The Troubled History of The Smiler - Secret Weapon 7 | Expedition Alton Towers

Join us on Expedition Alton Towers as we look at the troubled history of The Smiler rollercoaster at the park. Secret Weapon 7 opened in 2013 and has had multiple issues including a major crash which effected the future of Alton Towers and Merlin. This unique ride has a interesting story and the most inversions in the world with 14.
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Video Credits
Ride Sims - • Video
psyclonesteve - • Alton Towers 1992
AlexanderMachin - • X Sector - 1998 - The ...
www.ukrides.info - • Halloween Trip - Alton...
thethemeparkcentral - • Alton Towers Resort - ...
Theme Park Worldwide -
• SAW: The Ride - Thorpe...
• The Smiler Constructio...
• The Sanctuary Exterior...
• The Smiler - Alton Tow...
Intimidator Jim Wang - • 10 Inversion Roller Co...
grime4life - • The Smiler POV 1080 HD...
The Attractions Guide - • The Sanctuary - Alton ...
Lennon Hall - • Video
Roflcopter - • Video
Rollercoaster James - • Video
Pleasure Beach Experience - • The Smiler Off Ride | ...
No video is owned by Expedition Theme Park and is intended for education purposes under Fair use.

[@konnerdent4835]

Spray painting sheep has got to be the most British advertising thing I’ve ever seen.

[@Foxy02016]

Konner Dent it’s super Irish tho, have you seen Ireland?

[@fidoandthecakes4468]

They spray painted SHEEP for this?!🤣

[@mothersuperior2673]

Ikr I heard about it for the first time and lost my crap laughing

[@fazbearentertainment287]

Water Sheep?

[@bobthebear1246]

Animal cruelty.

[@johnnyjoestar7143]

it wasn't really the ride itself but the stupid people overriding the safety warning without consulting the rest of the team. The break down in communication. The actual ride was programmed to automatically stop and it did, but the fact that an employee ignored that and manually altered it is terrifying. If I was that person I wouldn't be able to sleep at night lol

[@lunamakesfilms]

It's pretty fucking obvious that there was another cart there (facepalms)

[@DarthSion89]

Yeah people keep shitting on this amazing ride because of bad training

[@Ace-du7vw]

Agreed 100%. The ride itself is perfectly safe, it was human error that hurt so many people. It's so tragic but most rollercoaster-related injuries and fatalities are the result of human error. The ride computers, sensors, safety mechanisms, all worked as they should. Carelessness of the team not communicating one another and not properly inspecting the track is what caused so many people to get hurt. It's a shame the blame befalls the ride itself and not the people who should have been properly trained.

[@2dradon2]

Exactly! The operators/engineers failed them. Not the rollar coaster manufacturer.

[@TheIslingtonAngel]

I said that it was human error before it even got announced! The two carts shouldny have been on the same half of the track in the first place..

[@AmberCatFan]

God, I remember when the ads would play on tv. Then they suddenly just stopped, obviously I didn't care at the time but now I think I know why...

[@shona5512]

baby-got-back they suddenly stopped because the name was out there and they didn't need to advertise it anymore.

[@Daniel-0093]

I was only 9 back then so that was as scary as hell

[@urielc918]

@@Daniel-0093 yeah, I don't believe you're 15.

[@AkuIa]

@@urielc918 why?, if he was 9 in 2015 he would be 13

[@Daniel-0093]

@@urielc918I know its my name that deceives you, its just that my brother created this account and made the name this.

[@dingleplayer1219]

Whoever did the marketing thing for this must have been a genius. They should have done horror movies instead.

[@babygirlincorporated]

They really missed their calling

[@TheWarpmind]

Lionsgate did the video and such

[@michaelrussell3890]

You could say that about a few of ATs rides. Th13teen is another good example

[@MaxxVelo]

the Smiler's lore gave analog horror vibes long before ideas like the Backrooms took off.

[@azure965]

Litterly, I mean ig we have smile now but lmao this is incredibly unsettling,

[@miavlogs5327]

I’m a ride operator and I cannot believe this was human error, you should never ever override stoppages without looking into them, business often think too much about what customers will think if they take too long to fix a ride, but I’d rather wait than be put in danger like that.

[@2joe37z5]

Mia Vlogs it’s been proven that an operator wasn’t listening and left the carriage on the track

[@MrShawrey]

They put a protocol in place now where only someone high up in the company can override it now or those with extra extra training , so if it stops when none of them people are there you are stuck for a while 😂

[@JulesOfIslington]

It’s been adjudicated that the accident was the result of serious failings of the company to assess risk in relation to resetting of the ride, implement sufficient protocols to reduce the risk, and adequately train and supervise staff in relation to “stop zone” faults . See the following from the judge’s sentencing remarks in R (HSE) v Merlin Attractions Operations Limited: “Human error was not the cause, as was suggested by the defendant in an early press release. The defendant now accepts the prosecution case that the underlying fault was the absence of a structured and considered system, not that of individual engineers doing their best within a flawed system.” In fairness to the company, the judge later noted, in respect of action taken since the accident, "It is accepted that the defendant has taken full and extensive steps to remedy the problem."

[@WolfePaws]

@@2joe37z5 I'm a person who works in a threatening environment where thousands of lives depend on my constant attention. If an incident occurs do you think my multinational company will accept responsibility or will they do everything they can possibly do to blame me?

[@RiceWitch-dingus-400]

@@2joe37z5 thats what he said

[@SuperEnthused]

Such amazing (and disturbing) marketing and theming for a coaster and such a tragic and awful story. You covered this very well as always. Fascinating and sad.

[@boobookittylozz]

Weird adverts are Alton Towers niche for sure.

[@unwelldanny7108]

Honestly reminds me of something The Joker would do, but just remove the smile part and you've got something Grid would do to Cyborg. Making him obey and join him, perhaps?

[@tritanicwolf518]

Super Enthused agreed

[@austinreed5805]

The disaster happened on my birthday, June 2! 😱

[@taro9921]

Austin Reed happy birthday?

[@alisonrex5767]

The marketing campaign was absolutely terrifying. We got ads for the ride ALL THE TIME in Ireland. I was really young when the campaign started, and it still gives me chills.

[@Drood.]

Loads of people are saying this, do you guys really find those ads scary? I can't even remember seeing any on TV around the time the Smiler was being built, only reason i knew about it was a mate of mine was really into rollercoasters and was following the smiler.

[@44mina0]

@@Drood. oh definitely. i was a huge scaredy cat as a kid and this along with the saw the ride ads scared the absolute living daylights out of me

[@aimeeleanoski7266]

Drood I was 7 at the time of seeing them. The music and logo put together were so creepy that I’d cry whenever I heard it. Yeah I was a scared kid

[@fatdude2763]

Same, especially as an Irish guy too. The ads were really unnerving but I never ran outside. Christ, everything about this was just setting itself up, huh?

[@jack-zo8ig]

I always ran out of the room when the ads started playing

[@STARPHASE]

Trouble history or not, this thing's design is absolutely stunning. The whole story line it has, and the the aesthetics are just amazing. From a purely cosmetic design standpoint, it's one of the best and coolest looking rides I've ever seen.

[@altontowerspowers7612]

And the music is amzing

[@QueenRobyn]

Just went on it today for this first, my god its an amazing ride, safety has obviously improved since then and it shows. Amazing ride would recommend!

[@DrinkingMud]

@@QueenRobyn Also went on it today for the first time, its awesome!

[@lily-rosex7189]

@@QueenRobyn I went on it yesterday it’s ace

[@QueenRobyn]

@@lily-rosex7189 glad you enjoyed it, probably one of the best rides in the UK.

[@boo3334]

Hi alton towers employee here. There are now only 3 carts operational at one time, even at peak 2 are out whilst one loads, then one cart comes in and unloads whilst the now loaded fist cart is set off, rinse and repeat. There is also alt more communication between staff with multiple people giving thumbs up before a new cart is sent out

[@etheralonyx4471]

Is the only 3 carts thing due to 2 being in the crash and is it highly likely the crash was due to not enough communication

[@thatguyinyourshed900]

Yeah I went on smiler recently and fucken loved it. I’m so sad that this happened because this ride is incredible

[@boo3334]

@@etheralonyx4471 yeah it was literally because some dumbass overrode the safety warning

[@boo3334]

@@thatguyinyourshed900 agreed my favorite ride on park

[@gracefrost2549]

i went on tuesday and i HAD to go on the smiler, but it closed and i got freaked out for no reason . i didn’t wanna go on it even tho i’d been hyping it up all day and i’d done every big coaster except my favourite (and nemesis ofc) my friend persuaded me to go on and it was totally worth it, I LOVE IT!!! so anyone who’s scared, don’t be because it is sooooo good

[@hyomina]

Imagine being on a ride with such trippy and creepy theming, sights and sounds that makes you feel so out of your element and then getting in a crash and losing your leg...damn. For some reason, the theming makes that incident even more unsettling somehow? I went on the ride for the first time maybe a year after the incident and, while it was objectively a great coaster, I just felt so terrible for those people the whole time and that coupled with the theming made me feel so uneasy. Also that jump scare in the ad with the tapes REALLY got me. Geez. Great video, well made, informative and mot overly sensationalised. The old footage of X Sector with The Black Hole was a great nostalgia trip too.

