If you have ever stood in line at a roller coaster, you know the signs: do not go on this attraction if you are pregnant, if you have back problems, if you wear a pacemaker… The number of warning signs on the Do-Dodonpa roller coaster was probably quite a list in Japan, because this rollercoaster is notorious for actually breaking bones. But: now Do-Dodonpa is closed.
Do-Dodonpa
Do-Dodanpa (a reference to drums) was once the fastest rollercoaster in the world and can be found in Fuji-Q Highland. The amusement park had been arguing about the roller coaster for years, because there was no good way to ensure that riders did not sustain injuries during a ride. Discussions were held with the manufacturer again and again, but nothing worked. So even though the roller coaster has done it for the park for decades, it’s done now.
Do-Dodonpa opened in 2021 and could reach 170 kilometers per hour in 1.8 seconds. All fine, but then the park decided to install an upgrade on the roller coaster in 2017 that made it even faster: a loop of 49 meters, after which you went 178 kilometers per hour. And not just like that: but not even two seconds after you were launched. The makers were able to achieve this using, among other things, air pressure. You were shot away at the start and less than a minute later you had covered 1.2 kilometers and it was over again. So one hell of a ride.
Broken bones
However, it really was one hell of a ride for some. In 2007 a piece of plastic broke off and hit someone’s leg and in just six months there were 9 people reporting broken bones from the roller coaster, all in the neck and chest. The G-forces of 3.75 G were probably too much for them. That’s a lot: more than what astronauts feel and a tad below what fighter pilots feel.
Although it seems like a good idea for such an amusement park to retire the roller coaster after a large number of complaints about injuries, including even broken bones, some roller coaster fans are considerably less happy. They complain that the people with injuries had probably just done something crazy themselves and that the rollercoaster is not to blame. We will never know, because Do-Dodonpa is no more, after it was even closed for a while in 2021 by order of the government.
