Scooter accident

[jloucks]

...I have been injured badly twice by people on scooters, but to say that handicapped people should just stay home is wrong.

You laid out a pretty compelling case. Nobody wants handicapped people banned tho. I think the consensus is some want the dangerous hard vehicles they happen to drive, banned from sidewalks jammed to the gills with squishy pedestrians. Just those format of vehicle. Not ALL vehicles. Wouldn't be rocket science to tweak the current scooter to be safer. Soft bumpers. Heck, soft front end all around so when a driver rams you, you have a nice place to fall. Front facing sensors linked to extremely effective auto brakes. Or cheapest solution would be a high rise bumper that hits victims in the groin or butt (thus just pushing them) and not in the ankle, snapping it, or knocking you over. There! Everybody wins. Much safer vehicles on sidewalks doing much less damage to those they plow into.

Hmm,, that high rise safety bumper actually could make money. Maybe I'll be rich soon.

Or put everybody in a vehicle. Vehicles and vehicles mix. People and people mix. People and vehicles don't mix.

 

[Goofyernmost]

No.
The problem is that some people take advantage of everything.
Now, they've found a way to get out of walking.
Now, when they eat their way to morbid obesity and can no longer get around - they've got a device to ride on whie they consume more calories.
See Disney's own Wall-e for reference.

Gross generalizations are of no help. I have had to use one and I will go on record that there is nothing easy about using one of those in a theme park. They are bulky, they cannot weave their way through crowds, they are slow regardless of how fast everyone thinks they are traveling, they are inconvenient and they force you to spend the day looking at everyones butt. If you are traveling with someone it is impossible to keep up with them because of obstacles that a walking person do not have to contend with. They create enough hassle that I'll guarantee that if anyone were to use them once they would quickly go back to the relative ease of walking. It would be the same as my saying that every able bodied individual that somehow gets their hands on a handicapped parking permit will park there even if they don't need it. It happens but it is not the norm, nor should it be even mildly thought of as being so.

Scooters and motorized wheelchairs are here and they are here to stay, so everyone needs to watch out for themselves and not do something stupid and step in front of one that is moving. And if it makes you feel any better those that intentionally eat their way to morbid obesity to the extent that the only way they can get around is to use a scooter will in all likelihood be dead long before you physically perfect specimens will be, so they will be out of your way. However, that is not your concern all you really have to do is make sure that you don't put yourself in harms way. It's not all that difficult, just use that underused organ, the brain, and pay attention.

 

[ninjaprincesst]

You laid out a pretty compelling case. Nobody wants handicapped people banned tho. I think the consensus is some want the dangerous hard vehicles they happen to drive, banned from sidewalks jammed to the gills with squishy pedestrians. Just those format of vehicle. Not ALL vehicles. Wouldn't be rocket science to tweak the current scooter to be safer. Soft bumpers. Heck, soft front end all around so when a driver rams you, you have a nice place to fall. Front facing sensors linked to extremely effective auto brakes. Or cheapest solution would be a high rise bumper that hits victims in the groin or butt (thus just pushing them) and not in the ankle, snapping it, or knocking you over. There! Everybody wins. Much safer vehicles on sidewalks doing much less damage to those they plow into.

Hmm,, that high rise safety bumper actually could make money. Maybe I'll be rich soon.

Or put everybody in a vehicle. Vehicles and vehicles mix. People and people mix. People and vehicles don't mix.

How about people just watch their kids and be wary of people in motorized ecv, only about 10 percent of the scooter users are idiots most are just handicapped in need of assistance.

 

[Princess_AmyK]

Some comments in this thread are really uncalled for.

Just remember, perception is everything.
The perception of the person being hit by the scooter is different from the perception of the person who has had people step in front of them all day because they weren't paying attention. Both are frustrated. Neither one is dumb, lazy, or any other derogatory word.
Life will never be without accidents or awkward situations. Sure this one involves some pain but that's the risk of going outside or going anywhere really. Unpleasant things will always happen. Learn from them and move on. I've been hit by a scooter. What do I do now? Try to keep an eye out and stay far away from them as best I can. And hopefully the lady who hit me tries better to dodge people from then on.

 

[rob0519]

That attitude just makes me so mad, I have been injured badly twice by people on scooters, but to say that handicapped people should just stay home is wrong. So because my Dad has had his back broken twice and lost his leg he has no right to come to Disney? besides it being insanely hard on my mother to push a wheelchair, due to his back injury and the giant metal rod now in his back he can't stand a wheelchair all day there is not enough back support in your non electric wheelchair, and what about kids that have no mobility and are confined to an electric wheel chair (non motorized will not work for these babies either) I'm sure all of them would gladly walk if they could they did not ask for what happened to them and the law is on their side,.

My family and I take turns pushing our 40 year old disabled son around the parks for multiple hours at a time. and yes, we have the same problem with people stopping dead in their tracks and darting out in front of us. Manipulating a scooter in a crowded park or onto a bus has to be a nightmare for any reasonable person.