[@woodsy4458]

Trust me being on the ride is real spooky and the huge line doesn't help as the more you consider why you are on the ride you just got more freaked out

[@JewelWildmoon]

Is it still open or was it closed down again? People were telling me it's back down but now I'm hearing it's still up

[@Oldboy2305]

@@JewelWildmoon r

[@strawberrycheesecake7193]

SoSoshiHyo it’s horrible on there, it’s not even fun it’s just being thrashed around

[@banditthepirateking6591]

The exit is filled with trippy imagery the noise in the queue is hypnotic the ride itself is weirdly thrilling

[@jadeyxboox]

The advertising for smiler was BRILLIANT. the hype outlived anything I’ve experienced before in regards to coaster promo. I rode before the crash and vowed never to go on it again as it’s the only coaster that’s ever made me feel genuinely unwell for the rest of the day and I was so upset as I was giddy af to ride a coaster with 14 loops!

[@numfar1]

true

[@julienmauguin3214]

I totally agree, as i am french, heard advertising about it in france, was pretty hyped too actually

[@Neoyoshgamer]

Yep, I was a kid at the time but it's the one advert for a theme park I can remember! So freaky without being too much.

[@awesomesauce8664]

I’m actually super glad this ride wasn’t demolished, since I went on it back in 2019, but then again, the phrase ‘You Belong to The Smiler’ got a whole other meaning after the accident, didn’t it?

[@cadendicky1855]

Might've cut a little too deep there mate

[@awesomesauce8664]

@@cadendicky1855 It’s been 8 years bro i’m sure it’s okay to say that now 💀

[@ems.robloxplayer]

i don’t get it..

[@awesomesauce8664]

@@ems.robloxplayer you speak for the trees?

[@ems.robloxplayer]

@@awesomesauce8664 yes and i don't get the joke

[@66Xeno]

Man, that was some utterly terrifying commercials, especially for a coaster. They seem straight out of Halloween Horror Nights. Such a shame that a tragedy like that could happen when it could have easily been avoided. If I wasn't already scared of roller coasters, this would definitely cause that.

[@duckydae]

I mean, Alton Towers would give PlayStation a run for their money with the amount of creepy ad campaigns.

[@unwelldanny7108]

@@duckydae IDK, I think the PlayStation ad with the alien girl (Mental Wealth) was actually kinda cute.

[@adamxnia]

I was only 6 when i saw it... it absoloutely terried me. I went to Alton towers last year and i still think of that TV ad

[@GabagoolForeverAndAlways]

All of Alton Towers main rides maybe except for Air are themed around disturbing themes and aim to be scary in lore and thrills

[@Hydratiun]

It annoys me that the accident was completely human error and should have easily been avoided. Reckless employees ruined the company’s reputation of what was a very safe ride

[@nathanburke420]

That. Is. The Scariest ad campaign I have ever seen. Except for the sheep *I LOVED THE SHEEP*

[@unwelldanny7108]

It was like a Tim & Eric sketch.

[@largeslappy]

Alton Towers: Why can't you just be normal!? Smiler: *screaming*

[@gerragotheallidile]

Smiler: **confused* *yelling**

[@unknowncreature-0069]

@@StitchdTeeth it's the emo crackhead uncle, there, something for everyone

[@YogoBites]

No it should be Alton Towers: Why can’t you just be normal!? Smiler: *Insane laughter*

[@justarandompeep412]

Gawd, now I’m thinking of a custom backstory.

[@tr-kt4lq]

The other rides: Just watching...

[@TheNobod3]

Marketing meeting for this ride: "Alright so what do you got?" "I'm thinking high-concept horror. Mind control, medical experiments, lots of uncanny valley stuff too." "Yeah, that's perfect! That's exactly what's gonna draw to people to our tiny train going nowhere specifically designed to make your lizard-brain think you're about to die. It needs a little extra something though." "How about we spray-paint some sheep?" "Johnson, you've done it again!" *everyone passes out face-first into their 3-foot-high mountains of coke*

[@gabzwithazed]

That one person who’s still up: “Hey! What if we add some stock videos of eyes and add swirls to it? A great way to scare the kids! Oh, and let’s add the logo everywhere! I’m taking buildings, trains, even Big Ben!”

[@Pushing_Daisies]

*screenshots comment for the future*

[@ayesh4h]

bri ish logic innit

[@Austin-jd4os]

And let's have a 4 part found footage mini series as well.

[@Jo-rz6bs]

Fucking works innit

[@alexdoxey6784]

Went on the Smiler myself last year, and I must say the most fun roller coaster I had been on. The immersion, background story and design of the coaster is excellent. I went on the ride even after the tragic events on it; but it’s all down to miscommunication and human error. They obviously don’t design the rides to fail, it’s just in the nature and stigma of theme parks.

[@callum7416]

Casswury you can’t see around the whole thing when you’re there tbf

[@daisygardiner]

thank you im not the only one, people make it sounds like i’m insane when i say i still go on the ride

[@chloemay3747]

Casswury it's hard to see the track

[@chiren_exe541]

Went on it a few weekends ago and it's my favourite ride at the park! It's the best at the front and for the fun of it one ride me, my sister , her friend and my dad played bogies. Heck first time on I out my hands up and my dad told me to put them down "incase they hit simething" XD

[@IndyCoasterCreator]

The crash 2 years later happened because of a retarted worker. If thats what your talking about. If it's not what your talking about I probably sound like an idiot

[@Emily-yu1ox]

We went to alton towers the day after the ride reopened after the crash and there was literally nobody was queueing for it- we could go on it an unlimited amount of times it was great

[@aqueleindie]

stonks

[@apeachonahill8059]

weird flex but okay

[@user-lo7jv3xm4s]

Woow I would not have done that cause It’s not the right fault it’s the people and if people are dumb and they put an extra car while I’m on I’d rather jump off then get in a crash

[@derliteraturkurs497]

@@user-lo7jv3xm4sThe ride is extremely safe now. Also... how do you want to know there's a car on the track xD... When you're driving you can't jump out.

[@user-lo7jv3xm4s]

@@derliteraturkurs497 wut i meant was if they let me jump off then i would xD

[@icantthinkofagoodusernames1933]

Omg I remember getting adverts for this on my cereal boxes years ago

[@caith2639]

Same I hated it though ☹️

[@bowchithesecond2864]

Crunchy nuts

[@malfattio2894]

Krave

[@charliegreen1697]

That’s shit scared me

[@Virolaxion]

Fucking hell it was 4 years ago!? Feels like the other day... Then again The Lego Movie came out half a decade ago and I can't wrap my head around that

[@amelie_thingz4471]

The creepy idea of the rollercoaster makes the accident even more spine chilling.

[@ems.robloxplayer]

yeah, the theme tune when waiting in the queue does that too..

[@SuperstarCandy]

I've heard all about the infamous Smiler incidents even though i'm not from the UK. KZbin helps me learn about that stuff. Edit: WOW. That's the craziest ad campaign i've ever seen in my LIFE. I wonder who here saw the Smiler logo projections in person as they were walking through the streets of the UK. It looked like the whole country was CURSED.

[@louckykoneko]

I had never heard of The Smiler before so when I saw the logos in the video the first things I thought of were Cheshire Cat from Disney's Alice in Wonderland and the Radio Demon from Hazbin Hotel

[@lunahetfield]

Superstar Candy those images terrified me yet im not from the UK im from the USA, not knowing that Britain did that, but image walking among the streets then all of a sudden, u see a giant smiling face on a building then soon ALL of Britain. Yeah that would be terrifying 0_0

[@karahughes3842]

They put them all around the park and it was flipping creepy

[@jadethecakemspx4584]

Superstar Candy ye when i was 9 i cried in the line and refused to go on it, the only roller coaster that i have ever refused to go on ever

[@travelswithfleur]

Superstar Candy the smiler stickers were all over in my town they were tiny but they were EVERYWHERE and everyone noticed them it was so creepy because this was before we even knew about the smiler

[@lolaadamczyk6675]

I find it annoying that the ride mechanics get blamed instead even though it was staff mistakes

[@mattrowlands5751]

By the sounds of it, it was maintenance that overrode the safety after thinking they counted all the cars back in the station. I doubt the operator is even able to override any safety features themselves. Im guessing maintenance were just about to leave after the test runs when the operator called them back over to say they had an error and maintenance didnt even check and just reset the ride.

