1 00:00:15,410 --> 00:00:22,530 Speaker 1: Pushkin. You might have noticed that things are a little 2 00:00:22,570 --> 00:00:26,610 Speaker 1: different on Cautionary Tales this year. In twenty twenty four, 3 00:00:26,850 --> 00:00:31,010 Speaker 1: we brought you a new episode every fortnight, But this 4 00:00:31,170 --> 00:00:35,610 Speaker 1: year we are doubling our output. New stories of heart 5 00:00:35,650 --> 00:00:40,450 Speaker 1: thumping peril, mind blowing mistakes, and jaw dropping scandal will 6 00:00:40,490 --> 00:00:45,130 Speaker 1: now be delivered straight to your ears every week. Here's 7 00:00:45,170 --> 00:00:52,170 Speaker 1: on for you right now. Not so very long ago, 8 00:00:52,530 --> 00:00:55,370 Speaker 1: I took my son with me to an amusement park 9 00:00:55,610 --> 00:01:00,490 Speaker 1: to celebrate his twelfth birthday. He's obsessed with roller coasters, 10 00:01:00,890 --> 00:01:05,170 Speaker 1: although usually he just experiences them through the medium of YouTube. 11 00:01:05,930 --> 00:01:08,530 Speaker 1: It's one thing to see the footage someone took from 12 00:01:08,570 --> 00:01:11,970 Speaker 1: the front seat. To actually be there, it's a different thing. 13 00:01:13,770 --> 00:01:16,650 Speaker 1: Riding a roller coaster is a strange kind of fun. 14 00:01:17,090 --> 00:01:20,850 Speaker 1: The volunteering to be terrified for the sake of entertainment, 15 00:01:21,570 --> 00:01:25,530 Speaker 1: and the roller coaster we'd come to ride certainly leans 16 00:01:25,570 --> 00:01:32,250 Speaker 1: into that idea. It's called the smiler. The conceit behind 17 00:01:32,290 --> 00:01:36,850 Speaker 1: the smiler is that people who aren't smiling enough will 18 00:01:36,890 --> 00:01:41,130 Speaker 1: have their lack of a smile corrected by a strange 19 00:01:41,330 --> 00:01:48,130 Speaker 1: Awwellian institution called the Ministry of Joy. The smiler's logo 20 00:01:48,690 --> 00:01:55,610 Speaker 1: is a ghastly grin connecting two hypnotically spiraling eyes. And 21 00:01:55,770 --> 00:01:59,890 Speaker 1: so we went to Alton Towers in England to ride 22 00:02:00,250 --> 00:02:05,370 Speaker 1: the Smiler. The ride doesn't soar in the high curves 23 00:02:05,370 --> 00:02:09,690 Speaker 1: of a classic roller coaster. Instead, it's an imp penetrable 24 00:02:09,730 --> 00:02:14,290 Speaker 1: looking spaghetti tangle of black and yellow, with the knots 25 00:02:14,370 --> 00:02:17,970 Speaker 1: and curls of the roller coaster track intersecting with a 26 00:02:18,090 --> 00:02:23,410 Speaker 1: huge five legged structure, some kind of diabolical machine, decorated 27 00:02:23,450 --> 00:02:29,410 Speaker 1: with a wraparound screen displaying dystopian messages and unsettling graphics. 28 00:02:30,210 --> 00:02:34,090 Speaker 1: It's hard to figure out what goes. Where As we 29 00:02:34,170 --> 00:02:38,050 Speaker 1: waited in line underneath the belly of the thing, we 30 00:02:38,170 --> 00:02:41,890 Speaker 1: gazed up at the tortuous coils of the ride through 31 00:02:41,930 --> 00:02:47,370 Speaker 1: black netting that added to the vibe of a correctional facility, 32 00:02:47,650 --> 00:02:51,130 Speaker 1: but was really to protect us from wallets and phones 33 00:02:51,450 --> 00:02:53,850 Speaker 1: falling out of the pockets of the riders in the 34 00:02:53,890 --> 00:02:58,450 Speaker 1: trains above. And those trains looped and swooped around and 35 00:02:58,530 --> 00:03:02,570 Speaker 1: around above us, two together on different parts of the track, 36 00:03:03,050 --> 00:03:09,250 Speaker 1: diving and rolling around each other like mating birds, but 37 00:03:09,330 --> 00:03:14,090 Speaker 1: there was no bird song. The sound was deafening. A 38 00:03:14,250 --> 00:03:17,570 Speaker 1: night Mayish theme tune like a nursery rhyme from hell, 39 00:03:18,450 --> 00:03:22,170 Speaker 1: the steel roaring as the trains rushed over ahead, so 40 00:03:22,490 --> 00:03:27,730 Speaker 1: close that it seemed we could touch them. And of 41 00:03:27,770 --> 00:03:32,530 Speaker 1: course there were the screams of the riders. They screamed 42 00:03:32,530 --> 00:03:35,450 Speaker 1: and they screamed, and they screamed as the ride turned 43 00:03:35,450 --> 00:03:39,490 Speaker 1: them upside down, over and over and over again, a 44 00:03:39,650 --> 00:03:46,730 Speaker 1: world record fourteen in versions. And as we gazed upon 45 00:03:46,810 --> 00:03:50,850 Speaker 1: the sheer awfulness of the thing, my son turned to 46 00:03:50,890 --> 00:03:55,010 Speaker 1: me and said, Dad, I'm not sure I want to 47 00:03:55,050 --> 00:03:59,970 Speaker 1: go on this ride. And he told me something else, Dad, 48 00:04:00,090 --> 00:04:03,810 Speaker 1: He said, you should do a cautionary tale about the Smiler. 49 00:04:05,850 --> 00:04:38,210 Speaker 1: I'm Tim Harford and this is that cautionary tale. Seventeen 50 00:04:38,290 --> 00:04:41,850 Speaker 1: year old Leah Washington's first big day out with her 51 00:04:41,970 --> 00:04:46,130 Speaker 1: new boyfriend Joe Pugh was a trip to Alton Towers, 52 00:04:47,130 --> 00:04:50,850 Speaker 1: the theme park which is home to the Smiler. Leah 53 00:04:50,890 --> 00:04:55,930 Speaker 1: suggested going on the Sonic Spinball coaster. Joe wasn't convinced. 54 00:04:56,770 --> 00:04:59,210 Speaker 1: Why line up for hours when the ride isn't even 55 00:04:59,250 --> 00:05:04,330 Speaker 1: that good. It was June twenty fifteen. The Smiler itself 56 00:05:04,490 --> 00:05:07,650 Speaker 1: was only a couple of years old, but had quickly 57 00:05:07,690 --> 00:05:12,610 Speaker 1: become an iconic roller coaster ride. So Joe suggested the 58 00:05:12,650 --> 00:05:18,010 Speaker 1: Smiler instead. Now that is a roller coaster worth waiting for. 59 00:05:19,570 --> 00:05:23,570 Speaker 1: Lea was nervous. She'd never been on the Smiler and 60 00:05:24,290 --> 00:05:31,090 Speaker 1: it looks terrifying, but she agreed, and so they patiently 61 00:05:31,130 --> 00:05:35,970 Speaker 1: lined up, edging forward to enjoy their turn. It was 62 00:05:35,970 --> 00:05:39,010 Speaker 1: a windy day that they were sheltered from the worst 63 00:05:39,010 --> 00:05:42,290 Speaker 1: of the gusts as the roller coaster cars swooped and 64 00:05:42,370 --> 00:05:47,090 Speaker 1: screamed above them. The line edged forward, and the minutes 65 00:05:47,290 --> 00:05:53,770 Speaker 1: ticked past half past eleven noon half past twelve. By 66 00:05:53,770 --> 00:05:57,090 Speaker 1: one o'clock, Lea and Joe could see they were close 67 00:05:57,170 --> 00:06:01,130 Speaker 1: to getting onto the Smiler itself, with the diabolical nursery 68 00:06:01,210 --> 00:06:07,290 Speaker 1: tune playing and the lines surrounded by unsettling images of compliant, 69 00:06:07,490 --> 00:06:12,010 Speaker 1: grinning faces. So we queued for a good hour and 70 00:06:12,050 --> 00:06:15,730 Speaker 1: a half. Leah later recalled, and then we got to 71 00:06:15,770 --> 00:06:23,690 Speaker 1: the front and they put us on the front carriage. 