The extreme X2 roller coaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California is by all accounts an epic ride. But an investigation at CNN questions whether too many riders are getting hurt during the experience. Its review of medical records, depositions, and legal filings finds that the coaster has been linked to more than a dozen serious injuries and two deaths over 20 years. Two women needed surgery within days of each other in July because of brain damage typically seen with violent accidents, according to the story. As it turns out, they hadn't been in accidents, but they had ridden the X2, whose rotating seats spin riders 360 degrees while the train hits about 80mph.
"In our professional opinion, the severe brain injuries requiring emergent neurosurgical attention were the result of a traumatic rapid acceleration-deceleration event experienced while on the X2 ride," wrote three neurosurgeons who treated the women in an email obtained by CNN. Internal records cited in lawsuits also show scores of head and neck complaints and at least 70 such reports in the three years before a 22-year-old rider died in 2022. The theme park just settled a wrongful death lawsuit by that rider's family, and the coaster has been closed since July 12 after its latest injury, leaving its future very much in doubt, per Theme Park Insider.
The park in Valencia insists the ride undergoes regular testing and doesn't exert physical forces dangerous to a "normal" rider, adding that a sign warns riders of the "inherent risks" of any ride. State regulators largely rely on safety data supplied by the park, notes CNN. Read the story in full. (Plenty of POV videos exist, including this one.)
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