[@gamingdragon9876]

Lolaczyk the ride stoped on it’s own the staff started it up it’s not the rides fault

[@Neo-qs2zc]

It was not staff mistakes or human error: In April, Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd admitted breaching the Health and Safety Act. The theme park originally said the accident was caused by "human error." But prosecutors argued the fault was with the employer not individuals. Sentencing, Judge Michael Chambers QC described the crash on the £18m attraction as a "catastrophic failure" and said human error was not the cause as was suggested at first. "This was a needless and avoidable accident in which those who were injured were lucky not to be killed," he said. Bernard Thorogood, prosecuting, said workers had not been been given a system to follow which would safely deal with the issue. Simon Antrobus, defending Merlin, said a press release in November blaming "human error" was wrong and had been corrected.

[@quirmi_6770]

Actually it was the 25% the maintenance’s fault 25% the operators fault and 50% Alton Towers fault, alton Towers failed to take down the ride from Highwinds, The operators failed to weigh down the empty carts causing on the valley and also failed to communicate to maintenance that there is a fifth car added to the ride, because of a busy day, And maintenance failed to locate all five of the cars before overriding the block system. And most media sites also hightens roller coaster crashes because they don’t come up that often because roller coasters are made to be safe I want to safest things you can do and enjoy,

[@Rowan-kh8qw]

This happens with a lot of rides unfortunately, human mistakes get blamed on the rides themselves so often it's a little sad

[@brymsd8895]

I remember seeing a “I survived the smiler shirt” I can’t seem to find it online but I swear I saw it

[@visionist7]

They sell those for lots of rides. Bet they're worth something now

[@translucenc3lol482]

They probably took it off the market after the crash :/

[@visionist7]

It's a very GP shirt so no loss really

[@bikerfam4429]

I got a trophy saying that

[@darthvader2635]

@@translucenc3lol482 no one died tho

[@supergingerr]

"When people visit theme parks they should be able to enjoy themselves safely." Action Park: Are you sure about that?

[@anakinskyguy1933]

lmao but that park was run by teenagers

[@NextDavidAttenborough]

disney parks: safely? what's safely? all we know is death and danger :) but we're still the happiest place on earth!

[@gerragotheallidile]

@@NextDavidAttenborough Now shit, Sherlock. Fuckin' Mousewitz

[@Claramata]

Yo as someone from NJ I was coming to the comment section to see if someone had said that

[@dianapearson1771]

I don’t think that’s funny.

[@h.ooked2143]

I went to alton towers for the first time. This was before the accident and i went on smiler. When lining up, i heard a couple talking about how the ride is sick. I heard them say something about someone dying but just joked it off as if it would never happen. The next day the crash happened.

[@PhantomCatcus]

Dapper Kat dang, they jinxed it

[@pipperoonie]

Oof

[@beathewanderer7418]

I think it was two days before the incident I went. Absolutely loved the ride and it's pretty scary what happened. Not sure if it's coming back but hopefully it will due to the mistake being on the part of human error, not the ride.

[@apalo70]

Catcus_X x truuuuu

[@blazeclarke]

I remember riding front row about a week before the incident. It's a fantastic ride

[@twintimeproductions8700]

What an INSANE AD CAMPAIGN. If a North American park ever did this, the news would be all over it, and the park would close that day just because of over population!

[@hypnopyr9084]

TwinTime Productions Easily the best marketing and theming for a ride. If u have others pls tell me

[@AirtimeThrills]

Great video, and great explanation of the accident. It just shows how safe coasters are though, it took a perfect storm of miscommunication and overriding safety systems for that to happen.

[@christatum5715]

Airtime Thrills safest ride in the world now

[@TomTom-vi6vp]

Airtime Thrills Miscommunication? Not really - the coaster stopped the carriage and indicated a carriage was in the section in front. The ride operator or engineer did not bother to check the section the computer reported. They lazily looked around and counted carriages and then turned the system off and then on to clear the warning and now people have lost their legs. They didn’t even check the CCTV cams. The ride operator/engineer should have been prosecuted and imprisoned to save others. It’s a compact coaster it wouldn’t have taken long to check. Sheer laziness and incompetence. This video and it’s content however was brilliant and the coaster is still the best one in the park.

[@TomTom-vi6vp]

FRHEAKY Think you’ve missed the point. The computer said go and check the track, something’s on it. They didn’t but came up with some easier alternate way of determining whether something was on the track. There could have been a tree on the track or anything. You don’t do that when it comes to safety. It would be like a high speed train driver ignoring a red signal because he’s counted all the other trains going past him and so believes there’s nothing on the tracks ahead.

[@thefreewilly181]

@@TomTom-vi6vp While I don't disagree with the fact that the mechanic should at very least looked, according to the video, the fault on the ride's computer said specifically that a train failed to complete the circuit. The mechanic wasn't informed there was a fifth train and had a visual of four trains, so he made the assumption that the ride system had a false alarm. So I think it's reasonable to say the mechanic isn't entirely at fault, and that the entire situation could have been prevented with better communication.

[@PJCE15]

Tom Chamberlain you just don’t get it. smh. and you went straight to being rude and condescending. but Jeff i agree with you! you know there is four cars and you checked for four. someone didn’t let you know they added a fifth so why would you ever check for one? literally doesn’t make sense to check for shit that isn’t there.

[@JPRK88]

How come we're not talking about the fact that it took TWENTY MINUTES for anybody to even call emergency services?! That is insane!

[@AirtimeStudios]

It is insane J P. As a matter of fact They were more worried about getting people out of x-sector than actually helping the trapped passengers

[@courtesy1o]

I feel like it has something to do with the bystander effect

[@Th3Sm1ler]

Either people were recovering from what happened or recording it

[@elidihritchie7990]

Wow that long?

[@jessicaclakley3691]

Thank you!! I was so astounded I had to back up the video to double check that I’d heard correctly

[@syubbi]

This just reminds me of this weird kid called James at school. Every non-uniform day he would come dressed in his smiler merch and even last year he did not disappoint. I probably won’t see him anymore since I’ve left now, but I hope he continues to live his smiler dreams

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Oh James! I hope he still does also

[@ReidGarwin]

That's dedication!

[@h3rjp]

I’d never seen the CCTV footage of the accident before. Your video was balanced and non sensationalist. The tragedy is that the ride knew there was an issue and tried to prevent it, but those fallible humans simply made a horrible error of judgement.

[@ThemeParkChomp]

No, it was because the operator and technical staff were completely ill-trained on the procedure of how to operate and reset the ride. Merlin are poor, beaurocratic and unclear about safety procedure and they cut the CCTV of the zone where it stalled to save budget during planning

[@DjFischerAirwolf]

I also think there was a serious design issue with the gerstlauer trains. (now I admit I've only rode coasters in the US) Every coaster I've been on, even the floorless coasters (I've not been on a gerstlauer ride here) has bumper and crumple zones that, to my understanding would, in the event of a collision, prevent direct contact with a ride vehicle as was seen with the smiler incident. I may be completely wrong but I think if the trains were designed different, the accident may not have been as harmful, but instead would have been similar to a vehicle rollover where the cabin didn't collapse (such as my rollover recently) where I only had bruising and a minor concussion from the sudden forces on my body. But no major contact with the compartment itself. It's the fact that the vehicle collapsed in the collision that caused the most damage to my understanding.

[@Jinxness]

If you look at the train after the accident only the first car shows damage and I suspect that at that speed the flat frame of the carts saved their lives by keeping them out from under the first train and limiting the flying debris. The front rails caved and the floor buckled but there was no sharp metal intrusion it's amazing no one was killed.

[@DjFischerAirwolf]

@@Jinxness I definitely agree, it could have been way worse than it was! But I think (and this is from my amateur understanding of the forces at play) the floor and rail could have been reinforced in a way to prevent the collapse we see? And subsequently prevent major loss of limb as happened?

[@Jinxness]

@@DjFischerAirwolf quite probably but you would be trading out functionality and possibly increasing other more common risks. I spent the last little bit reading the accident report and expert testimony and it comes down to the ride doing exactly what it was supposed and the people running it overriding several safety features to cause this accident. The trains weren't designed to survive 50mph crashes with each other as automobiles are because there should have been no situation where they were moving at speed on the same block.

[@TripleTSingt]

That marketing is messed up. I LOVE IT.

[@lloydzeroa.k.aforger6990]

SAME HERE. VERY MESSED UP. FAVOURITE PART OF ADVERTISING?

[@lauravturner]

I remember it being bloody everywhere. Alton Towers may be the best at advertising in the entire Theme Park Franchise business world.

