Flamin'
Once, when I was very young, my Dad took me to the fair. I encountered three things for the first time that day: candyfloss, dodgems, and raw, unadulterated terror.

I wasn't particularly enjoying the dodgems. My dad had the controls, and was driving altogether too erratically for my liking. What was worse was that there were some other people on the rink whose skills were even less disciplined; in fact, they seemed determined to crash into us at great speed. My rather earnest seven-year-old mind had difficulty accommodating this phenomenon. I clung on, and waited for the ride to be over.

It was over quicker than anyone expected.

There was a crash as one of the other cars slammed into us. Then there was a bang, and sparks flew. And then there was smoke. To this day I don't know what's under the bonnet of a dodgem; but whatever it is, it was, on that occasion, on fire. Dad and I scrambled out as an attendant ran across the rink to try to put out the flames. I was not a happy child.

Yep: my first encounter with a dodgem turned out to be an encounter with an exploding dodgem. It was years before I went back on one.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 10 Jun 2011, 9:57, 2 replies)

A friend of mine
who shall remain unnamed recently confessed utter surprise when they found out that dodgems are not hovercars riding on a cushion of air as they had previously supposed. This person is a highly-qualified scientist.
(SimianKid internet faffer, Fri 10 Jun 2011, 12:22, closed)

until a couple of years ago I genuinely thought they hovered or did something to do with magnets
(bamslower i like cheesecake..., Sat 11 Jun 2011, 23:38, closed)