The roller coaster debuted on Coney Island in 1884. It was not much, by today’s standards – only fifteen feet high at its peak with a top speed of four miles per hour. But the designers saw their popularity and looked for improvements. Today’s roller coasters are often higher than three hundred feet and can achieve speeds of up to 90 miles per hour.
One summer, my niece and I rode fifty-four different roller coasters throughout the eastern United States. I love roller coasters, but that was not always true. I have a fear of heights, and there are not many roller coasters that don’t have scary heights.
So what changed? What can a roller coaster do to the body—and brain—that makes fear feel like something worth lining up for? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
What a Coaster Does to Your Body
Modern roller coasters use lap bars and shoulder restraints to keep riders securely in place, but those restraints do not prevent you from feeling the forces of the ride. One group of engineers, based in Ohio and including retired fighter pilots, tried to incorporate the physical sensations they experienced during rollovers. Their success added a new dimension to the coaster experience. As a coaster accelerates, drops, turns, and pulls out of dives, your body can briefly experience several times the force of gravity—what we call G-forces. Those rapid changes in acceleration can briefly change how blood moves through the body and can also challenge the balance system of the inner ear. On extreme rides, that combination can leave some riders dizzy or disoriented; changes in blood flow to the brain can even affect vision or consciousness.
Coasters are not necessarily for the frail of heart, and I am not speaking spiritually. In a study of coaster deaths, 18 of the 39 reported were due to cardiovascular causes, e.g., heart attacks or intracranial bleeding. While coaster rides have the highest rate of injury per million rides, with 4 deaths annually, with over 560 million rides, the chance of dying on a coaster is 1 in 140 million.
Then there is motion sickness. Rapid changes in direction can create conflicting signals between what your eyes see and what your inner ear senses, leaving some riders nauseated. Where you sit can affect the experience, though the smoothest position depends on the coaster's design.
A roller coaster, then, can make us dizzy, nauseated, and frightened. So why do some of us get off and immediately want to ride again?
Why Fear Can Feel So Good
In a research letter published in JAMA, German scientists wired a group of roller coaster riders and monitored them before, during, and after the ride. They found the riders' hearts started racing on the initial climb before the drop. Throughout the ride, their hearts raced, their blood pressure was elevated, and their breath was uneven – all as one would expect. Shortly after the ride, many of the riders had asymptomatic sinus arrhythmias.
Most importantly, riding most modern coasters causes the release of adrenaline, dopamine, and cortisol. All give you a natural high. The “rush” gives you a burst of energy, making you feel more alive and alert, which makes you scream like a Banshee.
And that may explain how someone who fears heights can spend a summer riding fifty-four roller coasters. The fear never entirely disappears. On a coaster, it becomes part of the attraction: a few minutes when the body sounds every alarm it has while the brain knows the danger is controlled.
That is the peculiar pleasure worth celebrating on National Roller Coaster Day—the thrill of being scared and loving it.
Thom Golab
Thom Golab is the President of the American Council on Science and Health. Prior to becoming President in 2019, Mr. Golab joined ACSH as Vice President of Development in May 2017 and has served on the ACSH Board of Trustees since 2012.