[@yoursleepparalysisdemon8171]

Thx

[@DAVAC21]

There is to much lore to the smiler

[@subforich]

@@lloydzeroa.k.aforger6990 gotta be Big Ben smiler projector

[@elliew7117]

I really want to emphasise the safety of the Smiler, especially after the accident. Even prior to the accident the ride was working as intended. At peak traffic a 5th carriage was added to the coaster to run at maximum capacity. This carriage had to be tested and sent around the track empty as per procedure. This carriage was not weighted and was sent onto the track in high winds, winds that were reported to be high enough that the ride shouldn't have been operating anyway. This is the park operators fault first and foremost: They knew the risk, prioritised money and didn't inform ride operators to run the new cars weighted within their procedure. The high winds caused the empty car to valley after the first drop, it didn't have momentum to clear the course. The sensors at the second chain lift had not counted the correct amount of wheels that were programmed to be on the track and stopped the next car on the first lift as it should have. Maintenence believed that only 4 cars were in operation, and were not informed of the fifth car being tested. This led them to give the all clear. They did not do a visual appraisal of the track, they didn't think to look. They sent off the next car by overriding the safety system when 4 cars were accounted for and that led to a full carriage colliding with the stranded, empty, fifth car. This is now not possible with new regulations, but the fault of the park is that they shouldn't have been able to override the safety mechanism without a sign off from a higher-up, which is now required. The Smiler has always been perfectly safe, and is incredibly safe today. The greed of park managers, the lack of information passed between workers and one terrible, lazy lapse in judgement is what caused this crash, not a ride failure. The ride highlighted the issue and humans ignored it.

[@Hibernathan05]

That’s the best way I’ve heard it put. The ride did not malfunction at all, and it was just human error. I understand people being apprehensive about going on the ride but with new checks and even more regular safety testing (I went about a month ago and every 2-3 hours they send round a few empty cars) it is safe now, but reputation is big and I don’t think it will ever get to the level it was in 2014

[@kai-c9t]

It is safe but you can’t call it perfectly safe can you.

[@elliew7117]

@@kai-c9t oh no, I wouldn't call anything perfectly safe really. But in comparison to a lot of day-to-day activities most people carry out, the Smiler would be safer than Alton Towers car park

[@IcyBluAngel]

I totally agree with you, but it does seem like it had a ton of issues before that tho... parts falling off, cracks in the most important parts of the foundations... seems like it wasn't well constructed and they didn't make it safe until after the accident imo.

[@scottpannell2286]

@@IcyBluAngel what do you know?

[@wutheringheights01]

That Smiler shop clip gives me Black Mirror vibes

[@brennanvilcheck9469]

I was thinking more of "We Happy Few"

[@lloydzeroa.k.aforger6990]

It can fit to both... Black mirror= social We happy few= joy

[@DannytheTourist]

I was thinking more of Tim and Eric/Adult Swim

[@lloydzeroa.k.aforger6990]

RESIST CORRECTION. NO SMILE LASTS FOREVER

[@lauravturner]

That's kind of the point. I love it.

[@lukemeh9842]

Wasn’t really Alton towers fault it was the employees who overwrited the safety system , there was clearly something wrong with the ride wouldn’t have stopped for no reason

[@aimeeleanoski7266]

The engineers were unaware of a 5th car, so it wasn’t their fault. The employees who launched the fifth car are to blame for not telling the engineers (who were called to fix the problem)

[@AtomixKingg]

And on top of that, the error coming back was that the track ahead was occupied, as far as the engineers were aware, all of the cars were in the station, bar the one on the chain lift.

[@TT_PLEB]

@@AtomixKingg in that situation any engineer worth a damn would have gone. Hmm, wonder why this is reported and actually check instead of assuming. Especially when they aren't the only worker and can't ever be 100% sure about what other people have or haven't done beforehand

[@AtomixKingg]

@@TT_PLEB If there was communication between the employees, the engineers wouldn't have overwritten it. The ride says 4 cars, not 5, they see 4 cars, ride is fine. Any engineer with common sense would know a ride with 4 cars, with 4 cars visible, is working fine. It's the employees who sent the car out without telling the engineers who are to blame, the engineers did their job fine, no cutting corners.

[@TT_PLEB]

@@AtomixKingg no. An engineer with common sense would double check and double check again. You never EVER take things at face value when the ramifications are as high as they are

[@kaninekodiak]

I will always adore the lore and theming that went into this ride, and some of the artists it inspired, such as the incredibly talented and creative Beautyofthebass. I hate that one incident had to permanently ruin the coasters image and I truly feel bad for both the victims of the crash and the people who loved and still love the ride. It's a nasty stain on an otherwise incredible feat of engineering and ride-based storytelling.

[@sunnyfatigue]

The accident was tragic but its mostly the fucking media to blame for milking and exaggerating the situation for money

[@alexisgail9750]

I love beautyofthebass. It’s crazy knowing the history of the ride.

[@keepsmilinglittlemax1244]

TheDogFather Supreme EXACTLY

[@treetheenderhyena1880]

Beautyofthebass is amazing

[@mand0123]

@@treetheenderhyena1880 a furry?

[@somethingsecret9181]

How many loops do you want? The smiler: yes

[@assumingctrl]

Seems like everyone in the comments was in Alton Towers on the day of the accident.....

[@Itslibster]

Funky, it was a very busy day, as it usually is in Alton towers. The last time I went there was before the accident and there was just heaves and heaves of people. It was a Tuesday (the day of the accident), just at the beginning of the summer holidays. Thank god lots of schools finish in England around June 15th- but schools in Scotland finish much earlier (I think). This meant families were there too, with their kids. There was bound to be thousands of people in the park, plus the area where oblivion and the smiler are situated is close to food stalls and is a good area to access other rides and facilities (if I remember rightly, it’s close to one of the cable car drop off points?). The parks max capacity is between 28000-30000. It’s easy to underestimate how big it is.

[@meep722]

I actually died on the smiler during the accident

[@MrCreepyMonkey]

Yeah i actually am the smiler

[@zaraecp1700]

I get what you mean but the park is fucking huge so I wouldn’t be surprised lmao

[@fhearrbod858]

Yes it’s true I was there, I was the punctured lung

[@Holly_-ct3sb]

Wth was that ad its a horror movie, you covered this fascinating yet traumatising ride well.

[@zexionienzo597]

Baylea Dutton-Green yep same. That’s one of the reasons I love the ride so much.

[@zexionienzo597]

Cherie Anne Hendrie yep same, i was generally more scared of the ad than the ride. Definitely helps make the ride cooler tho.

[@thesmilerreadbio6444]

Who doesn't like an animatronic to sit beside them saying " Join Us.."?

[@thesmilerreadbio6444]

@Baylea Dutton-Green you should take a trip to the ministry of joy

[@zexionienzo597]

The Smiler {read Bio} yeah exactly 😂. Nice yt account btw.

[@missybarbour6885]

Wow. There were so many checks in place that it took a whole list of things going wrong in very specific ways to cause this accident. 1) Extreme wind causing downtime 2) Adding a 5th car during downtime 3) Engineers not being told about the 5th car 4) 5th car stalling out 5) Manual override of the system warning about the stalled out car. The odds of this happening were made so slim.

[@DjFischerAirwolf]

That last one is why humans are normally the weakest link. The ride knew something was wrong and tried to prevent it. But human shortcomings ignored the saftey system. I'm not familiar with the layout of the smiler area as I'm US based but I'd imagine going up to a point and visually confirming (with your own eyes if possible) that the track clear in that situation may have helped.

[@archermav]

@@DjFischerAirwolf Yeah literally the entire ride is visible if you just walk out of the gift shop which is attached to the station

[@DjFischerAirwolf]

@@archermav yeah... Definitely a manual walk out and visual inspection in that case seems like a reasonable expectation to me...

[@stevebrown1974]

@@DjFischerAirwolf I believe now as part of the revised safety procedures there are a few buttons around the track that have to be manually pressed in order for the ride to be restarted. By doing this, staff have to have seen the track and therefore by pressing the button they are confirming the track is clear.

[@DjFischerAirwolf]

@@stevebrown1974 great info! Thanks!

[@clydewheelbarrow]

It is sad that this amazing ride is just now known for that horrible accident. Smiler is a favourite of mine and deserves more recognition

[@ems.robloxplayer]

when i went to alton towers with family i had just heard about the accident (this was years after, bear in mind) and my family wanted to go on it badly. i didn’t want to, i was scared. i felt relief every time we went up to it and they said the line was too long so we couldn’t go on it. in the end, we never went on it. next time we went to alton towers, we went straight to the ride. i was screaming in my head and literally praying that nothing would happen. we got onto the ride, it was good. even to this day i’m still sketchy about that ride. it’s so sad that accident happened.

