The Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster at Cedar Point has been retired after being closed for more than a year due to an accident in which a woman was seriously hurt.
Top Thrill Dragster to Be Retired from Cedar Point After 19 seasons and more than 18 million riders, Cedar Point announced on Tuesday that the Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster would be shutting down. (At least in its present incarnation.)
Top Thrill Dragster was the tallest roller coaster in the world when it first opened in 2003. And it quickly became America’s Roller Coast’s longest line. Although Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in 2005 quickly outgrew it in height, it remains the second-highest structure in the world.
After a ride component flew off and struck a 44-year-old lady in the head as she was waiting in line on August 15, 2021, the Top Thrill Dragster, which accelerates from 0 to 120 miles per hour in less than 4 seconds, was shut down. It stayed closed for the whole 2022 season despite numerous inspections.
An L-shaped component apparently came loose from the side of the ride’s train car, according to the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which is in charge of inspecting rides in Ohio. Additionally, inspectors discovered that half of the fasteners holding the plate to the train body had come loose. The flash plate bracket is used to inform the ride’s operating system that the car has passed a section of track.
Last summer, while she was in line, a Michigan woman suffered serious injuries after being struck in the head by a metal bracket from a roller coaster. It’s unclear if the accident led to the coaster’s “retirement,” but Cedar Point was exonerated of any legal responsibility in the incident.