Man falls to his death from Six Flags roller coaster in Georgia, park closes similar rides within a day and stock hits 2009 lows, market prices liability faster than any inspector

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zerohedge.com

A man was flung from a roller coaster at Six Flags Over Georgia near Atlanta and died, with several other guests injured in the same incident, local police said. Within a day, Six Flags closed similar roller coasters at the park "out of an abundance of caution," a company spokesperson told AP News, without identifying the ride involved. Local media reported it was called Goliath.

Six Flags shares fell as much as 14 percent in early trading, taking the stock to its lowest level since December 2009. The company's statement was one of grief — "our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with the guest's family, friends, and loved ones" — but the closures came faster than any regulatory response. Fixed-site amusement parks in the United States are overseen by a patchwork of state and local rules, with no federal safety inspection regime comparable to the one covering mobile rides or, for that matter, aviation. What actually disciplines the operators is the tort system: juries price negligence, and insurers price juries.

The market's verdict was immediate. The stock is down 32 percent this year, has lost two-thirds of its value over three years, and the Wall Street Journal recently reported that activist investor Jana Partners is urging Six Flags to explore a sale. A company that spent years consolidating the regional park industry now trades on the assumption that a single bad afternoon can wipe out a quarter of its equity.

Meanwhile, the internet processed the death through the lens of the "Final Destination" franchise — a film series about machines that fail in precisely this way. The meme and the share price are two readings of the same fact: nobody in the chain of supervision bears the cost of an accident until after it has happened, except the person on the ride.

Six Flags did not name the coaster. Its investors, within minutes, had already priced it.