[@Junkpot411]

I love that ride it’s an experience you can only imagine

[@nopeno-s5r]

@@ems.robloxplayerIf anything, the smiler is the safest coaster at alton *because* of the accident, as despite the ride itself functioned perfectly and the crash being due to gross error from the ride ops, they still had to add a bunch more safety features to satisfy the public

[@ittdust]

It's amazing how 9/10 accidents are due to ignorance and negligence, not mechanical faults. An old friend's mother was killed on a ride several years ago. The family settled for around $2 million if I remember correctly. I never asked about it, only know from a third party.

[@tgm9991]

Same with almost every incident on anything ether, Humans are just stupid flesh bags that often don't pay as much attention as they should, the machines and computers designed, made and tested for many many hours by many different stupid flesh bags which also don't have the distractions of real life often actually know better. That's why automation exists in the first place. But of course we still need stupid flesh bags to monitor them in case they go wrong so human error still gets people injured or killed.

[@Hetsu..]

@@tgm9991 We know that you stupid flesh bag.

[@tgm9991]

@@Hetsu.. obviously not as the op said how it's amazing that most incidents are human error.

[@Hetsu..]

@@tgm9991 The video literally said he checked -_-

[@leroy5202]

I just feel terrible for the people that overided the safety system. I bet they felt so bad. They didn't know any better which just sucks.

[@blueydsniper]

Hooooly shit. That last bit hit me like a ton of bricks. I had no idea that had even happened (granted I’m in the US so explains why) but that’s just tragic........you would have thought someone in the control booth would have access to those camera feeds of the track at all times and notice the empty train on the tracks going back and forth. Damn.

[@randomfools808]

Dude, it was all over the news here when it happened. Immediate live footage.

[@MattMcIrvin]

It was a classic case of little corners being cut, deviance normalized, until one day under pressure to get the ride going there was a confluence of several conditions, each of which in isolation would have been harmless, that led to disaster. It reminds me very much of things like the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, the Apollo 13 explosion, the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents.

[@kayiscurrentlytired6943]

*tons of bricks hits this anon*

[@oPraxy]

blueydsniper happened many times in the US too

[@blazeclarke]

There's a video from a witness next to the ride filmed from just after the crash. Audio is included. It's awful I think the worst part is that nobody called 999 for 20 minutes

[@shirororasuketo]

The ad marketing makes it even more scarier now that something sinister did happen on the coaster. it's cursed or something.

[@libertyadams5961]

Trust. Looks like some cult shit. Way too dodgy

[@libertyadams5961]

They literally created an urban ledgend that came true

[@lanathehipster2643]

Yes definitely...

[@galaxybee724]

It’s the best ride at Alton! Trust me, now it’s the safest ride

[@xlillybiezenaar]

I was lucky enough to only have a 30 minute wait for The Smiler. If I had to wait any longer I would have gone insane from the theme song

[@Helllloooooo927]

I had to wait two hours listening to that theme tune almost drove me mad

[@Crimsrn]

@@Helllloooooo927 try 3 and a half

[@Helllloooooo927]

@@Crimsrn oh my god I don’t know how you did that!

[@omarhassam7574]

it said 30 mins when i went but it was only like 20

[@ghdwk5596]

The soundtrack with the laughing melody?

[@wnll0850]

All these people claiming they were at Alton towers during the accident but I actually died during the accident so get lost liars

[@dankless1265]

xd Wxlll You brightened the mood. Thank you.

[@Ashlee-zm6dq]

👏👏👏👏👏

[@smilerpunk922]

rip lol

[@jackkaczmarski]

COMMENT OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE

[@ellie6202]

😂

[@andrewrobertson1473]

13:30 Nothing good can happen after "they overrode the safety warning"

[@VictorJeraldo]

Not when it’s talked about. Far too many systems will generate false positives to the point that people think it’s fine to ignore them.

[@jkershaw1675]

Still had they A communicated and B actually opened their eyes and checked the track it more than likely would not have happened.

[@Foxy02016]

Andrew Robertson that’s true... whether it’s IRL or in movies and such... always look into it

[@MrRetroDev]

It's just crazy how these things are incredibly rare due to the number of safety systems in place but when they do occur it's usually down to human error. If the operator was told there was a fifth car on the track, none of this would have happened. The ride didn't malfunction, the people operating it did.

[@ems.robloxplayer]

yeah that’s what i think. also, the fact that this ride literally had pieces of metal flying off of it when it just came out, and kept getting delayed also seems messed up.

[@khordisa]

i live in the uk but have only been to alton towers once. it’s a stunning theme park - the scenery of the towers and the water courses really makes it in my opinion! i used to be terrified of rollercoasters, but as i’ve grown up have grown to enjoy a lot of them (living and working in one mere minutes from my home has helped a bit XD). anyway, when i went to alton towers with my dad and younger sister, this crash was in the back of my mind the whole time. my sister was desperate to go on the smiler, but i certainly wasn’t keen, and my dad couldn’t due to health conditions. due to her being a bit younger, my dad and i weren’t happy with her going on her own. i had obviously heard about the crash - it was heavily reported across the country - but after watching this, the whole stigma surrounding the coaster seems ever more disturbing and creepy...

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

I would say it’s perfectly safe though and recommend you at least go on once

[@khordisa]

crazy to think i'm back here 4 years later (i guess themeparks still hold a special place in my heart!). i still haven't ridden the smiler but NEXT TIME I WILL (i've only been to alton towers once since the last comment, it's unfortunately not too close). rewatching this video i feel want resonates with me now the most is that the crash is sadly what this ride (and perhaps alton towers in general?) is known for... we all understand that the crash was human error and a genuine yet unfortunate mistake that they would never let happen again, but this video highlights how the horror themes of the ride do draw more attention to the crash and make it seem almost more frightening. i hope people can recognise the amazing creativity of the medium of horror (which i have and never thought i would!) past the crash and realise the two aren't correlated. alton towers does that and all its themeing and rides so well (i mean, LOOK AT WICKERMAN) and deserve to be recognised for that, not the crash. i personally can't wait to finally give this one a try!

[@hannamouse1]

"It took 20 minutes to call 999 and 5 hours to get them to the hospital" Welcome to Britain!

[@SilverSonicMK.4]

So wait, by “took 20 minutes to call 999”, does that mean they waited to call after 20 minutes or they were trying to call them for twenty minutes? I actually don’t understand

[@frizzle666]

Silver Sonic Mk.4 as in they didn’t dial it until 20 minutes after

[@darxyt6135]

I read someone bled out while still on the ride

[@lissie8602]

@@darxyt6135 she did and she lost her leg they said she was lucky with the amount of blood she loss she could have died

[@pureawkwardness415]

Well, we've already had 168 shootings in 2020 here alone. Welcome to America!

[@xanthe4547]

Having low key dangerous rollercoasters is part of British culture

[@jacobisaacs600]

*high key

[@selfraisingsugar898]

Especially shitty fair ground rides haha

[@tylermellors4506]

•Mothman• you know what? That's true

[@dr.ligmahnutts2993]

Yeah everyone knew the rides were kinda fucked, the amount times I got stuck upside down or half way through a ride man 😂

[@libertyadams5961]

@@dr.ligmahnutts2993 at least ur alive 😂 that would be a big red flag, if that happened to me, I'd count my blessings and never go againnnnnn

[@honeybears8813]

omg the advert at the beginning brought me back to being a kid and covering my eyes when it came on the telly, that thing was scary

[@gabzwithazed]

Same! It gave me nightmares!

[@justarandompeep412]

I swear, the one at the end gave me chills.

[@Faulty720]

Problem is the UK media who won't stop treating every regular stop on a ride as a major incident and love to take every chance to reference this incident which is a shame as it's an amazing coaster. Referencing the incident is like driving past a car crash on the motorway and never driving again 🙄

[@alicemaple4141]

Glad I'm not the only one. Yes it was a tragic accident, and yes it was one that could have been avoided but as you say - car crashes are exactly the same. Every time a ride is stopped due to someone acting in an unsafe manner/feeling poorly and requiring help or just general maintenance somebody in the park sells the story to the paper and the witch hunt begins again. Rides have always broken down, just as any other technology does. What we have is not perfect but when it does work it is amazing. Luckily Towers have eventually recovered and take every single shot fired at them in their stride with quick responses from maintenance teams. It's just a sad affair to watch :/

[@rebeccamcgillivray8875]

Absolutely, they bring it up time and time again. It's made it so you can speak to the every day person about Alton Towers and all they know about it is that there was an accident on The Smiler. It's exactly like driving past a car crash and never driving again :') the chances of it happening are beyond small.

[@randomfools808]

@@alicemaple4141 The problem isn't just the accident though. It's the incidents before it. You don't hear about a piece of track coming loose from other big coasters the week of opening. At least not that I know of.

