Design of Bumper Car or Dodgems

For bumper car (dodgems), power is commonly supplied by one of two methods:

•  The oldest and most common method uses a conductive floor and ceiling, each with a separate power polarity. Contacts under the vehicle touch the floor while a pole-mounted contact touches the ceiling, forming a complete circuit.
•  A newer method uses alternating strips of metal across the floor separated by insulating spacers, and no ceiling grid. The alternating strips carry the supply current, and the cars are large enough so that the vehicle body can always cover at least two strips at any one time. An array of brushes under each car make random contact with whatever strip is below, and the voltage polarity on each contact is sorted out to always provide a correct and complete circuit to operate the vehicle.

The metal floor is usually set up as a rectangular or oval track, and graphite is sprinkled on the floor to decrease friction. A rubber bumper surrounds each vehicle, and drivers ram each other as they travel. The controls are usually an accelerator and a steering wheel. The cars can be made to go backwards by turning the steering wheel far enough in either direction, necessary in the frequent pile-ups that occur.

Although the idea of the amusement 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." Depending on the level of enforcement by operators, these rules are often ignored by bumper car riders, especially younger children.

During their heyday (in the late 1920s through 1950s), the two major bumper cars brands were Dodgem (by Max, Hotfun and Harold Stoehrer of Methuen, MA) and the Lusse Brothers' Auto-Skooter (by Joseph and Robert 'Ray' Lusse of Philadelphia). In the mid 1960s,Disneyland introduced hovercraft-based bumper cars called Flying Saucers, which worked on the same principle as an air hockey game; however the ride was a mechanical failure and closed after a few years.

The current largest bumper car rides floor is located at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Illinois, and is called the Rue Le Dodge (Rue Le Morgue during October for Fright Fest). The ride is 51 feet (16 m), 9 inches by 124 feet 9 inches (38.02 m) or a total of 6,455 square feet (599.7 m2). A replica of the ride was built at California's Great America in Santa Clara, CA; in 2005, however, a concrete island was added to the middle of the floor to promote one-way traffic, reducing the floor area and restoring Rue Le Dodge at Six Flags Great America's largest floor title.