I said this earlier in the thread. I'm sorry about your Dad and others like him, but at least they can drive a scooter and lead an almost normal life. Our son is brain damaged and has little to no fine motor control or even the ability to understand how a scooter or motorized wheelchair works.

So yes, my wife and I have the "insanely hard" task of pushing a 180 lb. 43 year old man up and down the ramps all week (think Soarin and Space Mountain in particular) because WDW is the place that gives him the most enjoyment. So that argument that it is too hard to do doesn't carry a lot of weight with me. What would you do if for some reason he could no longer safely operate the scooter?

When we are too old and / or frail to push that wheelchair, his days of visiting Disney are probably over unlike those who do have the ability to ride a scooter. So yes, sometimes the unpleasant answer is some people while they have the "privilege" of going to Disney (It's not a constitutional "right") they may not have the physical means to travel around the parks and therefore not go anymore.

I've been fighting for the rights of the mentally disabled to get appropriate educational and living accommodations for over thirty years so I'm not insensitive to accessibility issues.

 

[jloucks]

How about people just watch their kids and be wary of people in motorized ecv, only about 10 percent of the scooter users are idiots most are just handicapped in need of assistance.

It is a pedestrian sidewalk. Parents have enough to deal with and adding looking out for vehicles is absolutely preposterous.

 

[bethymouse]

Not everyone who uses a scooter is "morbidly obese"! @Incomudro

 

[ninjaprincesst]

It is a pedestrian sidewalk. Parents have enough to deal with and adding looking out for vehicles is absolutely preposterous.

I'm sorry you feel that watching your children is too hard, so we should just ban handicapped people from the parks because it is just to hard to teach our children to be polite and respectful of those with handicaps , and teach then to look where they are going . I can guarantee those with handicaps would gladly take on the task of watching out for their selves and there children if only they were able to walk again.

 

[21stamps]

Not everyone who uses a scooter is "morbidly obese"! @Incomudro

Very true. Also, not everyone who is thin is "lucky" and has "an extremely high metabolism" as has been stated repeatedly. Some people bust their bums counting calories, counting fat, watching carbs, not drinking soda, etc, and run 5 miles everyday at 5am, waking up at 4:30 when they wish they could sleep in until 6.

I just think it's best to not generalize any group or body type

 

[jloucks]

I'm sorry you feel that watching your children is too hard, so we should just ban handicapped people from the parks because it is just to hard to teach our children to be polite and respectful of those with handicaps , and teach then to look where they are going . I can guarantee those with handicaps would gladly take on the task of watching out for their selves and there children if only they were able to walk again.

"Too hard"... never said that. But I will say that If it is easy, you're doing it wrong. You'e parenting experience may hold some good advice for he rest of us. How did you prevent your 4 year old from frisking about?

Children do stupid stuff. It is impossible to prevent all of it. They are children. Jumping up and down for no apparent reason, running in circles, eating dead bugs, playing in their poo, touching a hot stove, and darting about on sidewalks is what they do. ...that and about 1000 other things. Keeping children from darting into the street for no reason is a parental focus. Darting about a sidewalk is not. I refuse to let it become a thing without a fight. No matter what my kid does on a sidewalk, you hit them with a vehicle, you are wrong and liable.

I never said ban handicapped people from parks. You're putting words into my mouth (cheap debate tactic). Just dangerous vehicles. There is a huge difference.

 

[Figment1989]

Do you think that some type of motorized wheelchair "lane" could help with this at all? Could it practically work?

 

[jloucks]

Do you think that some type of motorized wheelchair "lane" could help with this at all? Could it practically work?

The more I think about it, the more I think it would help. Not for wheelchairs, but for scooters. Dedicated lanes would serve as a clear indicator of who has the right of way. If you choose to walk in a scooter lane, THEN it IS up to you to be cautious of scooters. It would also make it easier for parents to keep kids out of danger zones. It would be easier for scooter drivers because they have a zone that is theirs and people would yield to them far more willingly.

Practically these lanes could only be in the main roadways (space issues), but that would still be a nice start.

I like it!!

 

[Goofyernmost]

Do you think that some type of motorized wheelchair "lane" could help with this at all? Could it practically work?

Yea, until those same jumpy kids go into it in front of the chair or scooter.

Children do stupid stuff. It is impossible to prevent all of it. They are children. Jumping up and down for no apparent reason, running in circles, eating dead bugs, playing in their poo, touching a hot stove, and darting about on sidewalks is what they do. ...that and about 1000 other things. Keeping children from darting into the street for no reason is a parental focus. Darting about a sidewalk is not. I refuse to let it become a thing without a fight. No matter what my kid does on a sidewalk, you hit them with a vehicle, you are wrong and liable.

