Shadowing Practice: The Son Of Beast Roller Coaster Accidents - Learn English Speaking with Video
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It’s a beautiful summer’s day during the holiday season in Mason, Ohio. Friends and family have traveled to enjoy the rides and attractions at King’s Island. The amusement park boasts the biggest wooden roller coaster in the world - Son of Beast. But at 4:45 p.m on July 9, 2006, the fun stops. Screams ring out, but not the ones you’d typically expect from a roller coaster.
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The Son of Beast ride malfunctioned, resulting in a total of 27 people being rushed to the hospital with mostly chest and neck injuries. One of the victims said, “When we hit, immediately it was like hitting a brick wall. You just know, wait a minute, that’s not part of the ride.” She recalled her thoughts going through the loop:‘“I was thinking, oh my god, we’re going to die. We’re going to die.” Thankfully, none of the victims were critically injured, and most of them could leave after five hours. However, this incident was not isolated; It was one of many on this notoriously dangerous roller coaster.
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Son of Beast was initially a highly ambitious project, costing the owner, Paramount Parks, $20 million for construction. Roller coaster engineer Werner Stengel designed the ride - a legend in the industry. He is credited with creating the first-ever modern looping coaster, Revolution, in 1976. The park announced plans to build the ride in 1999.
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Stengel was involved in the early design of the ride, but the Roller Coaster Corporation of America undertook most building work. Construction involved 2.5 million board feet of wood, 2,400 concrete footers, and 225,000 21-inch steel bolts.
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The ride was named after the biggest roller coaster globally, The Beast, and was supposed to continue this legacy. The Son of Beast became the first-ever wooden hypercoaster over 200 feet (60 meters). It also had a 118 foot (36 meters) tall vertical loop and traveled at 78mph (125km/hr). The ride’s size and structure broke seven world records and was characterized by its terrifying speeds and multiple drops.
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Son of Beast had issues right from the get-go. During its construction, a 50 by 100-foot section of wooden supports collapsed due to strong gusts of wind. Later on, Paramount Parks would fire the Roller Coaster Corporation of America and finish the project themselves.
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Things didn’t get much better. The ride was first opened on April 28, 2000, but had to be closed the same day to repair a small area of the track.
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With the opening already delayed, an additional month was an unexpected setback. Son of Beast’s first year went on to have further track and sensor malfunctions. It became notoriously rough and would often jolt. Since the park was now losing money and damaging its reputation, it sued the Roller Coaster Corporation of America for damages but lost the case.
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Later that year, while in motion, the Son of Beast stopped abruptly. Although there were no injuries, the passengers had descended via the staircase, and the ride was shut for three hours.
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Inspectors discovered a rough 15-foot section of track.
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In 2001, two more incidents occurred. One left a rider with a broken vertebra, the other a broken neck. Then in 2003, someone who hurt their back was admitted to hospital.
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Despite this, no design flaws were reported to be responsible. Instead, the injuries were attributed to the victim’s preexisting conditions. No further information was published about them.
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However, July the 9th, 2006, was different.
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Late that afternoon, one of the trains - which was passing through - cracked a support beam. The accident took place in the ‘rose bowl,’ which is halfway through the ride.
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Although this train made it back safely, this crack would prove problematic for the next train.
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The lack of support led to sagging in the track, which was further exacerbated when the force of the second carriage passed through. However, the crash didn’t stop the train, and the carriage made its way back to the loading station.
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A vertical wooden support was simply unable to carry the weight, forcing it to crack as well.
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The ride jolted abruptly, leaving riders with multiple injuries. Thankfully, nobody died.
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What separates this incident from other accidents was that the ride’s designers were responsible.
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A state ride inspector said that the wooden support beams were "cracked and had actually splintered in places." There was also an abrupt bump, which he believes was why people were injured. The Ohio Department of Agriculture, which is also the authority responsible for roller coaster safety, said that the beam caused a "slight dip in the track,” resulting in “a pothole effect, injuring riders." Theme Park Consultant Dennis Spiegel said, "It's not unusual to have timbers break in wooden roller coasters. As coasters have stress placed on them, and as they age, they will have those kinds of situations." Jennifer Wright was among the 27 victims and took Paramount Parks to court. Part of her evidence was a video interview with Rick Schmizze, who the Ohio Department of Agriculture assigned to investigate the incident. The investigator gave quite a damning reflection on what happened.
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Shmizze claimed that the park should have known that an accident like this could happen since its inception. He testified during the court proceedings, saying, “They would fix them in a Band-Aid style and then wait and see what happened.
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They never really stopped and said, ‘we’ve got a problem with this ride as a whole.’ ” Additionally, the investigator said there was “excessive lateral motion,” where the track would constantly sway from side to side. This led to loose timber connections, wearing of bolt holes, track misalignment, and unexpected vibration.
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He explained that fixing issues on one part moved the problems onto another part of the track.
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Jonathan Yanik also took the park to court after suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery.
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The lawsuit asked for $500,000 in compensatory damages and more than $350,000 in punitive damages.
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Other lawsuits were filed, but most of them reached settlements.
