Dangerous Bus Incident

[Mimi]

I would appreciate your input on these events. A friend of mine just came back from WDW with the following story:

His vacation was wonderful with the exception of one brief moment...

He and his family went back to OKW for a midday break. When the bus let them off his wife exited the rear of the bus with the baby and 3 year old twins, then he proceeded to exit with their 5-yr-old in tow (by the hand).

As he stepped off the bus he suddenly realized he was stuck and his 5-yr-old daughter stopped. When he turned back he saw, as he described it, her face and his arm squished between the doors of the bus. With all his might he was unable to free her or his arm. The bus appeared to be getting ready to continue so several passengers began to yell "Stop!" and his wife ran forward, stepped out in front of the bus and pounded on the hood screaming, "Stop!".

Finally the the driver realized what was happening and helped them. My friend and his family received a drive to the park via private car the following day. He was also told that the driver would be required to take a "driver's test."


My questions are:

(1) Can this really happen on a WDW bus? If so, why?? I know even our backwards midwest city buses have a safety feature which will cause the doors to bounce back open when there is an obstruction.

(2) What can be done to prevent his from happening again? Was it just a freak accident or could the negligence of any driver have the same result? Should my friend try to bring it to the attention of someone higher up than basic security?

(3) Do you feel that the compensation/reassurance given to my friend was appropriate for what happened? I know there was minimal 'actual' harm done to him and his family, but just imagine the immediate terror and future apprehension caused by this!



Consider this: After this wonderful vacation to his favorite place with the people he loves most, this is the first story he told me.



Under these circumstances, can his young daughter grow up to be a Disney freak like the rest of us?

 

[WDWKat26]

What do you mean, "Can it happen?" It did happen, and unfortunately the doors do not have those kinds of sensors. From what I know, on most of the Buses the doors can be operated seperately. So, I honestly believe it was the fault of the Bus Driver who wasn't paying attention while he was closing the door. It's up to your friend as to how far he wants to take it. Plus, we CM's have to ride the same Buses and we've been able to push open those doors before...

I understand it was scary, but you also make it sound like their foot got run over or a body part was amputated when you say, "The immediate TERROR". Things happen sometimes by mistake, and I believe that the compensation was appropriate. I'd bet money and say it's not going to happen again, so i'll 2nd Aaron2525's comment and say get over it.

 

[Mimi]

I understand it was scary, but you also make it sound like their foot got run over or a body part was amputated when you say, "The immediate TERROR". Things happen sometimes by mistake, and I believe that the compensation was appropriate.

OK

By terror I mean... how can I say this.. just imagine that your arm is stuck inside the door of a bus that is preparing to move and that your 5-yr-old daughter is on the bus with her FACE trapped between the doors.

This is Terror... especially when you can't free yourself or help you child. And don't try to tell me he didn't try hard enough.

 

[ckvin]

I can't imagine seeing my little one going through something like this. It was obviously an accident...but that doesn't excuse the terror (yes, terror) that this event caused.

Hopefully the guests were made as comfortable as possible after the incident. I'm betting another bus ride would be a tough sell for quite some time. Let's hope she doesn't remember much of this as she gets older.

 

[dazzer68]

get over it

wow, as a new comer to these boards you arent making your self very welcome, just tosay 'get over it', it might not concern you or everybody but this person was upset and distressed by the incident and was asking if this could and should have happened, they werent after a freebie from disney or going to sue just asking if it could happen.if your going to say things like that dont even bother.


im surprised there arent more incidents on those buses, at peak times they really pack them in, and theres no way the driver can see whats going on all the way down the bus, at those times they should have one staff at the back of the bus, would help control those rowdy kids too! sorry to hear your story hope all ok with you now

 

[BRER STITCH]

(1) Can this really happen on a WDW bus? If so, why??

YES. It can happen on any bus, car, train, ship, plane, or submarine. If you are standing in a doorway when the door closes, you will be hit by the door.

(2) What can be done to prevent his from happening again? Was it just a freak accident or could the negligence of any driver have the same result? Should my friend try to bring it to the attention of someone higher up than basic security?

The adult should probably have been standing BEHIND the child while the child exited the bus FIRST. That way the driver could have seen the adult still waiting to get off the bus and not have pushed the door button. It was an accident, albeit a frightening moment. Does your friend really want the highlight of His vacation to be that He got a bus driver fired for what was really a situation your friend could have prvented? If this was a persistent problem, WDW would already know about it. Something went wrong and I'm sure they will try to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Many parents (my OWN, ) would probably have been more angry with the child for not getting off the bus fast enough and causing the scare (kinda like when they run out into a busy street). I don't mean for this next sentence to sound as snarky as it does, but maybe they should have practiced using a bus BEFORE they went to WDW. Could it be the little girl may not have known how to react when the bus stopped? :veryconfu

(3) Do you feel that the compensation/reassurance given to my friend was appropriate for what happened? I know there was minimal 'actual' harm done to him and his family, but just imagine the immediate terror and future apprehension caused by this!