72 00:06:25,330 --> 00:06:28,410 Speaker 1: Those words are from a television interview she gave just 73 00:06:28,490 --> 00:06:32,210 Speaker 1: a couple of months later. In the interview, Leah is 74 00:06:32,490 --> 00:06:37,450 Speaker 1: serious but calm. She's a remarkably self possessed young woman. 75 00:06:38,490 --> 00:06:46,250 Speaker 1: She's also missing her left leg Smiler trains are short 76 00:06:46,490 --> 00:06:51,090 Speaker 1: and wide, four rows, four seats in each one. Leah 77 00:06:51,170 --> 00:06:54,690 Speaker 1: and Joe were in the front row. Me and Joe 78 00:06:54,690 --> 00:06:57,970 Speaker 1: got excited being at the front. The front row is 79 00:06:58,130 --> 00:07:02,450 Speaker 1: much sought after. You get the best views, the most excitement, 80 00:07:02,810 --> 00:07:07,210 Speaker 1: the most direct exposure to everything the Smiler has to offer. 81 00:07:09,210 --> 00:07:13,650 Speaker 1: But then we sat down, put the safety bars down. 82 00:07:14,330 --> 00:07:17,410 Speaker 1: Then we were sat for five ten minutes, and then 83 00:07:17,450 --> 00:07:20,130 Speaker 1: we had to get back off because there were technical difficulties. 84 00:07:21,290 --> 00:07:25,650 Speaker 1: That was a bit frustrating. That was Leah warried. Now, 85 00:07:25,970 --> 00:07:28,890 Speaker 1: not really, because all rides break down at some point, 86 00:07:29,610 --> 00:07:33,570 Speaker 1: but you didn't expect anything bad to happen. So Leah 87 00:07:33,610 --> 00:07:36,650 Speaker 1: and Joe stood at the front of the line and 88 00:07:36,690 --> 00:07:43,770 Speaker 1: waited to get back on. The Alton Towers Theme Park 89 00:07:43,890 --> 00:07:48,010 Speaker 1: has dedicated teams of engineers. The park wants to keep 90 00:07:48,050 --> 00:07:51,930 Speaker 1: the rides running smoothly and safely, with a minimum of interruptions. 91 00:07:52,570 --> 00:07:56,090 Speaker 1: The need for safety is obvious enough, but so is 92 00:07:56,130 --> 00:07:59,610 Speaker 1: the need to minimize downtime. There can easily be two 93 00:07:59,690 --> 00:08:03,090 Speaker 1: thousand people in the line to ride the Smiler, and 94 00:08:03,210 --> 00:08:06,290 Speaker 1: Olden Towers doesn't want people saying I queued for two 95 00:08:06,530 --> 00:08:09,730 Speaker 1: hours for the Smiler and I never even got a ride. 96 00:08:09,890 --> 00:08:13,810 Speaker 1: The show must go on, which might explain why. On 97 00:08:13,850 --> 00:08:17,730 Speaker 1: the second of June twenty fifteen, the Smiler was operating 98 00:08:18,450 --> 00:08:23,370 Speaker 1: despite the windy weather. When the roller coaster registered a 99 00:08:23,450 --> 00:08:26,410 Speaker 1: fault and Lear and the other riders were taken off 100 00:08:26,450 --> 00:08:30,690 Speaker 1: the train and asked to wait. Two teams of engineers 101 00:08:31,130 --> 00:08:34,650 Speaker 1: hurried to the scene. The line was only getting longer, 102 00:08:35,050 --> 00:08:38,290 Speaker 1: and two trains were sitting out on the twisting roller 103 00:08:38,290 --> 00:08:42,890 Speaker 1: coaster track full of increasingly anxious passengers, wondering what the 104 00:08:42,970 --> 00:08:45,770 Speaker 1: problem was and whether it was anything to do with 105 00:08:45,810 --> 00:08:51,010 Speaker 1: the gusts of wind. The first team of engineers started 106 00:08:51,050 --> 00:08:55,450 Speaker 1: to diagnose the problem, which was nothing serious, and also 107 00:08:55,530 --> 00:08:59,010 Speaker 1: decided to add a fifth train to the track while 108 00:08:59,050 --> 00:09:02,570 Speaker 1: the ride was suspended. That meant that once the roller 109 00:09:02,610 --> 00:09:06,570 Speaker 1: coaster was operating again, it would accommodate a few more passengers. 110 00:09:08,170 --> 00:09:12,450 Speaker 1: Seven minutes after the fault appeared, the engineers were able 111 00:09:12,490 --> 00:09:15,650 Speaker 1: to bring a train of relieved guests back to the station, 112 00:09:16,250 --> 00:09:19,410 Speaker 1: where they got off and wandered away to enjoy the 113 00:09:19,410 --> 00:09:23,410 Speaker 1: rest of the theme park. A minute after that, another train, 114 00:09:23,770 --> 00:09:30,650 Speaker 1: the last occupied train, arrived and the passengers disembarked. Now 115 00:09:30,850 --> 00:09:35,010 Speaker 1: all four empty trains were safely inside the roller coaster 116 00:09:35,050 --> 00:09:39,010 Speaker 1: station and the fifth train was added. This took another 117 00:09:39,050 --> 00:09:43,090 Speaker 1: five minutes, while Lea and Joe and two thousand people 118 00:09:43,130 --> 00:09:47,930 Speaker 1: behind them waited and wondered what was happening. As the 119 00:09:47,970 --> 00:09:52,250 Speaker 1: fifth train was being added, the roller coaster's electronic system 120 00:09:52,370 --> 00:09:57,170 Speaker 1: flashed up seven more fault codes. Each of them was minor, 121 00:09:57,250 --> 00:10:00,530 Speaker 1: but each of them needed to be acknowledged, checked, and 122 00:10:00,570 --> 00:10:05,410 Speaker 1: then cleared. By now Lea and Joe and the others 123 00:10:05,490 --> 00:10:08,090 Speaker 1: had been waiting nearly twenty minutes to get back on 124 00:10:08,130 --> 00:10:11,490 Speaker 1: the ride, and the engineers sent an empty train around 125 00:10:11,530 --> 00:10:15,170 Speaker 1: the roller coaster just to check that everything was working properly. 