10 Deadliest Theme Park Rides

If thousands of people go on theme park rides every day, they must be safe, right

Wrong. Prepare to discover that your worst nightmares are real as we count down the top 10 most dangerous theme park rides

Knott's Berry Farm is a fun-filled, adventure-packed park located less than 7 miles from Disneyland in Buena Park, California

In 2001, a 40-year-old woman decided to take on the thrill of the Perilous Plunge

a water ride that drops riders 115 feet and reaches a speed of 50 miles per hour during its descent

When the ride opened, it held the record for having the tallest and steepest drop in a water park

A year after its opening, however, the woman slipped from the ride at some point during the descent, falling and landing in the pool of water below

Horrifyingly, upon examination, it was discovered that the woman's seatbelt and lap rail were firmly in place

The log flume ride did not come equipped with four-point harnesses, and the accident prompted park owners to implement new safety and restraint measures on the ride

It reopened after eight months, but closed permanently in 2012. When Action Park opened its tidal wave pool nearly 40 years ago, it was one of the first of its kind in the U.S., making it a popular attraction

The pool, however, suffered some major design flaws, making it especially dangerous

Instead of using salt water to make swimmers more buoyant, Action Park used fresh water

The result made it hard for even strong swimmers to navigate those high waves

Allegedly, lifeguards had to save over 100 people on the pool's opening day

Twelve lifeguards manned the pool, and on busy days, they would save an average of 20 to 30 people

For reference, a lifeguard at a regular pool typically only saves two to three people over the course of a summer

Despite heightened lifeguard presence, three people died in the tidal wave pool between 1982 and 1987

earning it its ominous nickname, the Grave Pool. Russian mountains offered 17th century writers real thrills

They originated in Serra da Estrella, Portugal, as a way for Russian refugees that had fled the war to remember their motherland

They built these rides as wooden slides that were often 70 to 80 feet tall. They were originally coated in ice and riders would slide down in sleds without any brakes for hundreds of feet of track

At one point, someone decided to add wheels to a cart and the idea of the modern day roller coaster was born

You can imagine that these weren safe The only thing to stop riders at the end were large bales of hay and there was no way to control the direction or speed But come on it was the 1600s

We bet the term safety regulations didn't even exist back then. Up next is the suspended catch air device

or CSAD, in the Zero Gravity Amusement Park in Texas. Not for the faint of heart

this is less of a ride and more of a free fall where guests are suspended from a 16-story tower

then dropped 130 feet into a safety net. If this sounds scary to you, consider that guests were dropped without a bungee cord

and it becomes even more terrifying. There are no ropes or harnesses, and people have to make sure to fall properly

and to drop into the giant net to avoid injury. This insane ride, if you can call it that, has people lining up to experience its thrills

Apparently, we walk the earth with hundreds of Mad Men folks. This gets a big, nuh-uh, nope from us

Everyone's worst rollercoaster nightmare is derailment. Imagine coming to the top of a roller coaster and discovering it actually isn't attached to the track

And you've got Fujin Rajan II, a deadly roller coaster that was part of Japan's now-defunct Expo Land Amusement Park

Surprisingly, this accident is more recent than you might think as the crash occurred in 2007

Riders on Fujin Rajan discovered, to their horror, that the coaster upon which they were riding had become derailed

resulting in the fatality of one teenage girl and serious injuries of 19 other riders when the car went toppling to the ground

Horrifyingly, investigators found that not only had one of the car's axles broken resulting in that crash

but that most of the other cars had similar problems and that the majority of the ride's axles were cracked

It later came out that the ride had not been inspected, replaced, or repaired in 15 years, making this horrible crash seem inevitable

And we're back to this. Is it any wonder that Action Park was known as America's deadliest theme park

The Alpine Slide was also completely dangerous. Unsurprisingly, poor decision choices led to nasty injuries on the Alpine Slide

where riders went down a concrete track in little sled carts. The tracks were poorly built, and sleds would oftentimes skid off the track

with nothing but hay bales to stop riders from falling down the side of mountains

