Safety man dies; his work led to CP ride changes

Saturday, 02 July 2005

Richard 'Doc' Brown dies after fall at home.

From staff and wire reports

SANTA ANA, Calif. - A national safety expert whose findings and testings led to modifications on coasters at Cedar Point has died.

Richard "Doc" Brown, who designed more than 100 rides at Disney, Cedar Fair, Six Flags and Universal Studios, was 64. Cedar Fair L.P. is the parent company of Cedar Point.

Brown died June 23 after suffering a severe head injury in a fall at his Huntington Beach home, his family said.

"His findings were part of the reason that we installed the brake on the first drop on Mantis," Cedar Point spokes-man Bryan Edwards said Friday.

Brown's findings and tests also led to changes on the Iron Dragon and WildCat, he said.

"He would usually come in before our season opening and would do his tests on the rides," Edwards said.

Brown did extensive research on how the speed and g-force of roller coasters and "pod-based" rides affect the human body long before such research was commonplace.

After earning a degree in electrical engineering, he began studying the emerging field of biomechanical engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. In one of his first ride-related jobs, Brown helped Cedar Point redesign a roller coaster that was breaking the collarbones of some riders.

Edwards said he couldn't confirm the Jumbo Jet roller coaster caused broken collarbone problems, but Brown did work with Cedar Point on the problems it had with that ride. The Jumbo Jet was at the park from 1972-78.

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