126 00:10:16,170 --> 00:10:20,890 Speaker 1: It wasn't. The train went out, but it didn't come back. 127 00:10:24,570 --> 00:10:28,370 Speaker 1: Like many roller coasters, the Smiler operates on a combination 128 00:10:28,490 --> 00:10:34,410 Speaker 1: of gravity and momentum. The trains don't have engines in them. Instead, 129 00:10:34,890 --> 00:10:37,450 Speaker 1: each train is pulled up a long slope by a 130 00:10:37,530 --> 00:10:41,410 Speaker 1: chain lift, then released to run the course of humps 131 00:10:41,410 --> 00:10:46,530 Speaker 1: and loops until finally coasting back into the station. Roller 132 00:10:47,450 --> 00:10:51,850 Speaker 1: coaster the clues in the name, but because the Smiler 133 00:10:51,890 --> 00:10:57,330 Speaker 1: has that world record tangle of fourteen inversions, because it 134 00:10:57,370 --> 00:11:02,010 Speaker 1: stays fairly low level with the tree tops. One chain 135 00:11:02,090 --> 00:11:06,290 Speaker 1: lift hill won't do the job, and so halfway round 136 00:11:06,330 --> 00:11:09,410 Speaker 1: the ride comes one of the defining moments of the 137 00:11:09,450 --> 00:11:14,770 Speaker 1: Smiler experience. There's a second chain lift, and instead of 138 00:11:14,810 --> 00:11:20,330 Speaker 1: being pulled up a long slope, the chain runs vertically. Suddenly, 139 00:11:20,410 --> 00:11:24,010 Speaker 1: your seat tips back so far that your feet are 140 00:11:24,050 --> 00:11:27,810 Speaker 1: higher than your head, and you stared directly up at 141 00:11:27,810 --> 00:11:31,730 Speaker 1: the sky, being hoisted higher and higher up a vertical track. 142 00:11:33,370 --> 00:11:37,610 Speaker 1: But in June twenty fifteen, that test train didn't come 143 00:11:37,650 --> 00:11:41,050 Speaker 1: back because it didn't quite reach the second lift, the 144 00:11:41,130 --> 00:11:45,610 Speaker 1: vertical one. It coasted to a halt just short of 145 00:11:45,650 --> 00:11:52,410 Speaker 1: where the lift chain would engage. Why unclear. The fact 146 00:11:52,410 --> 00:11:55,770 Speaker 1: that it had no passengers meant that it would have 147 00:11:55,770 --> 00:11:59,850 Speaker 1: been a little lighter and carried less momentum. Then there 148 00:11:59,850 --> 00:12:04,010 Speaker 1: were those gusts of wind. Whatever the reason, it wasn't 149 00:12:04,090 --> 00:12:07,170 Speaker 1: quite close enough for the lift chain to finish the journey. 150 00:12:08,850 --> 00:12:11,770 Speaker 1: They were puzzling over this problem. The first team of 151 00:12:11,810 --> 00:12:15,450 Speaker 1: engineers were joined by the second team, a pair of 152 00:12:15,570 --> 00:12:20,010 Speaker 1: electrical engineers. They all huddled together for a brief conference. 153 00:12:20,090 --> 00:12:22,690 Speaker 1: But one thing that doesn't seem to have been mentioned 154 00:12:23,610 --> 00:12:25,930 Speaker 1: was that a fifth train had been added to the 155 00:12:26,050 --> 00:12:30,050 Speaker 1: track anyway, it wasn't hard to figure out what was wrong. 156 00:12:30,450 --> 00:12:33,090 Speaker 1: The ride had sensors which showed that a section of 157 00:12:33,170 --> 00:12:36,130 Speaker 1: track was occupied by a train, that train they had 158 00:12:36,290 --> 00:12:39,890 Speaker 1: just sent out as a test. The engineers could also 159 00:12:39,930 --> 00:12:43,970 Speaker 1: look at CCTV images and see that train stopped just 160 00:12:44,170 --> 00:12:47,850 Speaker 1: shy of the chain lift. Three of the engineers made 161 00:12:47,850 --> 00:12:50,530 Speaker 1: their way down to the track's halfway point at the 162 00:12:50,570 --> 00:12:53,970 Speaker 1: bottom of the vertical lift hill. They put their shoulders 163 00:12:53,970 --> 00:12:57,850 Speaker 1: to the heavy train and started to push until the 164 00:12:57,890 --> 00:13:02,290 Speaker 1: train clicked into the chainlift and up it went, straight 165 00:13:02,370 --> 00:13:05,650 Speaker 1: up the vertical rails before coasting around the remaining loops 166 00:13:05,690 --> 00:13:15,170 Speaker 1: and corkscrews and back to the station. Lear and Joe 167 00:13:15,210 --> 00:13:17,810 Speaker 1: and the rest of the sixteen passengers had been waiting 168 00:13:17,850 --> 00:13:20,810 Speaker 1: for half an hour since being put onto a train 169 00:13:21,210 --> 00:13:23,650 Speaker 1: and then taken off again, with no knowledge of what 170 00:13:23,730 --> 00:13:26,930 Speaker 1: the Smiler engineers had been up to. But at long 171 00:13:27,170 --> 00:13:30,330 Speaker 1: last they were nearly ready to get the passengers back 172 00:13:30,450 --> 00:13:33,690 Speaker 1: onto the ride. Ahead of the train, Lea and the 173 00:13:33,730 --> 00:13:38,330 Speaker 1: others were board, there was another empty train. The engineers 174 00:13:38,370 --> 00:13:41,090 Speaker 1: sent it off around the circuit, and Leah and Joe 175 00:13:41,170 --> 00:13:44,570 Speaker 1: stepped forward to be strapped into the front row of 176 00:13:44,610 --> 00:13:51,370 Speaker 1: the smiler, ready for the ride of a lifetime. Cautionary 177 00:13:51,410 --> 00:14:10,130 Speaker 1: tales will be back after the break. Roller Coasters are 178 00:14:10,250 --> 00:14:13,570 Speaker 1: safer than lots of things people do for fun. They're 179 00:14:13,610 --> 00:14:16,810 Speaker 1: certainly a lot safer than riding in a car, if 180 00:14:16,850 --> 00:14:20,610 Speaker 1: you believe the numbers from the International Association of Amusement 181 00:14:20,690 --> 00:14:24,010 Speaker 1: Parks and Attractions. And why wouldn't you believe them. My 182 00:14:24,210 --> 00:14:27,090 Speaker 1: son and I ran about the same risk in driving 183 00:14:27,090 --> 00:14:29,850 Speaker 1: one hundred miles to Alton Towers and one hundred miles 184 00:14:29,850 --> 00:14:32,690 Speaker 1: back again that we would have faced if we'd ridden 185 00:14:33,010 --> 00:14:39,570 Speaker 1: six hundred roller coasters. So sure, roller coasters are pretty safe, 186 00:14:39,850 --> 00:14:43,410 Speaker 1: but they don't feel safe. They're not meant to feel safe. 187 00:14:44,170 --> 00:14:47,290 Speaker 1: And if you pushed a nervous roller