^^^I'm sure, Swoosh, that many people were able to ride it without injury. But, because of the side to side motion of the "boat" as it went around curves and up the sides of the channels, it was indeed possible for a person to be tossed side to side, even if they were holding firmly on to both side handles. That would be especially true of youngsters that might not have the arm or hand strength needed to hold themselves in position. That is what happened to my daughter when she was about 11. The boat whipped around a corner and she was slung up and almost out of the boat. Her head hit the channel side where they had put that old conveyor belt to slow the boats down, and that belt nearly took her whole eyebrow off. As she got off, an attendant, instead of immediately taking her to first aid, merely asked if she was OK. She said yes, but she then came to where I was working, blood running down the side of her face, and I took her right to first aid. That is when I learned just how common incidents of that type actually were on that ride. My wife and I had somewhat heated meetings with the director of the safety dept. then, with the result being that the ride was shut down for a few days while they removed the strips of conveyor belt from certain sections. We never got on the ride again, so I don't know if the belts ever returned or not, but they did come very close to shutting the ride down for good way back then.
The amazing thing to me was, and still is, that the powers that be knew of it's danger and allowed it to continue to operate. That kind of shook my faith in the company's willingness to look out for the well-being of it's guests. I was actually ashamed to be associated with the park.