[@Faulty720]

@@randomfools808 but it was from the theming and didn't compromise safety. If it did the ride would of been more than a few weeks late opening. It's irritating how the smiler keeps being brought up when Tsunami's accident at M&D's was so much worse

[@twistedcheese1]

If oblivion or the big one stop on the lift hill or something it's like there's been a huge incident

[@Deverinity]

I don’t understand how people blame the rollercoaster, sure, when it was opened there were bound to be issues but the 2015 incident was due to the engineers and employees fault at failing to inform others and failure to fully check the ride so if anything I wouldn’t trust the employees working there. I’m not saying they’re bad they’re just a bunch of numpties.

[@TheQuashingoftheTub]

Agrees. The coaster even did as it was supposed to, stopping the cart because it detected the track was occupied. The Smiler was not at fault here. The empty cart was even on the security feed, it was just a bad, _bad_ case of miscommunication and not paying attention.

[@boo3334]

most of the staff are pretty young, myself included when i was there last summer, ( i was on photos myself so idk too much) most of them exausted from working it around their learning, be it school college or uni as well as shifts being pretty long, up to 14 hours if you were unfortunate enough to work during scarefest for example, although the average shift was about 8

[@ahuman9864]

Yep. Just a bunch of youngins in trainers getting paid in piss.

[@654jimbob654]

The coaster functioned as intended and was manually overridden due to a breakdown in communication and (allegedly) pressure on the ride operators to minimise downtime. This is not to mention that the wind speed exceeded the maximum limit recommended by the manufacturer. As is always the case, there were multiple points where the disaster could and should have been averted. Much like with plane crashes, this is reassuring in a way because it demonstrates just how many unlikely occurrences need to occur simultaneously for something bad to happen.

[@Jeeves_0]

Exactly. If you refuse to go one the smiler because of the accident then you should be afraid to go on any ride. The accident was due to human error and every ride is potentially susceptible to human error.

[@jeffcunningham308]

Who agrees this is one of the best channels on KZbin. Such a great video. You have such great quality content.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you

[@SuperEnthused]

Jeffrey Cunningham ☝🏻☝🏻☝🏻

[@ST4RLENE]

FOR EVERYONE: I went on the smiler yesterday, and it’s 100% safe! They made it so much safer after the accident, so have no fears about going on it :)

[@Fluffy_Coasters]

I dont think they necessarily made it safer. The ride itself didnt do anything wrong, it stopped the train on the lift hill because it detected there was still a train ahead of it. I think they just train their employees better, and to always look into the situation if a warning comes up, instead of just saying "oh im sure its fine"

[@natbelongstosmiler6684]

Im going on it soon so excited

[@inthegrass11]

@@natbelongstosmiler6684 username checks out - how was it?

[@themyofmy]

​@@natbelongstosmiler6684n... nat? how was the ride?

[@Bribrilolz1]

@@natbelongstosmiler6684 you alive?

[@threepotMR2]

Me and my wife were waiting to go on, we had been waiting ages going nowhere with all the breakdowns, it started again and we were at the point where you go inside to ride. Then the carriage got stuck at the top and we got bored of waiting so we back tracked the queue to leave, we then saw the carriage stuck in the bottom. Walking up the hill out of the zone past the toilets we heard a bang and thought nothing of it until an hour later saw the fire brigade and my mother called me. We had no idea what had just happened, and if we were a few people ahead in line it would have been us. Thinking back, they were having problems non stop while we were in the queue, the engineers had been up on the ride and they kept dispatching empty test carriages. They should have closed it earlier when there was obviously something not right.

[@littlemissshank6889]

r/thathappened

[@liamgaine]

@@littlemissshank6889 r/nothingeverhappens

[@Foxy02016]

threepotgtti It’s terrifying and interesting to hear these stories about people who were off time just enough to not die

[@shirororasuketo]

00ps with rollercoaster attractions, human error is not an option, you must double check just like driving and looking back and fourth. It was carelessness and some of the people who were operating the ride obviously didn’t have enough training. These lives are in your hands and there’s no respawning in life. These lives are in YOUR hands.

[@WiFiDown37811]

You and your wife were very lucky to have avoided such a horrible accident

[@archie4027]

Despite all the incidents it’s one hell of a coaster if you can get past the fear of it

[@owenevans8541]

I went on it at night front row on the right... was absolutely mental!

[@slamdaddy69420]

I went on the day it reopened after the accident lmao

[@kolonarulez5222]

They sure don't make theme park commercials like they used to

[@Lv1Magikarp]

Sad that they removed the whole correction / marmalisation theme, like stated in the video it's not like they set out to injure anyone and the ride + theme is superb. Not been AT in ages but it still remains one of my favourite rides in the UK.

[@_woomy_]

The man did it. He made a video on the smiler. Bravo.

[@norwichreptileshed]

I am an ex theme park engineer and rode the smiler for the first time last year. Even with understanding all the safety precautions, the theme and the history still made me feel a bit on edge before leaving the station.

[@DjFischerAirwolf]

You may be able to address this thought I had then! Please let me know your thoughts if you have the time! I think there was a serious design issue with the gerstlauer trains. (now I admit I've only rode coasters in the US) Every coaster I've been on, even the floorless coasters (I've not been on a gerstlauer ride here) has bumper and crumple zones that, to my understanding would, in the event of a collision, prevent direct contact with a ride vehicle as was seen with the smiler incident. I may be completely wrong but I think if the trains were designed different, the accident may not have been as harmful, but instead would have been similar to a vehicle rollover where the cabin didn't collapse (such as my rollover recently) where I only had bruising and a minor concussion from the sudden forces on my body. But no major contact with the compartment itself. It's the fact that the vehicle collapsed in the collision that caused the most damage to my understanding.

[@norwichreptileshed]

@@DjFischerAirwolf That was exactly my first thought too! There are buffers on the rear and plates at the front but I suppose no coaster car is designed to collide at that speed. The buffers are more to stop damage during moving them at slow speeds in the station or maintenance areas. In actual fact it was front plate of the moving car hitting the buffer of the stationary that caused the front to crumple.

[@mattyeland88]

Maybe but rollercoasters aren't designed to crash they are designed to run in block sections so that two trains can never occupy the same section of track. The designers of the ride would never have envisioned this ever being able to happen. Pretty much every coaster doesn't have bumpers or crumple zone, they may look that they do but will be offer no protection in a crash. Coster trains are designed to be a light as possible to maximise capacity. @@DjFischerAirwolf

[@alexandramcginnis8872]

+Matt What if we do both? We make the train light, and have a bumper zone?

[@DjFischerAirwolf]

@@mattyeland88 I think op may be right in that they are designed to have some protection but not as those speeds. But with new technology IDK why you couldn't design for higher speed collision protection?

[@strawberrycrepe9732]

It is depressing that Alton Towers now has a bad reputation and people don't want to go in fear of injury

[@adamriggs2698]

They deserve it. There’s no excuse to not make sure that everyone involved knew about that fifth car.

[@Mimo-dg2oz]

@@adamriggs2698 Wait Five? Wasnt there three cars?

[@somerandomturtle81]

@@Mimo-dg2oz I believe there was 5 but not 100% sure

[@virtue7574]

@@Mimo-dg2oz there’s only three now but during the crash they had five cars (they added an extra cart without notifying the engineer)

[@Em-ft3mt]

@@c0m4g1bb it’s been like 4 years since the incident they’ve made it their priority to make all rides safe. Never has one incident occurred since. I went two years ago and when I was 13 and it was fine

[@hunova4799]

The two in the front who lost a leg and a few fingers respectively were on their first date too. yeeesh. The silver lining is that apparently it made them closer and I believe they are still together. I saw them talk about all this on the news when the ride re-opened. The clips are on youtube

[@rec8127]

I think that they got married recently! I'm not entirely sure though, you might wanna fact-check.

[@McInHeather]

One reason the crash actually happened was because there was not CCTV that showed in the area of the track where the empty cart had stopped so they assumed it was clear so sent a cart with people in it.

[@McInHeather]

@@jeeedel2491 exactly, the media say things that aren't true for scare tactics but it was a very unfortunate incident :/

[@alexandramcginnis8872]

They should of actually went out to the track to investigate and watch the tv. They could check the tv and then go to the blind spot that the tv didn’t show. And BOOM! They would of just prevented this accident

[@DaarthPingas]

If they had footage of the accident, they should have had access to see it in real time. Also, They shouldn't have been able to switch to 5 trains without *extreme* discretion and communication given the wind and occupancy circumstances. 5 minutes of "wait, let's triple check everything before letting people on" could've saved the three days of down time, let alone months of surgery and amputations and hospital visits.