coaster rider to 188 00:14:47,370 --> 00:14:50,650 Speaker 1: think about what might actually be dangerous about a roller coaster, 189 00:14:51,210 --> 00:14:56,930 Speaker 1: they'd probably tell you two things. First, I might fall 190 00:14:56,930 --> 00:15:01,530 Speaker 1: out of my seat, and second, the entire train might 191 00:15:01,610 --> 00:15:10,130 Speaker 1: fall off the track. That makes intuitive sense. The tracks 192 00:15:10,170 --> 00:15:13,970 Speaker 1: look narrow and exposed, and the trains go fast, take 193 00:15:13,970 --> 00:15:16,970 Speaker 1: the perilous curves, and for goodness sake, they go upside down. 194 00:15:18,010 --> 00:15:21,850 Speaker 1: But that's not really the problem. Here are the words 195 00:15:21,890 --> 00:15:27,930 Speaker 1: of Stephen Flanagan, an expert on roller coaster safety. Although 196 00:15:27,970 --> 00:15:32,090 Speaker 1: the public perception of the hazards associated with roller coasters 197 00:15:32,650 --> 00:15:35,610 Speaker 1: may be focused in the danger of a train parting 198 00:15:35,610 --> 00:15:39,970 Speaker 1: company with the track, in reality, the bigger and more 199 00:15:40,010 --> 00:15:43,890 Speaker 1: difficult to resolve issue has always been the hazard of 200 00:15:44,010 --> 00:15:48,970 Speaker 1: trains colliding on the track. When you get on a 201 00:15:49,050 --> 00:15:52,050 Speaker 1: roller coaster like the Smiler, you really don't need to 202 00:15:52,090 --> 00:15:54,370 Speaker 1: worry that the train is going to fall off one 203 00:15:54,370 --> 00:15:57,730 Speaker 1: of those gravity defying loops. You really don't need to 204 00:15:57,730 --> 00:16:00,970 Speaker 1: worry about anything. But if you did feel like worrying 205 00:16:01,010 --> 00:16:05,770 Speaker 1: about something, I don't suggest worrying that your train might 206 00:16:05,810 --> 00:16:12,770 Speaker 1: smash into another train. As Leah and Joe's train moved off, 207 00:16:13,450 --> 00:16:20,490 Speaker 1: a diabolic voice boomed over the speakers join us. Then 208 00:16:20,650 --> 00:16:24,610 Speaker 1: the train plunged into a dark section of track, shocking 209 00:16:24,650 --> 00:16:27,930 Speaker 1: the passengers by flipping upside down and right side up again, 210 00:16:28,170 --> 00:16:32,130 Speaker 1: before emerging into daylight and slowly clanking up the first 211 00:16:32,290 --> 00:16:38,610 Speaker 1: chain lift higher and higher and higher. Ahead of them 212 00:16:39,370 --> 00:16:43,930 Speaker 1: on the Smiler tracks was an empty train, and none 213 00:16:43,970 --> 00:16:48,410 Speaker 1: of the passengers realized that empty train was slowing As 214 00:16:48,450 --> 00:16:51,770 Speaker 1: it approached the top of a loop, the wind was 215 00:16:51,850 --> 00:16:55,330 Speaker 1: still gusting the empty trains were still a little on 216 00:16:55,370 --> 00:17:00,690 Speaker 1: the light side. The train came to a stop, then 217 00:17:00,770 --> 00:17:08,970 Speaker 1: slowly rolled back to settle in a dip. Once Lea 218 00:17:09,170 --> 00:17:13,410 Speaker 1: and Joe's train was released from the lift hill, it 219 00:17:13,450 --> 00:17:18,090 Speaker 1: would take twenty six seconds to loop over to that dip. 220 00:17:19,090 --> 00:17:23,810 Speaker 1: They were less than half a minute from disaster, except 221 00:17:24,810 --> 00:17:30,450 Speaker 1: their train just stopped right at the top of the lift. 222 00:17:32,170 --> 00:17:34,250 Speaker 1: We got to the first lift hill and it got 223 00:17:34,290 --> 00:17:38,450 Speaker 1: stuck at the top. So obviously me and Joe were discussing, Oh, 224 00:17:38,610 --> 00:17:46,090 Speaker 1: this isn't right. Why had the train stopped? Simple. Although 225 00:17:46,090 --> 00:17:50,170 Speaker 1: the Smiler engineers hadn't realized there was a problem, the 226 00:17:50,210 --> 00:17:53,570 Speaker 1: smiler's monitoring system knew perfectly well that there was a 227 00:17:53,610 --> 00:17:57,970 Speaker 1: train stalled out on the track. Automatically, it held Lear 228 00:17:58,090 --> 00:18:00,090 Speaker 1: and Joe's train at the top of the slope, the 229 00:18:00,210 --> 00:18:03,210 Speaker 1: highest point of the Smiler, waiting for the blockage to 230 00:18:03,250 --> 00:18:11,090 Speaker 1: be cleared. Catastrophe had been averted by an automated system. 231 00:18:11,170 --> 00:18:20,290 Speaker 1: So now what. Paul Meal was an expert who became 232 00:18:20,410 --> 00:18:25,450 Speaker 1: fascinated by the mistakes experts make. That was partly an 233 00:18:25,610 --> 00:18:29,490 Speaker 1: intellectual interest of his, but it was also very personal. 234 00:18:30,450 --> 00:18:34,610 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty five, when Meal was fifteen years old, 235 00:18:35,210 --> 00:18:38,210 Speaker 1: his mother had gone to her doctor with some symptoms 236 00:18:38,450 --> 00:18:41,730 Speaker 1: which the doctor attributed to problems with her inner ear. 237 00:18:42,850 --> 00:18:47,210 Speaker 1: In fact, the cause was a brain tumor. The doctor 238 00:18:47,370 --> 00:18:51,210 Speaker 1: could have diagnosed the tumor by asking some basic questions 239 00:18:51,530 --> 00:18:56,370 Speaker 1: and performing some basic checks, but didn't. A year later, 240 00:18:56,810 --> 00:19:01,770 Speaker 1: the tumor had grown and spread. It was finally diagnosed 241 00:19:01,810 --> 00:19:07,050 Speaker 1: by a different doctor, and Paul Meel's mother died soon after. 