SPRING, Texas - A Spring mom thinks more safety procedures should be in place for the rides at the Kemah Boardwalk, after she says her little girl almost fell out of a rollercoaster.
The Boardwalk Bullet is a wooden rollercoaster that stands 96’ and reaches speeds of 51mph.
On Sunday, it’s a ride Ashley Guillory-Guidry and her kids were excited to ride, however, that excitement quickly turned to fear.
It was terrifying,” said Guillory-Guidry. “I could have lost my baby.”
Guillory-Guidry says while buying admission to the boardwalk the attendant gave all of her kids wristbands, clearing them for the biggest rides. That included her youngest child, 6-year-old Alaisha, even though Guillory-Guidry says Alaisha wasn’t measured.
“She was like, ‘No, she’s good. She’s good. She’s over 48 inches.’”
The height requirement to ride the Boardwalk Bullet is 48” so that’s where they went for Allaisha’s first ever rollercoaster experience.
Guillory-Guidry says once they sat down on the ride, she fastened Alaisha’s seat belt and safety bar herself but that an attendant double checked the bar before the ride started. However, after the first 92’ drop Guillory-Guidry says she realized her daughter had slipped out of both safety belts.
“I looked over and she was completely… had slid under the restraints. Both restraints," said Guillory-Guidry. “It was so scary because the ride is going… it’s going so fast and I was trying to, like, hold her up and trying to keep her from falling out.
"I thought that, like, I was going down and I was about to die,” said Alaisha.
Guillory-Guidry was able to hold onto her daughter for the rest of the ride.
After the ride Guillory-Guidry snapped a picture of the novelty photo, which shows Alaisha slipping down the seat and Guillory-Guidry holding onto her arm, trying to keep her from falling out.
Guillory-Guidry feels more safety procedures should be in place for children to make sure they are safe, like checking their height at each ride.
The family says an attendant at the Flare ride did check Alaisha’s height and would not allow her to ride, saying she did not meet the 48” requirement.
Keith Beitler, Landry’s Senior Vice President and COO of Specialty Restaurant and Amusement Divisions, released the following statement:
Based on manufacturer guidelines, we have safety and policy procedures in place to ensure all riders meet the minimum height requirements. After speaking with our ride attendants, the guest in question did in fact meet the height requirements to ride the roller coaster. The guest didn’t bring this matter to our attention until a day afterwards. We are still investigating the matter.