On September 17th, 32-year-old Kevin Zavala passed away while riding the roller coaster “Star Dust Racers” at Universal Orlando’s brand new theme park, “Epic Universe,” from blunt force trauma injuries.

The roller coaster star duster racers is a dueling type roller coaster reaching max speeds of 62 miles per hour. The ride spans 5000 feet with a 1.5-minute ride time. The ride includes a launch and one inversion.

Kevin Zavala’s death has been ruled an accident. Kevin’s Attorney stated in a press conference the details about his death. “Kevin was fully conscious during the ride. It was the first dip he lurched forward and hit his head on the first dip, and from then it was a back and forth of him hitting his head,” his attorney also stated, “We keep talking about the blunt force injuries, but there were also lacerations.” A Laceration is a cut on the skin

Even though Kevin Zavala died from blunt force injuries, it was not recommended in the first place from Universal to go on the ride since he is in a wheelchair from a spinal cord injury he suffered. In the ride safety guidelines, it states that if you are unable to independently stand straight up or have back conditions, you should not go on the ride

Since Zavala’s death, Universal has updated the safety guidelines, which now state that one must be able to walk by themselves to go onto the ride

I was able to interview two ERHS students about their thoughts on the situation and asked them whether Universal should be responsible for the man’s death if it is not recommended to go on

10th-grade Choir member Makayla Aquino said, “I think it was the man’s fault because if he knew he had health problems and the park stated that if you do, they don’t recommend going on the ride, but he still does anyway, that was on him.”

I was also able to interview 10th-grade Wrestler Sophia Cardenas about her thoughts, “I was just at Universal (October 4th). I personally don’t think Universal should have to pay due to the fact that he had pre-existing health conditions, and there are signs everywhere that inform people of that if he has such problems, then it’s not wise to ride.”

I was also able to ask Cardenas about her experience on the ride since it reopened on October 4th, after being closed from September 17th, the day of Kevin Zavalas’ death. “The ride was really fun, totally worth the wait, but in line, that’s all people were talking about. They all wanted to know if the ride was so bad to the point to kill him.” I also asked Cardenas if she felt she experienced crazy jerky movements, like how Zavala experienced. “Honestly, not really, kinda at the end, but no.”