The World’s Tallest Water Slide Was a Terrible, Tragic Idea

"The Water Slide" was directed by Nathan Truesdell. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.

[JaviEnding]

The “it’s too scary” kid is the smartest person in this video.

[nightnight]

as an engineer, it just hurts seeing stuff like this.

engineering codes are written in blood, that's why they are followed.

[vendettaharriss]

the dude was like “we asked many engineers and mathematicians who said it was impossible but look at us” nah dude they were right you should have listened to them

[TR-ochh]

1:41 “That was truly exciting because we really didn’t know if we would survive it or not.”
That statement there says it all.

[viperstrike]

"all the mathematicians were wrong" the is the most dangerous sentence ive ever heard.

[Astroryx]

“No.”
“It’s too scary”
Child potentially saved his own life.

[Bingusginghs]

“Are you gonna go on that water slide?”

“No.” Smartest kid in Kansas right there.

[november]

I've never seen metal barriers/nets going over your head on a waterslide. That alone is a red flag 🚩

[pokemonmanic]

To quote Jurassic Park: “You were so busy thinking that “you could” that you never stopped to think if “you should.”

[lacrossehiggins]

“No it’s too scary.” That kid is a true survivor, don’t give in to peer pressure, it may just save your life

[kitchky]

This was no freak accident. It was 100% death by negligence.

[splatrick]

His brother witnessed the entire tragedy, told the manager “your slide killed my brother.” Even shielded his mother from seeing his body. Heartbreaking and devastating. Glad the family got $20 mil at the very least

[glitchtrapped]

A wise person once said

“No, it’s too scary”

[pnumekin]

You don't need to be an engineer to see that this design was horribly stupid.

[carrotking]

Their testing process is literally how a nine-year-old me built rides on the Roller Coaster Tycoon game.

[KDB]

Chilling, I was horrified the whole video. The ride looked incredibly dangerous from the start. If multiple people are telling you it’s a really bad idea to do something why the hell would you go through with it? My heart goes out to the kid’s family. Tragic.

[davidcooke]

"I want to be the first guy to get a drink at the bar..."


I think we found the problem here.

[throwawayaccount]

"my wife has given me permission to ride down the slide, but she has not cleared any of our children. I don't know what that means."
Jesus, talk about a premonition.

[coolminer]

I expected something bad but when they said decapitated my jaw dropped

[fellowtheaterkid]

Absolutely brutal, the kid who answered, ‘it’s too scary’ I admire, the simplicity of that response for some reason touched my heart