Talk:Bumper cars

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Voltage?
What voltage do they operate at? I'm thinking about safety, if a tall person should reach up and short-circuit themselves. AC or DC? (I know they spark a lot, at least at the top connection.) Shouldn't that be in the article? --Hugh7 (talk) 09:34, 20 June 2021 (UTC)

Untitled
at least in the uk most bumper cars i've seen have been just a rectangular area not a track of any kind. Plugwash 20:59, 28 May 2005 (UTC)

lucky 74.37.228.44 (talk) 08:48, 17 August 2008 (UTC)

This is what I know of the USA also, but admittedly I haven't seen many of the rides since I was a child, and I grew up in a small town so I only saw the small town fair variety. 151.190.0.1 (talk) 12:52, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Online Dodgems Game
An online dodgems game, written in java, can be found here. Up to six players each control a dodgem in order to try and be the last survivor. Dodgems which are not controlled by a human are controlled by the computer.

Question for someone
Does anyone out there know how the cars work? does it affect anything? We all know that they have a single wire that comes out of an upright pole from the back of the car. That wire touches a network of wires that run across the ceiling of the dodgem "room" and that network is obviously connected to an electricity supply. Most of us are of the understanding that for electricity to work you need a circuit - electricity coming in, and going out - but with only one wire, that doesn't fit. Is this an electricity question, more so than a dodgem car question?


 * The answer is that the electricity "goes out" through the metal floor of the dodgem arena - that is the return path. Electric trains and trams that run from overhead lines work on a similar principle. The article mentioned the floor being sprayed with graphite - I imagine this helps with conduction as well as being a lubricant. 220.157.83.87 14:08, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Bumper vs Dodgem
Shouldn't it be pointed out that there's a massive difference between bumber cars and dodgem cars? when riding in dodgem cars your supposed to DODGE people, where's the fun in that? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 124.168.216.10 (talk) 07:51, 5 February 2011 (UTC)
 * Depends where you are. Here in the UK we tend to call them all dodgems, whether bumping is allowed or not. 81.158.2.195 (talk) 00:58, 24 August 2011 (UTC)

Growing up in Lincolnshire in the 1905s, we always called them "bumper cars". --129.67.146.105 (talk) 18:14, 8 December 2015 (UTC)


 * I grew up in the London area, and "dodgem" was the only name I knew for them. Looking on GloWbE (the global database of web-based English) I find the following distributions:

which indicates that "dodgems" is strongly preferred in UK sources. This is what I want to say; but of course this is OR. Anybody think of where I might find a reliable source for that difference? --ColinFine (talk) 22:23, 5 November 2017 (UTC)

Dodgem vs Dodgems
Here is a proposed source for the Bumper Cars wiki should it be helpful or relevant. I am a newbie and this is my first entry, my apologies for any breach of policy.

The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office lists the word Dodgem as currently registered under serial number 74580007. 

BaconUp (talk) 19:21, 24 December 2014 (UTC)

Can lead to multiple micro and undetected concussions ?
Any study that conclude that playing with these bumper cars can lead to multiple and repeated concussions ? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.81.156.83 (talk) 04:40, 21 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Any 'study' can 'conclude' anything, these days. Wind-turbines cause cancer as everyone knows, including the President of the USA. And microwave ovens cause birth defects. Also mobile phones and overhead power-lines. Autism is caused by vaccination. And so on. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2001:44B8:3102:BB00:1F0:A8A8:7B90:E94 (talk) 21:12, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

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Intended to be bumped
>Bumper cars were not intended to be bumped, hence the original name "Dodgem."

The citation says that they were called "Dodgem", but not that they weren't intended to be bumped. And, think about it, to dodge 'em, don't 'ey have to be trying to hit you? So it would end up a game of trying to hit, while not being hit, which is actually how bumper cars are played, any time I've been on them. What sort of boring ride would going round safely in circles be? Wouldn't there be a track in that case?

Unless you've got a really good citation, I think it's pretty obvious bumper cars were always for bumping. A dodgem would having nothing to dodge otherwise.

84.68.176.232 (talk) 23:44, 12 January 2023 (UTC)

Surely not tin
"Original bumper cars were created out of tin." Really unlikely. Tin is very expensive. They would have used thin sheet iron. (Like cars did, only maybe thinner. Ducting, flashing, or scrap.) Pinstack "5 Surprising Facts About Bumper Cars" may be amusing but sounds more entertaining than authoritative. PRR (talk) 06:02, 2 December 2023 (UTC)
 * Agreed. It looks like early toy bumper cars were made of tin and someone misinterpreted that to apply to full-size cars. Unfortunately, it appears that a number of sources have repeated this information in yet another example of WP:CITOGENESIS. I'm removing this sentence from the page.— JlACEer ( talk ) 15:31, 2 December 2023 (UTC)