*Hassan Jihad Ibn Kariem, 42, of Atlanta, was identified by police as the man who died after being “ejected” from the Goliath roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia on Monday.
He was not a thrill seeker chasing a headline. He was an IT manager, technology teacher and robotics coach at Wesley International Academy, an Atlanta public charter school, where he had worked for more than 12 years, CNN is reporting.
The school district called him “a cherished member” and said his “presence and impact will be deeply missed by our students, staff, and all those whose lives he touched.”
Atlanta Public Schools extended its “deepest condolences to the family, friends, and loved ones of Mr. Kariem.”
Witnesses told police that Kariem struck several other people before falling beneath the ride. Several others were injured. The ride’s manufacturer said it is “actively investigating the incident,” and Six Flags temporarily closed at least 10 roller coasters across several of its parks in the United States and Canada.
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A Pattern of Deaths on America’s Coasters
Kariem’s death is not an isolated event. At least six other riders have died on roller coasters in the United States since 2003, according to the Associated Press. The list is grim and varied.
In 2013, a woman riding the Texas Giant died after she was thrown from her seat, fell 75 feet and struck a metal beam. Witnesses said she had expressed concern that the safety bar was not completely engaged as the ride started. In 2011, a US Army veteran who lost both legs in Iraq was killed after he was thrown from a coaster at Darien Lake Theme Park & Resort in upstate New York. Investigators found operators did not follow rules posted at the ride’s entrance requiring riders to have both legs.
In 2010, a 21-year-old rider fell to her death from a coaster at Dixie Landin’ in Louisiana, and a state investigation could not determine a cause. In 2003, a locomotive broke loose on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad at Disneyland, killing a man and injuring multiple riders after a guide wheel fell off. State investigators found the wheel was not tightened to Disney’s standards and a safety wire was not installed.
More recently, Six Flags Magic Mountain in Southern California announced it would permanently close its famous X2 coaster following a CNN investigation that documented reports of life-altering injuries and deaths. The park settled a wrongful-death lawsuit with the family of a 22-year-old rider who suffered severe brain bleeding in 2022 and died a day later. Six Flags said the ride had consistently passed safety tests.
Who Actually Regulates These Rides?
The answer, remarkably, is no one at the federal level. The federal government has no regulatory authority over amusement park rides. That responsibility belongs to the states. Mobile rides, like those at a carnival, fall under the Consumer Product Safety Commission, but “fixed-site rides,” like the ones at Six Flags, sit outside the commission’s jurisdiction.
This split traces back to Congress passing the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, which limited the commission’s oversight to rides not permanently fixed to a site and left states to regulate the rest. The result is a patchwork. Texas puts the Department of Insurance in charge, while California assigns oversight to the Department of Industrial Relations. There is no uniformity across the country.
Sen. Ed Markey has repeatedly introduced legislation to return oversight of amusement park rides to the CPSC, calling the current arrangement a “loophole” in safety regulations. Those efforts have not succeeded.
A Death That Demands More Than Condolences
Kariem spent 12 years teaching children to build robots and solve problems. He died on a ride that passed its safety tests, in a state that regulates coasters differently than its neighbors, under a federal system that explicitly declined to oversee them.
Six Flags has closed rides and promised an investigation. The manufacturer is looking into what happened. But the deeper failure is structural.
Until Congress closes the loophole Markey keeps pointing to, the next tragedy is not a matter of if, but when, and the only question is whose name ends up in the next headline.
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