The Euthanasia Coaster is a hypothetical steel roller coaster and euthanasia device designed with the sole purpose of killing its passengers.[1] The concept was conceived in 2010 and made into a scale model by Lithuanian artist Julijonas Urbonas, a PhD candidate at the Royal College of Art in London.
The Euthanasia Coaster would kill its passengers through prolonged cerebral hypoxia, or insufficient supply of oxygen to the brain.[1] The ride's seven inversions would inflict 10 g (g-force) on its passengers for 60 seconds, causing g-force related symptoms starting with greyout through tunnel vision to black out, and eventually g-LOC (g-force induced loss of consciousness) and death.[3] Subsequent inversions or a second run of the rollercoaster would serve as insurance against unintentional survival of more robust passengers.
The concept design of the layout begins with a steep-angled lift that takes riders up 500 metres (1,600 ft) to the top[1], a climb that would take a few minutes to complete, allowing the passengers to contemplate their life. [3][5] (For comparison, the tallest roller coaster ever built, Falcons Flight, has a max height of 163 m (535 ft).) [6]) From there, all passengers are given the choice to exit the train if they wish to do so. If they do not, they will have some time to say their last words.
All passengers are required to press a button to continue the ride, which then takes the train down a 500 m (1,600 ft) drop, propelling the train at speeds up to 360 kilometres per hour (220 mph; 100 m/s), close to its terminal velocity, before flattening out and speeding into the first of its seven slightly clothoid inversions. [3] Each inversion would decrease in diameter to maintain the lethal 10 "g" onto passengers as the train loses speed. After a sharp right-hand turn, the train would enter a straight track that goes back to the station, where the dead are unloaded and new passengers can board.