242 00:19:09,130 --> 00:19:15,410 Speaker 1: Yiel later wrote this episode of gross medical bungling permanently 243 00:19:15,450 --> 00:19:20,090 Speaker 1: immunized me from the childlike faith in physicians' omniscience that 244 00:19:20,130 --> 00:19:25,410 Speaker 1: one finds among most persons. Meil became an academic researcher 245 00:19:25,490 --> 00:19:29,530 Speaker 1: and a clinical psychologist, and he never lost his curiosity 246 00:19:29,610 --> 00:19:34,490 Speaker 1: about the fallibility of human experts. In his early thirties, 247 00:19:34,690 --> 00:19:38,090 Speaker 1: he published a book that was to become famous, Clinical 248 00:19:38,530 --> 00:19:43,730 Speaker 1: versus Statistical Prediction. The book asked a question, should you 249 00:19:43,890 --> 00:19:48,610 Speaker 1: trust the judgment of an expert doctor, or is it 250 00:19:48,650 --> 00:19:51,610 Speaker 1: better to take a short list of symptoms, feed them 251 00:19:51,650 --> 00:19:55,250 Speaker 1: into a simple flowchart, and do whatever the flowchart says. 252 00:19:56,330 --> 00:20:01,290 Speaker 1: Such a flowchart might have saved his mother. This was 253 00:20:01,450 --> 00:20:04,850 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty four, so we're not talking about pitting human 254 00:20:05,010 --> 00:20:11,090 Speaker 1: experts against sophisticated artificial intelligence, talking about pitting human experts 255 00:20:11,330 --> 00:20:15,330 Speaker 1: against a crude formulaic process, but Meil found that the 256 00:20:15,450 --> 00:20:23,050 Speaker 1: crude formulaic process often beat the humans. Three years later, 257 00:20:23,370 --> 00:20:27,090 Speaker 1: he published an academic article with a punchy follow up question, 258 00:20:27,850 --> 00:20:31,250 Speaker 1: when shall we use our heads instead of the formula? 259 00:20:32,090 --> 00:20:34,810 Speaker 1: It's a question that's much more pressing today than it 260 00:20:34,970 --> 00:20:38,610 Speaker 1: was when he asked it in the nineteen fifties. Computers 261 00:20:38,650 --> 00:20:42,530 Speaker 1: tell managers who to hire and who to fire. They 262 00:20:42,570 --> 00:20:46,250 Speaker 1: tell radiologists whether a shadow on a scan is cancer 263 00:20:46,330 --> 00:20:50,170 Speaker 1: or not. They advised judges on who should be released 264 00:20:50,210 --> 00:20:53,850 Speaker 1: on bail and who should be detained, and they helped 265 00:20:53,930 --> 00:21:00,010 Speaker 1: social services prioritize calls about children at risk. The computers 266 00:21:00,570 --> 00:21:05,250 Speaker 1: they're everywhere, So when should we trust them instead of 267 00:21:05,290 --> 00:21:10,850 Speaker 1: our own judgment? Paul Meill wrote, I find the two 268 00:21:11,170 --> 00:21:19,690 Speaker 1: extreme answers to this question, namely always and never equally unacceptable. 269 00:21:20,970 --> 00:21:25,770 Speaker 1: At Alton Towers, the engineers were about to override the computer. 270 00:21:26,770 --> 00:21:30,010 Speaker 1: That's not always the wrong choice. Sometimes the human is 271 00:21:30,130 --> 00:21:35,250 Speaker 1: right and the computer is wrong. Unfortunately, this wasn't one 272 00:21:35,250 --> 00:21:43,370 Speaker 1: of those times. Lear and Joe and the others had 273 00:21:43,410 --> 00:21:46,090 Speaker 1: waited an hour and a half to get onto the Smiler, 274 00:21:46,450 --> 00:21:49,850 Speaker 1: then another half an hour while the technical fault was resolved. 275 00:21:50,850 --> 00:21:54,610 Speaker 1: Now they were perched precariously at the highest point of 276 00:21:54,610 --> 00:22:02,010 Speaker 1: the ride. A long minute ticked by. Then another excitement 277 00:22:02,250 --> 00:22:08,290 Speaker 1: gave way to waves of anxiety, boredom and annoyance. They 278 00:22:08,330 --> 00:22:12,450 Speaker 1: said over the tannel, we're experiencing technical difficulties. Bear with us. 279 00:22:13,250 --> 00:22:15,930 Speaker 1: They really weren't supposed to be poised and ready to 280 00:22:16,050 --> 00:22:19,330 Speaker 1: roll for such a long time. What was going on? 281 00:22:20,690 --> 00:22:23,530 Speaker 1: The Smilers engineers were trying to figure that out too. 282 00:22:26,170 --> 00:22:29,890 Speaker 1: The Smiler has a simple computer system designed to prevent 283 00:22:30,050 --> 00:22:33,730 Speaker 1: trains from smashing into each other at certain points on 284 00:22:33,770 --> 00:22:37,090 Speaker 1: the track. There are proximity switches which register when a 285 00:22:37,130 --> 00:22:39,770 Speaker 1: train enters a block of track and when it leaves 286 00:22:39,770 --> 00:22:43,050 Speaker 1: it again. If the system thinks a train is on 287 00:22:43,130 --> 00:22:46,290 Speaker 1: a particular block of track, it will automatically prevent the 288 00:22:46,330 --> 00:22:51,010 Speaker 1: train behind it from being released into that block. That's 289 00:22:51,130 --> 00:22:54,450 Speaker 1: what was happening here. Of course, the empty train hadn't 290 00:22:54,530 --> 00:22:58,370 Speaker 1: left the block. In fact, it was still gently penduluming 291 00:22:58,450 --> 00:23:02,050 Speaker 1: backwards and forwards, settling in the valley ahead of Leah 292 00:23:02,090 --> 00:23:07,090 Speaker 1: and Joe's train. So the smiler's computer prevented the occupied 293 00:23:07,130 --> 00:23:10,490 Speaker 1: train behind it from moving forward, leaving Lear and the 294 00:23:10,530 --> 00:23:13,690 Speaker 1: other passengers waiting and waiting at the top of the 295 00:23:13,730 --> 00:23:19,770 Speaker 1: lift hill. Meanwhile, on the ride's control panel, the zone 296 00:23:19,970 --> 00:23:24,290 Speaker 1: stop alarm was activated, notifying the engineers that one train 297 00:23:24,410 --> 00:23:27,970 Speaker 1: was being held because the train ahead hadn't left its 298 00:23:27,970 --> 00:23:33,570 Speaker 1: block of track. Hmm, well, the occupied block was the 299 00:23:33,570 --> 00:23:37,090 Speaker 1: one including the vertical chain lift, where the previous train 300 00:23:37,210 --> 00:23:39,850 Speaker 1: had stalled. It was natural to assume that if a 301 00:23:39,890 --> 00:23:42,450 Speaker 1: second train had stalled, that would be where it was. 302 00:23:43,770 --> 00:23:45,690 Speaker 1: One of the engineers went out to have a look, 303 00:23:46,410 --> 00:23:48,250 Speaker 1: but there was no train at the bottom of the 304 00:23:48,330 --> 00:23:51,930 Speaker 1: vertical lift. As far as he was concerned, then the 305 00:23:51,970 --> 00:23:57,530 Speaker 1: smiler's collision prevention system was just malfunctioning. Probably it hadn't 306 00:23:57,530 --> 00:24:00,930 Speaker 1: reset itself from the train which stalled fifteen minutes before. 