No matter your age, we’ve all ventured to an amusement park at one point or another. Whether taking a trip solely to visit a theme park and ride rollercoasters or tacking on an extra day of a trip to enjoy some thrills at a nearby park, it’s nearly impossible to not enter an amusement park. But even the most adrenaline-seeking travelers are starting to pause after the Oct. 12 incident in which 42-year-old Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem fell to his death while riding Goliath rollercoaster at Six Flags Over Georgia, a theme park outside of Atlanta. After the tragedy, Six Flags, the country’s largest theme park operator, closed 10 rides across seven states.

The incident occurs about two weeks after the closure of X2, a rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain tied to many hospitalizations, brain injuries and some deaths. The ride closed permanently in September 2026 after reports of two women receiving emergency brain surgery just days apart from one another after riding the coaster in July. After CNN reported about the two women requiring brain surgery, more than 100 injured riders of the California-located park stepped forward with brain injury claims, officially forcing the ride’s closure.

Two investor lawsuits filed in 2025 report, before Six Flags’ merger with Cedar Fair in 2024, park officials failed to adhere to infrastructure repairs, ride updates and other basic maintenance as a result of massive employee layoffs.

According to CNN, since 2021, regulators in California have reported nearly 300 accident reports from Six Flags parks, from dislocated joints to concussions to chemical burns.

Six Flags isn’t the only theme park operator to have serious injuries and deaths occur on its rides. In September 2025, at Universal Studios’ Epic Universe in Orlando, Florida, 32-year-old Kevin Rodriguez Zavala died on the Stardust Racers rollercoaster, suffering many blunt-force injuries. Zavala was wheelchair-bound and had pre-existing spinal and lower body conditions, and a follow-up investigation found the ride functioned properly and employees followed standard operating procedures.

In partnership with the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions, the National Safety Council conducted a complete review of theme park ride incidents in 2024, and found a total of 1,484 injuries in North America, with 69 percent caused due to ride motion, and 31 percent caused when entering or exiting the ride.

Kariem’s death at Six Flags Over Georgia has since resulted in calls for federal oversight of amusement parks.

As for travelers with upcoming plans to visit a theme or amusement park, you are generally safe to enjoy the rides. Operators like Universal Studios and Disney regularly maintain rides to ensure they are safe and to standard. It may be worth taking a second look at traveling fairs, where rides are constantly dismantled and rebuilt in different cities, as these have a higher chance of something going wrong.

Have you experienced an injury on a rollercoaster or ride? Or, on a more positive note, which rollercoaster and amusement park is your favorite? Email us at letters@globaltravelerusa.com. Please include your full name and location.