[@viabellee]

The smiler creeps me the hell out Edit: and the fact that the message was “you belong to the smiler”... its so ironic and scary Another edit: guess what sis? IM THERE TMRW GOD

[@visionist7]

It's Time To Get Corrected. Wonder if that's the audio that played before they dispatched the car that crashed. They only play Join Us now

[@flazlame3562]

And the music? Ha, ha, ha ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Me:OH GOD

[@cloudiiday5557]

I went on it yesterday , it was AMAZINGGG AF

[@annascott6984]

Anyone getting ‘We Happy Few’ vibes from the story of the Smiler? And I remember seeing these ads on the TV as a child... They were bloody terrifying

[@Asmodiiya]

Every time I watch this video I end up crying. The Smiler is my favorite roller coaster in the world and also one of the first major coasters I ever went on, It's such a shame that a ride like the Smiler is now known for a devastating accident that could have been completely avoided if Alton did the responsible thing and kept the ride closed on such a windy day, hell, even if the ride stayed open that day, when the ride's block safety system was triggered it should've been a huge red flag that something was wrong...as an enthusiast and a rising ride operator I don't think anyone should ever override stoppages. I feel terrible for the 16 people that were injured on the Smiler that day and I really hope every single one of them are doing better now. Once again, such a shame that the Smiler is now known for this tragic accident instead of it's 14 brilliant inversions and incredible theming/storyline...

[@munktayl0rd]

So it's "We Happy Few" The Ride?

[@broseidon1658]

I mean, I hope not.

[@noone6aj128]

I guess yes

[@zcanime5997]

noone6 aj it is basically FFVII MA THE RIDE!

[@LincolnHollowayy]

Basically

[@itsdamoss]

basically yes but without the time of post world war

[@Seribean44]

I went on the smiler in 2013 and 2014 but when I was going home there were about 20 people stuck at a 90 degree angle 😂

[@aamz6930]

I’ve been on the ride numerous times, and weirdly enough I was on the ride less than a week before the incident took place and it was closed most of the time I was there for technical problems, I was hesitant to ride once it was re-opened but continued to use the ride nevertheless.

[@bigbitch4558]

Aamz same I remember having to wait an hour and a half to get on it because of technical difficulties and I was also there just a couple days before the accident. It was obvious it wasn’t working well.

[@Seribean44]

@@aamz6930 it was good while it lasted although the queue times were a joke 😂 I queued for an hour and a half

[@rchaffer]

4:54 Imagine this music, looping constantly, for 2 hours. Welcome to the Smiler queue line

[@acid.8069]

How about 4? That's what it was for me 😂

[@Sazza]

I went on a not so busy day and walked right through the queue 😂

[@Randomperson-zt3il]

I like that song lol. So it was good

[@sadiehearn595]

i was in the line yesterday 😅absolute hell listening to it for 2 hours

[@TheRealKensterBoosteryt]

How bout 5 minutes? I had fast track!

[@legoboy6202]

The smiler music sounds like something that joker would listen to

[@DannytheTourist]

Or Harley Quinn (or Gaggy.)

[@lloydzeroa.k.aforger6990]

Finally, someone else gets the reference I heard.

[@joobyor]

i was 11 when these ads started and i didn't know what alton towers was so i didn't know it was for a rollercoaster, i thought something serious was happening! i'd seen the smiles projected everywhere; public transport, buildings, all over the city centre. at the time i'd just discovered the concept of true crime and fearmongering and i couldn't for the life of me get those ads out of me head-i absolutely lost it when i saw the ads on telly. i've never been brave enough to go near the ride.

[@libertyadams5961]

Lol you probabaly thought it was some doctor who-esque alien invasion or some shit

[@themothman4935]

Same

[@thisismysea]

Whoa, that sounds REALLY scary! The ads are fairly disturbing anyway, but if you didn't understand what they're for then they're easily upsetting and it sounds like they were everywhere too. Reminds me of the infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast that made people think there was a real alien invasion being reported.

[@gavla-82]

Welcome to subliminal advertising. Search KZbin or Google for it. Alton Towers are not the first to do this.

[@jtbackup4553]

Ha ha, that’s what it’s supposed to do to you, though!

[@joebarron6499]

I went on the smiler today. Because of the safety checks after the crash it is now the safest ride there, I still felt nervous before riding. But go and don’t worry your chance of crashing is basically nothing

[@zdskillz849]

This was such a tragedy, Alton didn’t deserve this. They were flying high with 4 worlds first rides(Air, TH13TEEN, Oblivion and The Smiler) and then this cuts them down. So sad

[@TheBroz]

It was AT’s mistakes that led to the accident, they could have taken action to prevent it but they didn’t and subsequently paid for it.

[@randomuploadsism]

Maybe what is sad is the 2 teenagers who lost their legs?!?!?!?!?

[@chchchchvhvhhcgrwfjolnv3288]

air is called galáctica now

[@zdskillz849]

p i n k c e r e a l yes alright but haven’t they got rid of the VR

[@chchchchvhvhhcgrwfjolnv3288]

ZD SKILLZ yes i never got to go on it while it had the vr because i was tok small

[@karpman2524]

That’s an amazing concept for a ride, and I wish more rides did interesting things like this. It’s a shame that this ride is known for that

[@xAlexHDx1]

The Smiler is one of my favorites at Alton Towers, it's such a shame what happened, sadly it has got a bad reputation now from the general public, I remember talking to someone on Holiday last year about how I was going to go to Alton Towers and they bought up The Smiler crash, hopefully this rides remains clean from now on.

[@TheFallofTheEleventh]

I have a real life story experience of riding the Smiler which happened before the infamous crash, while being moderately nothing at first, when I saw the crash on the news I was actually pretty spooked. When the ride first opened, my family and me along with a friend of mine went to Alton Towers for 2 days and 99% of the trip was actually one of the best life time experiences with my friend and family ever but back on topic. With Alton Towers being a popular place I had visited the Park many times growing up and naturally upon learn the Smiler had recently opened me and my friend decided to buy some fast track passes and try it out. Everything is going fine and we ride the coaster no problem and infact wanted to ride it again quickly before trying the other rides. We got on the front row of the car and the ride started off normally but upon reaching the 90* chain climb me and my friend both heard a very unusual ‘bang’ sound. Now while I’m fully aware that coasters make noises all the time and are noisy piece of machinery but the reason this stuck out to us is because the ‘bang’ noise had not happened any other times. Now yes I know in reality this again I’m 99% sure WASNT anything to worry about but I don’t know what to say, when me and my friend saw the crash on the news. We both looked at each other and for a split second there was a slight ‘final destination’ feeling between us like we both had a tiny glimpse in what something like that could be like. Anyways great videos as always man!

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

Thank you! And interesting. Wonder what it was!

[@ShanThePinkCookie]

I rode the smiler like two weeks before the crash and waiting in the line people got stuck on the sharp inclimb up to a hour but they never shut down the rode we asked a employee if they planned on closing the ride he just said no but wait time would go up which we was already nearly at the front and your like caged in so it’s hard to walk back out of the line we just decided to wait I’m so glad we didn’t go two weeks after

[@ameliarose1141]

The ad campaign was terrifying om, literally like the ride itself was fine but get those ads away from me yikes

[@sapphiresushi3437]

Dude you don’t even k noooow.......

[@BeMoreBroadway]

Agreed. I don't even live in England and didn't experience the ads for myself, but what I've seen online just...eugh, that's nightmare fuel.

[@elestrenturner3380]

I remembered, as a kid, watching those adverts in between CITV and getting scared at yet imitating the music

[@elestrenturner3380]

*me mimicking the people on the ride and their smiles

[@wingedbunny6211]

Imagine being one of the people who was blamed for the accident. I don't know how I could deal with myself after the mistake I made.

[@alexia3729]

20 minutes for the first 999/911 call that seems like a long time.

[@ChrisRussellOfficial]

No matter what time you call the UK emergency services they never turn up lol sad to see this happen but got a big pay out :o

[@visionist7]

I passed out in a UK supermarket once. I was out for 40 minutes and when I awoke the ambulance still took a while to arrive

[@Thomas-gj9ho]

Yea but alton towers is in the middle of nowhere

[@erectustesticulus3191]

UK services are shit they take hours to arrive

[@YokiDokiPanic]

The irony of these kinds of situations is that people assume emergency services were already called by hundreds of other people, so it took a while to realize no call had been made yet. I heard stories of that happening constantly from my dad who was a fire fighter. So whenever you see an emergency happen, don't assume anyone else already called, because literally everyone else around you might be thinking the same thing.

[@midzy739]

9:19 Woman : *gasps and calmly power walks away*

[@Austin-jd4os]

Guy: screams at the top of his lungs.

[@violetxlvr]

I swear the smiler is the best rollercoaster ever. Great theme. Great backstory. Great EVERYTHING!!

[@dix7015]

Not gonna lie, this ride was kinda ruined for me cause I had been holding back a shit but didn't wanna have to queue up again. The ride didn't help with that.

[@ExpeditionThemePark]

hope you held it in.