307 00:24:02,810 --> 00:24:06,090 Speaker 1: That might seem like a big assumption, but this was 308 00:24:06,130 --> 00:24:09,250 Speaker 1: one of the engineers who arrived after the fifth train 309 00:24:09,370 --> 00:24:12,210 Speaker 1: had been added. He didn't know about it, or if 310 00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:16,050 Speaker 1: someone had mentioned it, it had slipped his mind. So 311 00:24:16,690 --> 00:24:19,650 Speaker 1: he thought there were four trains, and he knew where 312 00:24:19,650 --> 00:24:23,450 Speaker 1: four trains were LEAs at the top of the lift hill. 313 00:24:23,770 --> 00:24:27,930 Speaker 1: And three in the station. If it turned to look 314 00:24:27,970 --> 00:24:31,930 Speaker 1: over his shoulder and looked carefully, he might have seen 315 00:24:31,970 --> 00:24:34,610 Speaker 1: the fifth train valid at the other end of the 316 00:24:34,730 --> 00:24:38,970 Speaker 1: ride through the tangle of roller coaster track. But he 317 00:24:39,050 --> 00:24:46,010 Speaker 1: didn't look, or if he did, he didn't see. At 318 00:24:46,010 --> 00:24:48,770 Speaker 1: the bottom of the vertical chain lift was a control 319 00:24:48,850 --> 00:24:53,690 Speaker 1: panel to reset the block sensors. The engineer performed that reset, 320 00:24:54,010 --> 00:24:57,850 Speaker 1: telling the computer to forget its erroneous belief that there 321 00:24:57,890 --> 00:25:02,130 Speaker 1: was a train stuck on the track. Unfortunately, it wasn't 322 00:25:02,170 --> 00:25:08,930 Speaker 1: the computer which had an erroneous belief, it was the humans. 323 00:25:09,210 --> 00:25:30,730 Speaker 1: Retails will return in a moment. Leah's train has now 324 00:25:30,810 --> 00:25:33,050 Speaker 1: been held at the top of the chain hill for 325 00:25:33,210 --> 00:25:39,210 Speaker 1: six long minutes. There's still a chance the smiler system 326 00:25:39,490 --> 00:25:43,970 Speaker 1: won't release the train without an explicit override from the humans. 327 00:25:44,890 --> 00:25:48,810 Speaker 1: So now the critical decision is with the engineers back 328 00:25:48,810 --> 00:25:53,730 Speaker 1: in the station. But they don't explicitly discuss whether there 329 00:25:53,730 --> 00:25:57,810 Speaker 1: are four trains running or five. They don't send anyone 330 00:25:57,850 --> 00:26:02,650 Speaker 1: out to visually confirm that the whole track is clear, nor, 331 00:26:02,690 --> 00:26:06,490 Speaker 1: it seems, do they look carefully at the CCTV screens. 332 00:26:06,850 --> 00:26:10,690 Speaker 1: The smiler does have lots of CCTV screens very on 333 00:26:10,890 --> 00:26:15,450 Speaker 1: brand for a dystopian roller coaster experience, but the ride 334 00:26:15,490 --> 00:26:18,330 Speaker 1: is such a tangle of track that it's hard to 335 00:26:18,330 --> 00:26:23,530 Speaker 1: see clearly. Right now, the valid train is partly obscured, 336 00:26:24,130 --> 00:26:28,890 Speaker 1: and the engineers don't look carefully enough. Maybe they don't 337 00:26:28,890 --> 00:26:33,130 Speaker 1: look at all. They're all just assuming the computer must 338 00:26:33,170 --> 00:26:39,410 Speaker 1: be wrong, so they decide to override it. The smiler's 339 00:26:39,450 --> 00:26:43,210 Speaker 1: system still won't release one train into a section where 340 00:26:43,210 --> 00:26:46,570 Speaker 1: it knows another train is stationary, but it doesn't know 341 00:26:46,650 --> 00:26:49,770 Speaker 1: about the stationary train anymore because its memory of the 342 00:26:49,770 --> 00:26:56,010 Speaker 1: obstacle has been deliberately reset. Leah recalled it just set 343 00:26:56,050 --> 00:27:01,170 Speaker 1: back off without any warning. At last, Leah's train starts 344 00:27:01,210 --> 00:27:04,330 Speaker 1: to roll down from the lift hill and accelerate into 345 00:27:04,410 --> 00:27:09,290 Speaker 1: loop after loop after loop. Twenty six seconds away is 346 00:27:09,330 --> 00:27:12,890 Speaker 1: a stationary train. They were fine, We were going around 347 00:27:13,130 --> 00:27:16,010 Speaker 1: loops and everything. We just came round this corner and 348 00:27:16,010 --> 00:27:18,650 Speaker 1: I saw this car and I'm like, oh my god, 349 00:27:19,890 --> 00:27:29,370 Speaker 1: this isn't good. Paul Neil, the clinical psychologists who pose 350 00:27:29,450 --> 00:27:32,490 Speaker 1: the question about when we should follow the formula and 351 00:27:32,570 --> 00:27:36,330 Speaker 1: when we should use our heads, didn't have an easy answer, 352 00:27:37,050 --> 00:27:39,970 Speaker 1: but he did suggest a rule of thumb. If you, 353 00:27:40,050 --> 00:27:43,330 Speaker 1: as the human, know something that the algorithm doesn't know 354 00:27:43,890 --> 00:27:47,650 Speaker 1: that the algorithm can't know, that's a reason to think 355 00:27:47,690 --> 00:27:52,770 Speaker 1: about overruling the computer. But when investigators later looked into 356 00:27:52,810 --> 00:27:56,130 Speaker 1: the causes of the Smiler accident, they noticed that the 357 00:27:56,170 --> 00:27:59,890 Speaker 1: engineers had a patchy knowledge about how the ride's false 358 00:27:59,930 --> 00:28:04,450 Speaker 1: alarms actually worked. This meant they were often puzzled when 359 00:28:04,490 --> 00:28:07,730 Speaker 1: the alarms went off. They'd do some safety checks and 360 00:28:07,890 --> 00:28:11,530 Speaker 1: reset the system, but exactly why the alarm had sounded 361 00:28:11,730 --> 00:28:16,290 Speaker 1: was sometimes a mystery, so the engineers regarded the alarm 362 00:28:16,370 --> 00:28:21,090 Speaker 1: system as capricious and unreliable. If the engineers had been 363 00:28:21,090 --> 00:28:24,330 Speaker 1: better trained, they'd have understood the logic of the alarm 364 00:28:24,410 --> 00:28:27,890 Speaker 1: system and would have been able to think clearly about 365 00:28:27,930 --> 00:28:32,450 Speaker 1: when to override it and when not to. Paul Meel 366 00:28:32,570 --> 00:28:36,130 Speaker 1: warned us, if you're going to overrule the computer, you'd 367 00:28:36,130 --> 00:28:38,890 Speaker 1: better have a reason to think you know something that 368 00:28:39,130 --> 00:28:42,610 Speaker 1: it doesn't. But to do that, you need to have 369 00:28:42,650 --> 00:28:47,490 Speaker 1: a firm understanding of how the computer works. The Smilers 370 00:28:47,530 --> 00:28:58,490 Speaker 1: engineers didn't. As Leah and Joe and the others looped 371 00:28:58,730 --> 00:29:02,170 Speaker 1: upside down and saw the empty train ahead of them, 372 00:29:02,690 --> 00:29:05,970 Speaker 1: they had only a moment to brace for the shattering impact. 