Hmmm....all your friend has to do is look at the thousands of kids who manage to get on and off the bus SAFELY every day for some re-assurance. Maybe his little girl needs to be carrried on and off the bus for a little while longer until they get the hang of exiting the bus? If they are still afraid of WDW transportation, maybe they should rent a car...or maybe they just need to stay away for a while until they feel more secure?

To be honest, I probably would not have even replied to this message if your third question wasn't raised. That just makes me question your friend's motives in all of this.

In the end, I'm happy there was no real harm done to the little girl. I'm sure She will have forgotten the whole incident long before Her parents have.

 

[Nansafan]

Children are very resilient. She may be afraid of buses for awhile but afraid of Disney, I really doubt it.

 

[DisneyMusician2]

I agree with the children being resilient part. But always keep an eye on your kids, I would never put my back to them in that situation.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Im surprised its not on youtube.

 

[SpongeScott]

My questions are:

(1) Can this really happen on a WDW bus? If so, why?? I know even our backwards midwest city buses have a safety feature which will cause the doors to bounce back open when there is an obstruction. Perhaps this happened because Disney buses do not have this safety feature on them or some might, but not all. Yes, it can happen because it's obvious it did happen.

(2) What can be done to prevent his from happening again? Was it just a freak accident or could the negligence of any driver have the same result? Should my friend try to bring it to the attention of someone higher up than basic security? I'm not sure you can 100% safeproof a situation like this. It was an accident, pure and simple. I guess Disney could stop running buses for transportation to stop it, but that's not gonna happen. It seems to also be negligence on the part of the driver and the driver will be handled in the appropriate way. No, I don't think it needs to be called to the attention of someone higher since it's obvious that Disney knows what happened.

(3) Do you feel that the compensation/reassurance given to my friend was appropriate for what happened? I know there was minimal 'actual' harm done to him and his family, but just imagine the immediate terror and future apprehension caused by this! What exactly would be appropriate compensation? Sure, I understand the terror of the moment, but I think Disney was courteous in what they did and I would assume that an apology was also issued.


Consider this: After this wonderful vacation to his favorite place with the people he loves most, this is the first story he told me.



Under these circumstances, can his young daughter grow up to be a Disney freak like the rest of us?

If something like this happened to me, it would be the first story that I would also tell people. I don't think I would tell you all about my vacation and then at the end throw that story in as a "by the way..." story.

Yes, the child can still grow up to be a Disney freak. I would think there would be a greater fear of bus doors closing than of WDW.

 

[disneydudette]

We had a similar incident happen with us, but to be honest, it was completely our fault... and Disney handled it perfect.

We had been getting off the bus when our 2 1/2yo nephew "stalled" because of the "jump" down the stairs. He was behind us and we looked back and reached for him picked him up and as we were pulling him out, the doors shut on him, catching his right leg.

It's a second of panic but we notified the driver right away. He quickly opened the doors and came out to apologize. He commented that he didn't see anybody and that it was a total blind spot with young kids, especially if an adult is blocking the mirror. He offered to call first aid or a CM but there wasn't even a bruise, scrape, or scratch. Our little guy was perfectly fine.

We didn't receive anything for our "inconvience" and as far as I knew... there are warning signs to show the driver that a set of doors isn't closed all the way and to not pull away... at least thats what I thought.

Overall it's a scary thing to happen, but it does happen. The buses can get jam packed and I'm surprised more accidents don't happen to be honest. If my nephew didn't handle it better, screamed, or freaked out, maybe our feelings would have been different towards the incident. The adults in the group kept him calm and though it seemed like 2 hours at the time, it was a matter of 30 seconds.

He doesn't even remember the incident now

 

[Shaman]

It happens...a lot. I've been on the bus a couple of times and witnessed it. One time, the person was coming in from the back (eventhough the signs clearly state DO NOT ENTER)....Human error is unavoidable. The OP's account demonstrates faults at both ends.

However, respectfully, from a reader's perspective, the story seems a bit exaggerated. I highly doubt that the mother had to run infront of the bus and pound on it to get the driver to stop. I wasn't there though...so....

:shrug:

Whatever the case may be, though traumatic, I'm sure she'll grow up to be a Disney freak...