Even more concerning was the fact that most of the brakes on the sleds were broken, leaving unsuspecting guests to coast down the mountain slides at alarming speeds For some grisly imagery at that point there were no regulations that prohibited patrons from riding the alpine slide in their swimsuits which many people did after spending time

at the water park portion of Action Park. People in swimsuits wiping out on

and scraping across concrete made for some nasty injuries, to say the least

Action Park closed in 1996 after financial woes regarding insurance, which is, of course, altogether unsurprising

Possibly the most misleading rollercoaster name on this list, England's The Smiler caused more than one life-changing injury, let alone the mental

health issues for which we're sure it's responsible. The ride at Alton Park had issues since its launch

in 2013, where The Smiler would malfunction in a variety of ways, including suddenly stopping

Whenever the ride would break down, guests would likely be stranded upside down considering the

track was composed of 14 loops. In 2015, a true crash occurred. Due to an operator error, an empty

car collided with one carrying 16 passengers, leaving those involved stuck 20 feet in the air

at a 45-degree angle until they could be freed. One patron described looking at the metal bars

protruding into her legs and thinking she was going to die. She, along with four other passengers

had to have her leg amputated. Much to her dismay and the dismay of other rides guests during the

incident, Alton Park reopened the smiler a year later. What a slap in the face to those whose lives

had been forever changed by losing limbs. Breathe a sigh of relief, at least momentarily

because the accidents that occurred on Revere Beach's Derby Racer are around 100 years old

right after the introduction of America's first roller coasters. That doesn't make the accidents any less horrifying, though

In 1911, a man was ejected from the coaster, resulting in life-threatening injuries

and the ride only closed for two weeks. Six years later, another man was killed

when thrown from the coaster into the path of a second coaster train. Other riders were thrown from their cars, resulting in one man breaking nearly every bone in his body and another fracturing her skull

Despite the coaster's extremely poor safety record, lack of regulations resulted in this coaster operating until 1936

at which point the Massachusetts Supreme Court declared that it be demolished because it was too dangerous to remain in operation

A second derby racer was built in 1938 but that was mysteriously shut down and demolished in the 1940s Not all rides have to be high thrill to be dangerous In 1984 tragedy struck as a fire erupted in the Haunted Castle ride at Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey

Unfortunately, due to the nature of the ride and the fact that it did not contain smoke detectors or fire extinguishers

guests did not immediately realize the danger they were in. They assumed the fire was part of the ride and didn't hasten their exits

to compound the lack of smoke detectors. The building was also made of highly flammable materials

some of which were also toxic when heated so that some riders perished when inhaling the fumes

A volunteer firefighter recalled being unable to tell human bones from the ride's prop skeleton bones

All in all, eight teenagers died and seven others were badly injured by the accidental fire

The fire prompted state legislators to hold amusement parks to higher standards

and crack down on fire safety regulations, along with making sure that rides that were meant to disorient riders had better exit protocols in place

Topping off our list is a ride. Well, you know what? We can't even call this thing a ride

It's the worst possible idea ever conceived of, set into motion to become a catapult of death

Anyhow, two brilliant guys named Richard Wicks and David Atkinhead built a human trebuchet at Middlemore Waterpark in Somerset, UK

For those who are unaware, a trebuchet is a giant catapult that uses a swinging arm to throw a projectile

And it was largely used as a siege weapon between 14th century B.C. and the 13th century

Sounds like something you'd want to ride on, right? If you answered yes, you're wrong

That's a terrible idea. Wicks and Atkinhead charge 40 euros a person to ride in their human trebuchet

It used a series of weights to fling guests more than 75 feet in the air into a safety net located in the distance

and the owners managed to rope in about 50 people before one didn't make it into the net

Riders that day grew increasingly nervous as catapulted guests began landing toward the front of the net

and a few rides later, one man missed completely and thudded to the ground in a terrible heap

Indeed, Wick's partner had actually broken her pelvis in three places while testing out a prototype of the trebuchet

and she was the first to tell riders that it was completely dangerous. But the heart wants what it wants, and in this case, it wanted to stop feeding after being thrown 75 feet through the air