373 00:29:06,850 --> 00:29:10,930 Speaker 1: The train wasn't going especially far. You'd probably walk away 374 00:29:10,970 --> 00:29:14,650 Speaker 1: from a car crash at that speed, but unlike cars, 375 00:29:15,210 --> 00:29:20,530 Speaker 1: roller coasters don't have crumple zones. Leah was right at 376 00:29:20,530 --> 00:29:25,970 Speaker 1: the front with no protection, and as metal smashed into metal, 377 00:29:26,410 --> 00:29:31,050 Speaker 1: the two trains locked together and rocked backwards and forwards 378 00:29:31,090 --> 00:29:35,650 Speaker 1: twelve times, with the legs of the front row passengers 379 00:29:35,930 --> 00:29:39,770 Speaker 1: crushed between them. The next thing I remember was the 380 00:29:39,810 --> 00:29:42,610 Speaker 1: screaming and the blood. There was so much of it. 381 00:29:43,290 --> 00:29:46,370 Speaker 1: The metal of the safety bars had folded into our bodies, 382 00:29:46,770 --> 00:29:50,410 Speaker 1: said Leah later. All I wanted was to hold Joe's hand, 383 00:29:51,130 --> 00:29:53,290 Speaker 1: but when I looked down at it, I could see 384 00:29:53,290 --> 00:29:56,170 Speaker 1: there was no way I could. His little finger was 385 00:29:56,290 --> 00:29:59,290 Speaker 1: hanging off his left hand, and the middle finger on 386 00:29:59,330 --> 00:30:03,810 Speaker 1: the other was broken. All the front row passengers had 387 00:30:03,970 --> 00:30:10,570 Speaker 1: horrendous leg wounds. Both Joe's kneecaps were shattered. Leah's injuries 388 00:30:10,690 --> 00:30:15,170 Speaker 1: were even worse. I started getting pain. I couldn't feel 389 00:30:15,170 --> 00:30:18,650 Speaker 1: my toes, Leah remembered, and I started to look at 390 00:30:18,690 --> 00:30:23,490 Speaker 1: my legs. My left leg was all pushed up. They 391 00:30:23,490 --> 00:30:26,650 Speaker 1: were snarled up in a tangle of metal at a 392 00:30:26,690 --> 00:30:30,850 Speaker 1: forty five degree angle twenty feet above the ground, and 393 00:30:30,930 --> 00:30:36,050 Speaker 1: the Smile operators were apparently still confused because it took 394 00:30:36,570 --> 00:30:44,170 Speaker 1: seventeen minutes before anybody called for the emergency services. Up 395 00:30:44,170 --> 00:30:48,250 Speaker 1: on the coaster, Leah nearly died from blood loss, but 396 00:30:48,490 --> 00:30:52,330 Speaker 1: an air ambulance flew in blood for an emergency transfusion 397 00:30:52,370 --> 00:30:58,970 Speaker 1: twenty feet above ground. Later, she stopped breathing, but the 398 00:30:59,010 --> 00:31:03,770 Speaker 1: medics reaching her from precarious ladders and hoists managed to 399 00:31:03,810 --> 00:31:10,130 Speaker 1: resuscitate her. Once she was released from the train. Hours later, 400 00:31:10,930 --> 00:31:14,970 Speaker 1: Leah was flown to hospital, slipping in and out of consciousness. 401 00:31:15,890 --> 00:31:20,370 Speaker 1: She woke up twenty four hours later. I realized two 402 00:31:20,410 --> 00:31:24,850 Speaker 1: things were missing, my boyfriend and my entire left leg. 403 00:31:28,250 --> 00:31:31,410 Speaker 1: The doctors told her sorrowfully that they had faced a 404 00:31:31,530 --> 00:31:36,530 Speaker 1: choice her leg or her life, so they took the leg. 405 00:31:37,730 --> 00:31:40,170 Speaker 1: The woman sitting next to her on the roller coaster, 406 00:31:40,410 --> 00:31:45,770 Speaker 1: Vicki Balch, also had her leg amputated. Joe Pew was 407 00:31:45,890 --> 00:31:50,490 Speaker 1: elsewhere in the hospital. He and several other passengers also 408 00:31:50,650 --> 00:31:56,690 Speaker 1: suffered severe injuries, all because the Smilers engineers hadn't double 409 00:31:56,810 --> 00:31:59,970 Speaker 1: checked when the computer told them there was a train 410 00:32:00,410 --> 00:32:10,650 Speaker 1: out on the track. Given what she's been through, Leah 411 00:32:10,690 --> 00:32:16,010 Speaker 1: Washington is doing incredibly well. She's something of an Instagram influencer, 412 00:32:16,610 --> 00:32:20,410 Speaker 1: posting videos of herself learning to walk, learning to run, 413 00:32:20,770 --> 00:32:24,650 Speaker 1: learning to ski, or selfies of her looking fabulous in 414 00:32:24,650 --> 00:32:28,130 Speaker 1: a bikini. They look like a lot of Instagram self is, 415 00:32:28,170 --> 00:32:31,090 Speaker 1: in fact, except that she's looking fabulous in a bikini 416 00:32:31,210 --> 00:32:36,050 Speaker 1: with an artificial leg. Joe never regained the use of 417 00:32:36,090 --> 00:32:40,490 Speaker 1: one finger, but his knees were covered eventually, and the 418 00:32:40,570 --> 00:32:45,930 Speaker 1: pair are still together. Leah is now missus Washington Pew 419 00:32:46,650 --> 00:32:49,930 Speaker 1: after she and Joe tied the knot in twenty twenty four. 420 00:32:51,090 --> 00:32:56,210 Speaker 1: But that happy ever after ending so nearly didn't happen. 421 00:32:57,490 --> 00:33:01,930 Speaker 1: At that moment when Leah was unconscious and trapped in 422 00:33:02,090 --> 00:33:05,690 Speaker 1: crumpled metal twenty feet above the ground, when a team 423 00:33:05,770 --> 00:33:08,810 Speaker 1: of paramedics on hoists were trying to get her breathing 424 00:33:08,810 --> 00:33:13,770 Speaker 1: started again, it was touch and go. The medics later 425 00:33:13,850 --> 00:33:18,450 Speaker 1: told her if the weather had been any colder, she 426 00:33:18,490 --> 00:33:26,570 Speaker 1: wouldn't have made it. In a world where we're surrounded 427 00:33:26,690 --> 00:33:32,650 Speaker 1: by automatic systems, statistical formulas, algorithms, and computers, we're going 428 00:33:32,690 --> 00:33:35,530 Speaker 1: to have to get better at deciding when to trust 429 00:33:35,530 --> 00:33:39,210 Speaker 1: them and when to overrule them. There will never be 430 00:33:39,250 --> 00:33:41,650 Speaker 1: a hard and fast rule for when to do that, 431 00:33:42,650 --> 00:33:46,570 Speaker 1: But if you're thinking of ignoring the computer, it's wise 432 00:33:46,610 --> 00:33:49,810 Speaker 1: to have a logical reason to think you know better. 