 

[happymom52003]

Wow....Some of you are harsh! Life is too short to be so rude.
As a mom who has seen her own child in a dangerous situation (which thankfully turned out fine), TERROR is the only word to describe it. I think it is horrible that some of you are actually blaming the father and the little girl....I don't think you have enough info to pass that kind of judgement. I always walk in front of my little boy down the bus stairs so I can help him down the steps, and I have seen many other parents do the same. It sounds to me like the bus driver was in a hurry. The father was caught too.....it is not like the little girl was several feet behind him. She was holding his hand. Since there was no injury, I do think that the compensation they got was appropriate. However, I would file an official complaint just so it would be on record. Accidents can happen anywhere, even to the most cautious people. I do not think there is a problem at Disney with safety...I think they make it a top priority. Which is why I think a written complaint should be made anytime somthing like this happens so they can keep track.

 

[momofnine]

busses

I agree things can happen, but with the amount of people that ride disney buses, and it being a place for kids, disney needs to install some type of safety feature. When we were there, a simular situation happened, But the parent was BEHIND the child. The bus was so packed, the bus driver could not see. So it's not always the parents fault, this parent tried to make sure all his children were off first. They try to pack the buses so full so that they can move people from one place to another, maybe more buses would be the answer. When the parents talked to the bus driver, he said that he was instructed to get the bus full. He told the parents to talk to his supervisor at the stand at animal kingdom, he stated that he was not comfortable with the bus being so full, but that he had to do as he was told. When the parents told his boss they were instructed to complain at their resort, passing the buck. I hope very soon disney will start to think about the safety of their guest and do something about this, because as you can see by the posts, it isn't just a one time thing that happened. Thank God, no one to our knowledge has been seriously hurt.

 

[BRER STITCH]

Wow....Some of you are harsh! Life is too short to be so rude.
As a mom who has seen her own child in a dangerous situation (which thankfully turned out fine), TERROR is the only word to describe it. I think it is horrible that some of you are actually blaming the father and the little girl....I don't think you have enough info to pass that kind of judgement. .

Ummm....the Original Poster asked lots of QUESTIONS and a few of us chose to provide some ANSWERS, which just so happen to be our OPINIONS! NONE of us - INCLUDING YOU - were there. But sometimes seeing it through others eyes/opinions can help the healing process.

Noone is claiming to be right or wrong here...but that's the chance you take when you post to a public message board. You might not be prepared for the answers you get. You have YOUR opinon, and others have THEIRS. No reason to pass judgement.

As a great person once said.... "Life is too short to be so rude!"

 

[Shaman]

I'm not familiar with public transit and busses or whatever, but would it even be possible for safety measures to be implemented (such as some kind of sensor, like on elevators) with the doors opening/closing the way they do?

I think something SHOULD be done, but wonder, if something COULD be, we would have already seen it.

 

[RiversideBunny]

Possibly a camera, inside the bus which is pointed at the rear door, with a viewing screen that the driver can check each time before moving the bus.

 

[WDWKat26]

Life is too short to be so rude.

Life is also too short to dwell on Friends' situations that most likely won't happen again.

 

[PigletIsMyCat]

Call me crazy.. (hears the crowd shout 'YOU'RE CRAZY!!') but installing a safety feature like that in every WDW bus would eat up funds. The mirror is there for a reason, and sadly tiny ones in tow are not always visible. It is the parent's responsibility to take their child off of the bus, not the bus driver's responsibility. A better way might be to ask parents with small children to either carry their tots off the bus, or only use the front doors to exit.

Having said that, I still feel the bus driver ENTIRELY at fault, because, according to the OP's post, he was closing the door and preparing to pull away while someone (dad) was close enough to the bus that he was still physically attached to his daughter who was stuck in the door. A bus driver should always wait until everyone is well clear of the bus load/unload area before he pulls away.

While this was undoubtedly a very scary incident, it seems that WDW made up for it in an appropriate way. No other compensation should be necessary. I'm sure if Daddy promises to carry the little girl on and off the bus in the future, she'll get over it in time.

I once got my hand caught in an elevator because I was goofing off, even while my mom was telling me - repeatedly - to get my hand off the elevator door. It was in Lord & Taylor, and they rushed us into a manager's office and gave me ice, and asked my mom if she wanted them to take me to the hospital. I don't even think I was crying. She refused all medical treatment, decided that having my hand caught and having to go through all the scary stuff in the office (I was not terribly thrilled with the security officer) was enough punishment for the day, and I lived to ride another elevator. Just, next time, I kept my hands well away from the door.

 

[BRER STITCH]

Possibly a camera, inside the bus which is pointed at the rear door, with a viewing screen that the driver can check each time before moving the bus.

This is actually a pretty good idea, RIVERSIDE BUNNY!

It would not be without some significant costs, though.

They have installed cameras on some of the public busses here for security reasons (IE. in case students start causing trouble or there are any other incidents), so I guess the same ones could be used to monitor the rear stairwell???

Another preventative measure that would be MUCH easier, more immediate, and cheaper, would be for the bus driver to have to ask over the bus speaker if the rear stairwell is cleared before He pushes the button to close the doors? Might be just a training opportunity that could be started immediately!