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Both Jennifer Wright and Jonathan Yanik wanted to bring this to trial, so it would be made public, and nothing like this would be allowed to happen again.
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The victims said that when individuals agree to settlements instead of going to court, the public often assumes that the claimant was simply looking for money. The pair were confident that there was wrong-doing, feeling unthreatened by the multi-million dollar company’s high-paid lawyers.
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Wright said, “All I ever wanted was the truth to come out and no one to ever be hurt again.“I am still fighting, and I would love to offer any help or evidence. I feel their pain and suffering.” Eventually, Wright accepted damages on the basis that Shmizze’s testimony was made public.
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She said, “I would feel like garbage if I held on to this information and then a year from now somebody was really hurt bad.” After the incident, the general consensus was that the most sensible option would be to close the ride forever.
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The editor of Theme Park Insider, Robert Niles, said, ‘A broken main support beam on a roller coaster is like a broken leg on a racehorse.
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Sure, you could spend many millions to repair it. But in most cases, you just put 'er down.’’ But the park didn’t ‘put ‘er down’. Instead, the ride continued after a number of changes.
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Most notably, removing its vertical loop, which they denied was related to the incident.
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Kings Island spokesperson Don Helbig said, “The removal of loop was a decision the park made so we could use different trains.
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The trains the ride now uses are lighter and more comfortable than the original trains.” This decision to not retire the ride would come back to haunt the park in 2009 with yet another accident. According to Dayton Daily News, Jill Tavella said she “felt dizzy and had a bad headache” after riding the roller coaster on May 31 and was later diagnosed with “a broken blood vessel in her head.” However, an investigation into the incident cleared the park of any wrongdoing. Nonetheless, the park was still reluctant to reopen the ride.
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Speaking at the time, Kings Island General Manager Greg Scheid said, “Eight days after I took over, the accident occurred. We have struggled with it ever since. We have smoothed out the ride.
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Most people will say they are comfortable with the ride, but I am not comfortable with the ride.” Subsequently, the Son of Beast never ran again.
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The park never announced its retirement; instead, the ride just faded out of existence.
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In 2010, the ride had disappeared from the park’s website. Then, in 2012, the ride was demolished, and all of those years of building and maintaining the ride was now reduced to rubble on the ground. The park was left with a ten-million-dollar loss.
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Paramount Parks wanted to sue the Roller Coaster Corporation of America, but that company went bankrupt in 2005. King’s Island then shifted its focus on suing the now-defunct company’s insurance provider. In 2008, they lost the case, costing the company even more in legal fees. This was on top of the settlements paid to the dozens of people who were injured by the roller coaster.
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It’s hard to look back at the Son of Beast ride as anything but a complete disaster, both in terms of how it put people’s lives at risk and was a colossal waste of money.
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Hopefully, the park (and the industry as a whole) will learn lessons from it.
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In the Son of Beast’s place at King’s Island is an entirely different ride and a commemorative tombstone to it where riders queue. The new attractions’ name is aptly called The Banshee, a wailing ghost in Irish mythology while the ghost of the Son of Beast lives on.
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Context & Background
In the captivating video titled "The Son Of Beast Roller Coaster Accidents," viewers are taken through a chilling journey that explores the various incidents surrounding one of the most infamous wooden roller coasters, the Son of Beast, located at King’s Island in Mason, Ohio. The narrative unfolds on a beautiful summer day when excitement quickly turns to horror as the ride malfunctions, sending 27 individuals to the hospital. This transcript serves not only as a recount of events but also highlights the critical aspects of amusement park safety and the consequences of negligence. Through this video, English learners can gain insight into colloquial expressions and emotional responses that will enrich their language acquisition journey.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- “It was like hitting a brick wall.” - A vivid idiom to express sudden shock or impact.
- “We’re going to die.” - An expression of fear that can be used in dramatic storytelling.
- “I feel their pain and suffering.” - A compassionate phrase that shows empathy.
- “They never really stopped and said...” - A useful structure for providing opinions or critiques.
- “A broken leg on a racehorse.” - A metaphorical comparison illustrating a critical failure.
Step-by-step Shadowing Guide
To effectively use the shadowing technique while watching this video, follow these steps carefully:
- Watch and Listen: Start by watching the video without any interruption. Pay close attention to the speaker's intonation and pronunciation. Make notes of key phrases that stand out.
- Repeat and Imitate: Use a shadowing app to play short segments, pausing after a sentence or phrase. Try to mimic the speaker’s pronunciation, rhythm, and emotion. This will help you improve your English pronunciation.
- Slow it Down: For challenging sections, use playback speed settings to slow down the video. This allows you to grasp subtler sounds and phrases before attempting to repeat them.
- Record Yourself: After you feel confident, record yourself imitating the speaker. Listen to your voice and compare it with the original audio to identify any improvements needed.
- Practice Regularly: Incorporate the phrases learned into your daily conversations to solidify your understanding and retention. Consistent practice using engaging content like this video will further enhance your ability to learn English with YouTube.
By integrating these techniques, learners can effectively leverage the engaging narrative of roller coaster incidents to enhance their English speaking skills and overall fluency.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.