433 00:33:50,610 --> 00:33:56,930 Speaker 1: The Smiler engineers didn't. When investigators picked over the disaster, 434 00:33:57,650 --> 00:34:00,290 Speaker 1: they concluded that there was nothing wrong with the roller 435 00:34:00,290 --> 00:34:04,690 Speaker 1: coaster itself, nor with the automatic alarm system. It was modern, 436 00:34:05,250 --> 00:34:11,530 Speaker 1: well designed, and functioned exactly as intended. The problems emerged 437 00:34:11,810 --> 00:34:16,010 Speaker 1: from the working practices of the engineering team. It was 438 00:34:16,090 --> 00:34:20,050 Speaker 1: partly the fact that the engineers didn't fully understand their 439 00:34:20,090 --> 00:34:24,130 Speaker 1: own safety alarms, and it was also that nobody in 440 00:34:24,210 --> 00:34:27,930 Speaker 1: particular was in charge of the process of resetting the 441 00:34:27,930 --> 00:34:32,130 Speaker 1: Smiler after the very first fault alarm. There were the 442 00:34:32,210 --> 00:34:36,330 Speaker 1: ride operators, the first engineering team, and the second engineering team, 443 00:34:36,610 --> 00:34:41,370 Speaker 1: all trying to make decisions. There were loose, informal conversations 444 00:34:41,410 --> 00:34:44,090 Speaker 1: in which nobody had a full overview of what was 445 00:34:44,130 --> 00:34:49,010 Speaker 1: going on. There was no written process for working systematically 446 00:34:49,050 --> 00:34:53,130 Speaker 1: through a checklist before resetting the ride, and there was 447 00:34:53,210 --> 00:34:57,810 Speaker 1: no formal assignment of responsibility as to who had the 448 00:34:57,850 --> 00:35:02,850 Speaker 1: authority to override the automatic system and under what circumstances. 449 00:35:06,690 --> 00:35:11,130 Speaker 1: This lack of a formal process was critical. Without it, 450 00:35:11,650 --> 00:35:15,010 Speaker 1: the engineering team could just assume that the track was clear. 451 00:35:16,410 --> 00:35:20,770 Speaker 1: With a formal process, someone would have been clearly responsible 452 00:35:21,250 --> 00:35:26,890 Speaker 1: for checking. Fifteen months after the accident, a judge called 453 00:35:26,930 --> 00:35:33,050 Speaker 1: it an obvious shambles involving lack of communication and double checking, 454 00:35:34,130 --> 00:35:39,010 Speaker 1: which could and should easily have been avoided by a 455 00:35:39,050 --> 00:35:47,010 Speaker 1: written system of working, including a single overall supervisor. Automatic 456 00:35:47,050 --> 00:35:50,650 Speaker 1: systems can help us avoid accidents and make better decisions, 457 00:35:51,330 --> 00:35:55,970 Speaker 1: but Paul Meele's question will never go away. When should 458 00:35:56,010 --> 00:36:00,770 Speaker 1: we use our heads instead? Maybe the trick is in 459 00:36:00,770 --> 00:36:04,770 Speaker 1: the question. It's okay to use your head if you 460 00:36:04,890 --> 00:36:14,250 Speaker 1: really are thinking. Very often we aren't. As I waited 461 00:36:14,250 --> 00:36:17,130 Speaker 1: in line for the smiler with my twelve year old 462 00:36:17,210 --> 00:36:21,730 Speaker 1: son snaking through the maze of concrete under the black netting, 463 00:36:22,570 --> 00:36:26,130 Speaker 1: it was hard not to think about Leah Washington and 464 00:36:26,250 --> 00:36:31,090 Speaker 1: her accident. Maybe all this was going through my son's 465 00:36:31,170 --> 00:36:36,770 Speaker 1: mind too. As the que edged forward and his knees buckled. 466 00:36:38,210 --> 00:36:41,330 Speaker 1: I'm not sure I want to do this. Come on, 467 00:36:41,410 --> 00:36:44,610 Speaker 1: I said, he came all this way. It'll be sad 468 00:36:44,650 --> 00:36:49,610 Speaker 1: if you don't do it. So we did it, and 469 00:36:49,690 --> 00:36:53,370 Speaker 1: it was amazing. We had a great time, and he 470 00:36:53,490 --> 00:37:05,930 Speaker 1: was so proud of himself. But there was one moment 471 00:37:06,850 --> 00:37:09,410 Speaker 1: when we got to the front of the line, when 472 00:37:09,530 --> 00:37:14,010 Speaker 1: we were offered a place on the front row. We 473 00:37:14,050 --> 00:37:19,050 Speaker 1: looked at each other and shook our heads. No, not 474 00:37:19,130 --> 00:37:24,410 Speaker 1: the front row, thanks, We'll sit a little bit further back. 475 00:37:43,770 --> 00:37:47,290 Speaker 1: Cautionary Tales is written by me Tim Harford, with Andrew Wright, 476 00:37:47,490 --> 00:37:51,250 Speaker 1: Alice Fines and Ryan Dilly. It's produced by Alice Fines 477 00:37:51,290 --> 00:37:54,970 Speaker 1: and Marilyn Rust. The sound design and original music are 478 00:37:55,010 --> 00:37:58,570 Speaker 1: the work of Pascal Wise. Additional sound design is by 479 00:37:58,610 --> 00:38:02,890 Speaker 1: Carlos San Juan at Brain Audio Bend and daff Haffrey 480 00:38:03,090 --> 00:38:06,650 Speaker 1: edited the scripts. The show features the voice talents of 481 00:38:06,730 --> 00:38:11,370 Speaker 1: Melanie Guttridge, Stella Harford, a Hemborough, Sarah jupp As, Sam 482 00:38:11,450 --> 00:38:15,610 Speaker 1: and Roe, Jamal Westman and Rufus Wright. The show also 483 00:38:15,650 --> 00:38:18,570 Speaker 1: wouldn't have been possible without the work of Jacob Weisberg, 484 00:38:18,690 --> 00:38:23,530 Speaker 1: Greta Cohene, Sarah Nix, Eric Sandler, Carrie Brody, Christina Sullivan, 485 00:38:23,850 --> 00:38:28,450 Speaker 1: Kira Posey and Owen Miller. Cautionary Tales is a production 486 00:38:28,570 --> 00:38:32,970 Speaker 1: of Pushkin Industries. It's recorded at Wardoor Studios in London 487 00:38:33,250 --> 00:38:36,810 Speaker 1: by tom Berry. If you like the show, please remember 488 00:38:36,850 --> 00:38:39,690 Speaker 1: to share, rate, and review. It really makes a difference 489 00:38:39,690 --> 00:38:41,250 Speaker 1: to us and if you want to hear the show, 490 00:38:41,490 --> 00:38:44,610 Speaker 1: add free sign up to Pushkin Plus on the show 491 00:38:44,690 --> 00:38:48,650 Speaker 1: page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin dot fm Slash 492 00:38:48,850 --> 00:39:09,450 Speaker 1: plus eight