Dodgem Corp ceased manufacturing dodgems 1970, but by this point there were many companies offering both traditional-style and modern dodgems throughout the globe. The Dodgems had established itself as a fixture at family-friendly occasions, and found its way to amusement arcades, cinemas, indoor leisure centres and many other locations. Dolan, Maura (January 1, 2013). "Ruling over bumper-car injury supports amusement park". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 8 December 2013. Cars that got broadsided would often not be able to start up again, and sometimes occupants or pieces of the car would go flying after a bump.

The Stoehrer brothers were the first dudes to put a patent on bumper cars and they called their company the Dodgem Company. Cars may not move onto occupied spaces. They may leave the board, but only by a forward move. A car which leaves the board is out of the game. There are no captures. A player must always leave their opponent a legal move or else forfeit the game.The invention of the Dodgems is accredited to Massachusetts brothers Max and Harold Stoehrer in 1919, who also gave this bumper car ride its distinctive name through the company Dodgem Corp. Although the Dodgems were described as "highly unmanageable" by Scientific American, this didn't stop people queueing up to try them out for themselves; people were willing to look past any driving difficulties for the chance to crash into other people! That might not come as some surprise given how I just said they weren’t supposed to bump into each other and they had practically barely any steering. Pursell, Carroll (2015). From Playgrounds to PlayStation: The Interaction of Technology and Play. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.65–66. ISBN 9781421416502 . Retrieved 24 September 2023. The board is initially set up with n-1 blue cars along the left edge and n-1 red cars along the bottom edge, the bottom left square remaining empty. Turns alternate: player 1 ("Left")'s turn is to move any one of the blue cars one space forwards (right) or sideways (up or down). Player 2 ("Right")'s turn is to move any one of the red cars one space forwards (up) or sideways (left or right).

their Dodgem cars. They deliberately equipped their device with "novel instrumentalities to render their manipulation and control difficult and uncertain by the occupant-operator.” They asserted that “in the hands of an unskilled operator," a "plurality of independently manipulated... cars" would “follow a promiscuous, irregular, and undefined path over the floor or other area, to not only produce various sensations during the travel of the vehicle but to collide with other cars as well as with portions of the platform provided for that purpose." [7] This article is about the abstract game. For the fairground ride, see bumper cars. For the underground magazine, see Dodgem Logic. Starting position for 3×3 Dodgem Should You Let Your Kids Ride Amusement Park Bumper Cars?". Premium Amusement Park & Funfair Ground Rides. 2016-03-04. Archived from the original on 2020-08-08 . Retrieved 2020-09-25.Find sources: "Bumper cars"– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( November 2019) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Although the idea of the ride is to bump other cars, safety-conscious (or at least litigation-conscious) owners sometimes put up signs reading "This way around" and "No (head on) bumping". [4] [5] Depending on the level of enforcement by operators, these rules are often ignored by bumper car riders, especially younger children and teenagers. [6] History [ edit ] A third method is used on Quantum-class cruise ships, where bumper cars run on electric batteries. This avoids the conductive floor/ceiling of the traditional bumper car setup, allowing the SeaPlex venue to be convertible from a bumper-car ride to a multipurpose gym (basketball court). The disadvantage is that these ships' bumper cars take several hours to recharge. A ride in a bumper car, short video clip Bumping [ edit ] The potential for the Dodgems was obvious, and further improvements came from the Lusse Brothers in 1927. Their 'Auto Skooter' was significantly easier to control, with a front motor and ring-and-pinion axles to improve steering. This helped to bring the ride to a wider audience. The Dodgems Arrive in the UK This was down to the design and construction of the first bumper cars, which had a motor underneath the car that cut down the precision of the steering. The overall introduction and safe tips of bumper cars". funfairrides (in Chinese). 17 April 2015 . Retrieved 2020-09-25.Burton, Anthony (2000). Traction Engines Two Centuries of Steam Power. Silverdale Books. pp.105–106. ISBN 1856055337. The largest operating bumper car floor currently operating in the United States is at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois. Called the Rue Le Dodge (renamed Rue Le Morgue during Fright Fest in the fall), it is 51feet 9inches (15.77m) by 124feet 9inches (38.02m) or a total of 6,455 square feet (599.7m 2). A replica of the ride was built at California's Great America in Santa Clara; in 2005, however, a concrete island was added to the middle of the floor to promote one-way traffic, reducing the floor area. [11] Six Flags Great Adventure's Autobahn is the largest bumper car floor, but it has not operated since 2008. I was in a car with my kid sister, and there were two young kids who had stalled their car in front of us. California Supreme Court rejects lawsuit against Great America over bumper car rides". The Mercury News. 2012-12-31 . Retrieved 2021-11-24.