[@dix7015]

@@ExpeditionThemePark It was difficult, but thankfully I unleashed the brown fury upon the public toilets after the ride. I just don't have much memory of the ride as my find was completely focused on holding it in.

[@prodbykaji]

_brown fury_

[@bigweld2732]

Dix B R O W N F U R Y

[@nunya069]

We...didn't need to know ;-;

[@fluffyhusky9120]

Oh god I was at Alton Towers on the day of the accident... I managed to convince my mum not to go on the smiler for now, since we had just ate. She agreed not to go on it. We didn't get to. And I'm glad we didn't.

[@Aradcliffe89]

That sounds like some final destination shit 😬

[@grizzled1242]

lmao i know its a horrible accident but im 11 and i went on the smiler a few months ago, it was terrifying in the queue but on the ride was just fun tbh Edit: I also went on i think all of the other big rides such as: nemesis, oblivion, galactica, rita, th13een and the other ones and i loved it but was terrified with my mum!

[@oskarcollison1801]

But, no, no you weren't

[@sarah-zp4cu]

Universal Link i was terrified of going on it but when you’re on it it’s not scary, if i’m honest, queuing for the ride is scarier than the real thing lol

[@grizzled1242]

sarah trueeeee

[@sophieforbes7748]

So the smiler invented momo OK

[@EvilTrapLord]

Sophie boi I oughta slap yo a**

[@parkerbagley5679]

MOMO

[@Gaz.on.crack.]

@Hayden_McLoughlin That part... When I covered my hand, I still saw the legs, then she closed up scarefully. Who am I to like. -[toothpaste snake]

[@miacoxe333]

LOL!!!!

[@skplaysgaming3649]

😂😂

[@Upsetkiller456]

It’s extremely common to see that in modern roller coasters, when an accident occurs it’s rarely (if ever) the fault of the ride. These metal behemoths are designed down to the *millimeter* with safety always first.

[@Fluffy_Coasters]

yea, i honestly cant think of any machine that is as large but also as safe as rollercoasters

[@nirim_does_stuff]

I always hated the look of the smiler, and honestly I wasn’t at all surprised to hear it had crashed.

[@cait812]

But the ride itself was safe, the problem was the extra cart on the tracks (so engineers/employees behind that)

[@maxsea9155]

Nirim Does Stuff same!

[@chloemay3747]

Nirim Does Stuff It wasn't therides fault, it was the engineers. The smilar is such a good ride.

[@ExpensivePink90]

I’m a enthusiast, I knew and still know many people who were working that day. I trust my friends not to kill or injure me at that park, I’m not cautious to ride it as I know it’s safer than ever. My heart broke that day not only for the guests but for my friends and at one point my colleagues. I still see how it affects them to this day.

[@christatum5715]

Natalie Boland I was so scared of riding the smoker till last year it’s now the safest ride in the world

[@laniariies]

better than getting anything for valentine's day.. more smiler content

[@toshi5429]

I remember watching the news and reading about this when it happened. We had just been at Alton Towers two weeks before, and me and mum had actual been on The Smiler. It was absolutely horrifying to hear about this and what had happened, and then to learn that the ride had actually done what it was supposed to and stopped, but it was the human error that caused such injury. Me and my mum both went on this ride weeks after it had reopened, and have been on it multiple times since, and it's fine. But just to think that the actions of stupid people and human error could cause such a problem probably brought in a lot more caution around the ride itself, and to be honest, I wasn't surprised that when me and my mum went back to the ride the first time, there was hardly anyone queuing up for it.

[@mylesfrost335]

We were on it a week before and i went with my stepdad he got of shaken and said theres something creepy about it, i asked whether it was the theming and he said no, theres something seriously not quite right about it but couldnt put his finger on it I know it wasnt a mechanical failure but still creepy because that could have been me I went Alton that year specifically for smiler

[@geekmoto1363]

the only phrase that comes to mind when i think about this whole mess, is trust but verify, the computer did what it was supposed to as programmed, but the person who authorized the override should have had the staff look out at the track to see if any trains were out there.

[@TheZxphyr]

Went on this before and after the accident and I'm not gonna lie, its still the best rollercoaster at alton towers in my opinion

[@chloejayne8037]

Zxphyr definitely!!

[@lara-tiegan3052]

Zxphyr my favourite is nemesis but this is a close second

[@jtbackup4553]

I want a Smiler Movie, would def go see it

[@DannytheTourist]

Starring Joaquin Phoenix.

[@leebicker5051]

YES!!!!!

[@Austin-jd4os]

Well Smile Always is the closest thing that we got for a horror movie.

[@F1_Aqua]

Yeh they should make one with the lore as the story of smiler

[@shaunburch234]

@@Austin-jd4os what’s that film about and where can I watch it?

[@gemmawhite09]

I was always creeped out by the ad as a kid that I actually thought if you went on the ride you’d end up looking like the man at the end! 😬

[@KA-iu7nx]

same, i used to tell everyone in my friend group at school that their was laughing gas their and it doesnt wear off until you got off the ride

[@Thomas-gj9ho]

Omg same I was like 7 when they were on

[@emeral1154]

Please don’t let the accident prevent you riding this honestly amazing coaster not only was it all human error but the smiler is now one of if not the safest rollercoaster in the world.

[@Coaster.alt98]

Nearly 4 years on and I’m still in shock this happened. I’ll never forget the day my favourite place made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The Smiler is still one of my favourite coasters mainly because of the complexity of the compact layout and how it looks, but every ride I have on it makes me think of that day and how it changed people’s lives.

[@koenmetekohy1296]

Here is a message to Merlin: Why does every ride have to have a creepy-ass theming

[@Evanz111]

I can’t speak for them, but I’d assume it’s this: people generally enjoy rollercoasters because of the fear and the adrenaline it sends through their body. This is only physical fear though, so they probably give rides these horror motifs so that people feel mental fear as well as get that physical fear, each to compliment the other and enhance the adrenaline.

[@VikingSchism]

Not *every* ride in Merlin parks has creepy-theming, generally it's stuff at Alton Towers (specifically in the more extreme sections of the park) and Thorpe Park that do that. Chessington has more of an adventure theme with rides like Tomb Blaster, and The Vampire

[@patsprankcalls]

@@VikingSchism They are both still creepy for the age range they are aimed at though. I'm sick of every big new investment in merlin parks being a horror theme, it just seems lazy and tired at this point.

[@ResurrectingHobo]

Air, Rita, Spinball Whizzer

[@vainpiers]

I like horror themes

[@iStarWishGames]

I live in the UK, relatively close to Alton Towers (although I’d only been once), and while I was excited for the Smiler when I was tall enough (I was relatively young), I became immediately terrified of the ride after the incident. I get Merlin has done everything they can do make the ride safer, but I still can’t shake the feeling that if I ride it, I’ll be riding where one of the most fatal rollercoaster accidents happened. It spooks me, really.

[@iStarWishGames]

Update - went to Alton Towers for the first time a few months ago, went on the Smiler once… then twice… maybe seven or eight times in the two days we were there? We good.

[@trustinflames1022]

I was at Alton Towers last week, when I was in the queue for the smiler, waiting to board, I noticed that there was more than the normal amount of staff compared to other coasters. Even had announcement saying that it raining, if you do wish ride let a member of staff know before boarding. When boarding the ride, I had two members of staff check the safety brace. When it’s normal one person, on most rides. You can understand why considering the history of the ride. It’s still an awesome whirlwind of ride.

[@ryboi1122]

great grammar

[@kingposeidon4535]

I recently read about the accident about a month ago. I had gone to a KZbin channel that had uploaded the soundtrack and I found mention about the accident in the comments. I went and read a news report about it while still listening to the demented soundtrack... the feeling was horrific. The gruesome details mixed with the disturbing score strangely hyped up the attraction for me. If I ever get to Alton Towers one day, this is going to be a must-do. I'm not saying that I don't feel for the people that were in the accident, but the story behind the attraction is quite intriguing. That, mixed with the early problems like the track coming apart creates an interesting legend around the attraction that makes demented sense with its themeing.

[@bobbybobman7784]

The people who got injured on the ride probably don’t want to go on it again because 1. The got injured 2. They don’t want to listen to that damn laughter

[@lloydzeroa.k.aforger6990]

3. They had a forced poop themselves in fear. (I know that the sentence nearly doesn't make sense, OKAY?

[@LegalizeTheNuclearBomb]

Pretty sure a victim actually went back on it again after they'd recovered

[@flamingosarecool2960]

That’s the theme tho-

[@generalgeneral616]

I'm not going on Smiler, it isn't safe

[@LexVanguard2004]

@@generalgeneral616 The Smiler is extremely safe. It has run hundreds of thousands of times since its opening in 2013, and it has only crashed once. Even that was due to human error. Alton Towers will never let anything like that happen again.