a few seconds to decide whether to continue riding or get off,” the man said.
He told KPNX that the ride operator did not realize what had happened until he was on the ground.
“She should have seen that car, she should have been able to press the emergency release when she saw me getting out of the car, she should have been able to do something,” the man said. .
He recalled hearing the lap bar click into place before the ride departed, but said the operator never physically checked to see if the lap bar was properly secured. said.
“I pushed mine up. She saw it. She walked away,” the man said.
He told KPNX he filed an incident report with the park but was not given a copy.
“I think the most frightening thing was their negligence and their complete carelessness throughout,” the man said.
The man said he thought parks should be more regulated, but Arizona does not regulate amusement parks, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. State law requires parks to have private insurance companies inspect rides annually.
“It needs to change 100 percent. I think all amusement parks, where people’s lives are basically in their hands, need to be better regulated,” the man told KPNX.
Castles & Coasters did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
