WARNING: Your Favorite New Jersey Rollercoaster Is Likely Not Safe

You don't wake up and think that the fun day you have planned at Six Flags will end in tragedy. With all the amusement parks scattered throughout New Jersey, you'd think we'd hear about more crazy incidents than we do. Apparently, tragedy impacts our time on the rides more than we think here in the Garden State.

I'll never forget the day I took my niece and nephew to the Deerfield Township Harvest Festival in Upper Deerfield Township back in 2019. That day will be forever marked in my mind as one of the worst tragedies I've ever been on site for. 10-year-old Hailey McMullen was thrown from the 'Xtreme' ride during the early evening hours of the festival.

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We had no idea why we had just bought all these tickets, but weren't allowed to get on any more rides. Once we found out the truth, our hearts were broken. It's made me nervous to put my niece and nephew on any carnival rides ever since.

Now, I've come to learn that New Jersey might not be the safest place to getting on rides in the first place.

Dangerous Amusement Parks In New Jersey

A new study from The Fitch Law Firm has revealed that New Jersey is one of the most dangerous states to visit an amusement park. To be exact, it ranked at number 5. The study looked at data from 2010 to 2017 and focused on the number of people injured while visiting amusement parks in each state. The data compared the number of injuries in each state to the overall population. This helped figure out where visitors are most likely to get hurt. For example, New Jersey had 5.74 injuries for every 100,000 people who visited its amusement parks during that time.

Number 5??? Really?? How did NJ even land on this list, though?

Since New Jersey is home to some of the busiest and most popular amusement parks on the East Coast, including places like Six Flags Great Adventure, it starts to make more sense. The more people who visit, the higher the chance of accidents happening. Also, amusement parks often have intense rides that go really fast and extend to great heights. This can lead to more injuries if safety precautions aren’t followed or if the rides aren't properly maintained.

This study doesn't necessarily mean that amusement parks in New Jersey are dangerous overall, but it does highlight the importance of being aware of the risks when visiting these places.