Below is the original article explaining the accident. I am hearing all of this about how Disney is responsible for this boy being killed? This kid lost control of his bike with a low inflated tire and struck the side of the bus and was run over by the rear wheels. The bus driver may not have even known this happened until he felt it. According to the story the boy was riding along side of the bus and lost control and fell into the bus. I am wondering if the kids were racing on their bikes trying to keep up with the bus and the one lost control.
Kids 9 & 11 being left alone riding their bikes while the parents go shopping?? I personally woudn't even do that at home let alone in a resort on vacation.
I can see it now, Disney will have to put railings or guard rails along all sidewalks because people cannot be liable for their own actions. :brick:In many locations riding a bike on the sidewalk is illegal. Bikes should only be riden on the road while following motor vehicle laws. Sidewalks are for pedestrians.
Boy killed in Disney bus accident in Fort Wilderness
Officials said the 9-year-old died at the scene.
April 02, 2010|By Bianca Prieto, Jason Garcia, Walter Pacheco and Willoughby Mariano, Orlando Sentinel
A Disney bus struck and killed a 9-year-old St. Petersburg boy Thursday afternoon while he was riding a bicycle with a friend in the Fort Wilderness campground at Walt Disney World, authorities said.
Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Kim Montes said the bus hit Chase Brubaker on Big Pine Drive, a two-lane roadway that loops around the 750-acre campground, at about 1:35p.m.
The children, both of whom were wearing helmets, Montes said, were riding on a sidewalk, north of a paved pathway that leads to a pool and tennis courts at the resort. But the boy apparently crossed into the road and struck the side of the bus.
He was pulled under the vehicle and run over by the right rear tire, Montes said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The physical evidence shows that the little boy hit the side of the bus," Montes said at an afternoon news conference at Disney World.
It's not clear whether the bus driver saw the boy or why the boy left the sidewalk, she added.
The boy's friend, an 11-year-old girl, was not hurt. Troopers said they were interviewing her Thursday afternoon, although she was said to be extremely distraught.
Authorities initially said the boy was 10 years old.
Preliminary reports show the children were not accompanied by an adult, Montes said. They were riding their own bicycles.
"We are deeply saddened about what happened and are doing everything we can to provide resources and support to the family," Disney World President Meg Crofton said at the same news conference. She said she extended her "deepest sympathies" to the boy's family.
Montes said 28 passengers were inside the Disney bus at the time of the accident, and none of the passengers was injured.
A woman who was aboard the bus with her daughter but would not give her name said she saw the boy riding alongside the bus. She said he fell, and then she heard "two thumps."
The woman said she did not think the bus driver ever saw the boy.
"I don't think it was his fault," she said.
Fort Wilderness guest Barbara Mayer of Chicago said she was also told that bus could not avoid the child.
"It's a terrible thing," she said. "You put yourself in the place of the family."
Authorities said bus driver David Rich stopped immediately after the accident. Disney said Rich, 56, has more than 30 years' experience in Disney World's transportation department. It was not known how many of those years have been spent driving buses.