Who has been talking about a sidewalk... as far as I know we have all been talking about the street. However, that said, accidents can happen on sidewalks as well. Because someone is hit it doesn't mean that it wasn't an accident. That's why the call them accidents and not intentionals. I also, having been a parent and a grand parent, know that kids aren't stupid. If you spend enough time instilling the dangers and possible consequences you would be amazed at how aware they are. If all you do as a parent is say... oh, well, kids will dart about, so everyone else is responsible, then it still isn't the kids fault and you will get to reap what you sew. And I sincerely doubt that just because you are going to go ballistic on someone that had the nerve to accidentally hurt your child it will change the outcome because by the time you get to that the damage is already done. You are then being reactive and not proactive. A sad trend in today's society. Take the necessary steps to prevent the accident, not show how tough you can be after the fact. And by the way, doing stupid stuff is not something exclusive to children.

 

[jloucks]

Yea, until those same jumpy kids go into it in front of the chair or scooter.

Who has been talking about a sidewalk... as far as I know we have all been talking about the street. However, that said, accidents can happen on sidewalks as well. Because someone is hit it doesn't mean that it wasn't an accident. That's why the call them accidents and not intentionals. I also, having been a parent and a grand parent, know that kids aren't stupid. If you spend enough time instilling the dangers and possible consequences you would be amazed at how aware they are. If all you do as a parent is say... oh, well, kids will dart about, so everyone else is responsible, then it still isn't the kids fault and you will get reap what you sew. And I sincerely doubt that just because you are going to go ballistic on someone that had the nerve to accidentally hurt your child it will change the outcome because by the time you get to that the damage is already done. You are then being reactive and not proactive. A sad trend in today's society. Take the necessary steps to prevent the accident, not show how tough you can be after the fact. And by the way, doing stupid stuff is not something exclusive to children.

I agree with most of that. Still, the point of contention remains what should, or should not, constitute a safe zone for kids (and adults) to frisk.

 

[MissingDisney]

WOW! I had no idea this crazy bit was still hanging on.
Some seem so caught up on 'sidewalks' and the MOTORIZED vehicles being on them and whatnot. Just throwing this out there, ya realize the 'sidewalks' at the parks are for looks and theming, right? Hold on to your hat on this one....Main Street, USA ISN'T a REAL street! Neither are the 'streets' at Hollywood Studios! Gasp!!!! Traffic laws aren't really in effect. The whole flippin' place is a non-stop sidewalk. The streets are pretend. You don't see thousands of tourists getting jaywalking tickets, obeying walk/don't walk signs in the parks, do you? While sometimes irritating because of crowds and congestion, scooters and wheelchairs of whatever sort have the right under the law to be anywhere a pedestrian can be. That's right! And if there was a special 'lane', it could be considered discrimination. This has really gotten disturbing, the insensitivity of people's situations.
Stop looking to blame and mind your own game. Makes for a much simpler life.

 

[daisyduckie]

No.
The problem is that some people take advantage of everything.
Now, they've found a way to get out of walking.
Now, when they eat their way to morbid obesity and can no longer get around - they've got a device to ride on whie they consume more calories.
See Disney's own Wall-e for reference.

I challenge you to spend a day in an ECV and then say that people use them to "get out of walking". It is much harder to tour the parks in an ECV than it is on your own feet. Your post is all that is disgusting and wrong with people. No sympathy for others. No compassion.

 

[DisneyJoe]

The more I think about it, the more I think it would help. Not for wheelchairs, but for scooters. Dedicated lanes would serve as a clear indicator of who has the right of way. If you choose to walk in a scooter lane, THEN it IS up to you to be cautious of scooters. It would also make it easier for parents to keep kids out of danger zones. It would be easier for scooter drivers because they have a zone that is theirs and people would yield to them far more willingly.

Practically these lanes could only be in the main roadways (space issues), but that would still be a nice start.

I like it!!

<BEGIN SARCASM>

Let's see, then shall we add:

- a stroller lane
- a wheelchair lane
- senior citizen lane (walkers, canes, etc)
- VIP lane

Everyone would need to pass an education course before visiting so they know the traffic rules, and how to obey the traffic enforcement CM's.

How shall we pay for this? Those who didn't want the lanes in the first place would need to pay for them, right?

</END SARCASM>

 

[21stamps]

<BEGIN SARCASM>

Let's see, then shall we add:

- a stroller lane
- a wheelchair lane
- senior citizen lane (walkers, canes, etc)
- VIP lane

Everyone would need to pass an education course before visiting so they know the traffic rules, and how to obey the traffic enforcement CM's.

How shall we pay for this? Those who didn't want the lanes in the first place would need to pay for them, right?

</END SARCASM>

Favorite post.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I challenge you to spend a day in an ECV and then say that people use them to "get out of walking". It is much harder to tour the parks in an ECV than it is on your own feet. Your post is all that is disgusting and wrong with people. No sympathy for others. No compassion.

I've challenged them too, no one wants to spend a day in our place, yet they continue to criticize.

 

[unkadug]

It is a pedestrian sidewalk. Parents have enough to deal with and adding looking out for vehicles is absolutely preposterous.

You were making a lot of sense up until you typed this. Both sentences are preposterous.