1 Killed, 8 Hurt in Monorail crash

[WDWKevin]

This was the first fatal accident for the WDW Monorail system. And the third collision in it's history.

The Disneyland Monorail has had one fatal accident.

His name was Austin, a 21-year old F/T Cast Member from Central Florida. Keep his family and friends in your prayers.

 

[mrsklamc]

Oh this is so sad.
I feel for the CM's family and I'm so glad others weren't hurt.
I know this may be the worrywart in me coming out but seriously now I'm gonna be scared to ride the monorail again. And we've rode in the front before!!!!!! Scary stuff... I'm not sure we'll ride the monorail again.

I can understand that as an initial reaction, but in all seriousness, when they open again they will be safer than ever, and one fatality in that many years is VERY impressive.

 

[DMMarla07860]

my prayers and thoughts go out the the CM's family

 

[Narnia_girl]

I'm so sorry to hear this. My prayers are with that family.

 

[WDWLVR]

I don't believe that this type of accident would happen during regular hours.

http://www.attractionsmagazine.com/...y-morning-crash-between-two-disney-monorails/

This article states that the emergency breaking was turned off due to one of the monorails headed for the monorail barn because it was the end of the evening. In addition the poor cast member who was killed stated on his facebook page that he was working a 14 hour day and had done so on previous days. So I think the major cause of this was human error due to fatigue. I'm sure Disney will do everything in their power to investigate to be sure.

My prayers go out to the family and friends of the cast member and all those involved in the crash.

Would it stop me from riding the monorail again? No way! I'd even be happy to ride in the front again.

 

[Kurby]

i wonder if they breaks failed?

it's very sad to hear that

 

[bahama97]

Am I understanding the article right, that the person who died, was the driver of the stationery monorail?

Such a sad situation

 

[Kurby]

I'm not sure we'll ride the monorail again.

i've seen a few people make comments like this not just here but on other sites that are talking about this and i don't understand.

are you talking about not sure if you'll ride up front again or ride the monorail at all?

the "at all" part is what i don't understand. it's been a very safe mode of transportation, much safer then air travel, driving, train's both in the city and cross country and even walking and yet you must have done at least 2 of those to get to disney world so why stop using the monorail because of an accident.

i can understand not wanting to ride up front anymore but i wonder if anyone had been up front and it was driver error if someone would have yelled at the driver causing him to slam on the break therefore avoiding the one in front.

maybe it was mechanical in which there wouldn't have been anything they could have done

 

[mrsklamc]

If it's true that Disney was allowing people to work 14 hour days operating a moving vehicle that DOES concern me.

 

[kileybeth]

My prayers for the CM's family and friends and all those at Disney this week, employees and visitors. What an incredibly sad event.

We also, often ride the monorail late at night, often up front, it is quite magical. And while accidents do and will happen, we will continue to ride.
The safety records are incredible.

My DH starts a new job in Wash DC soon. Anyone see that once in lifetime train wreck a few weeks back? Will he ride the Metro? Of course.

Fear is a strange thing, but in my mind, it must not rule our world.

Just can not begin to imagine the logistical nightmare of having the Monorail closed on a holiday weekend. wow.

 

[cakesnjammom]

what a tragedy...thoughts and prayers with the family!

 

[lbgraves]

From what I can understand from the article Mary posted, the driver who was killed was stationary and the monorail that was also stationary in front of him backed up for some reason so if guests had been in the car with him there is absolutely nothing that could have been done if the guests had alerted him to the movement because he was not in control of the moving monorail.

I will have to seriously consider riding in front again with my kids but we will ride on the monorail again the next time we are at WDW assuming it is running.

I do have to admit that I am surprised that a college student was a driver. I guess I thought that they needed more training than that but it is true that when you look at the safety track record it is still very good. I also hope that WDW rethinks their scheduling for CMs.

I believe there are 12 trains at WDW for the person who asked about it and it is relied on more as a transportation source at WDW than it is at DL, especially as a way to get to Epcot. There are people who book resorts just because the resort is on the monorail line...which means that getting from one place to another has been a major headache today. Of course when viewed in light of this tragedy, the inconvenience is minor.

 

[mindy327]

Found this on another blog. I understand if it gets pulled but for now its still available for viewing.

Hearts and Prayers go to this family and to those who are shaken up by the event.

***Video link removed***

 

[Kurby]

i think the mod's have asked that the video links be pulled from this site. i know there is another thread going where they've been asked to delete them

 

[keisha1]

So sad. My prayers are with these families!

 

[BibbidyBobbidyBoo]

I can understand that as an initial reaction, but in all seriousness, when they open again they will be safer than ever, and one fatality in that many years is VERY impressive.

I know but I'm a worrywart and I think worrying wouldn't be worth the bother of using the monorail- for us anyway. I'm sure I'll get over it- just like I fly, only worry a little- even though there are airplane crashes more often than the monorail has had accidents!

i've seen a few people make comments like this not just here but on other sites that are talking about this and i don't understand.

are you talking about not sure if you'll ride up front again or ride the monorail at all?

the "at all" part is what i don't understand. it's been a very safe mode of transportation, much safer then air travel, driving, train's both in the city and cross country and even walking and yet you must have done at least 2 of those to get to disney world so why stop using the monorail because of an accident.

First let me preface by saying that we generally hardly ever use the monorail anyway. We used it the one time we stayed at GF but other than that I think we only used it once from MK to Epcot and that's it. So it's not like we use it a lot/regularly and now I'm cutting that out. We generally use the busses and/or drive our own vehicle while there.

It's a lack of control issue. It's the same reason I won't ride the superman ride at Six Flags anymore- even though it didn't happen in our state and the ride is supposedly different. I wouldn't ENJOY it after what happened to that girl and I'd be thinking about the possibility of that happening (or worse dying) the entire time. Driving is a bit more control... flying I still worry a bit but sometimes we gotta. I don't "gotta" use the monorail. So I can't justify the worrying. I really thought nothing like this COULD happen. I thought they had some sort of safety mechanism that wouldn't allow them to crash. I mean one moving backwards and the CM in the one that was stationary was killed- from what I've read? Although how fast was the one going backwards to hit it hard enough to kill the cm and injure 8 others? weird.
Anyway it's scary is all.. and not worth worrying when I'm there to be happy and leave my worries at home. I may get over it by the next time we're at WDW though- but for the moment if I was going soon and the monorail was running again? I'd probably avoid it- I hardly ever used it anyway.

 

[kingdomkeeper]

I wonder if this will be the end of guests riding "up front " in the monorails from now on !

 

[mmouse37]

I heard from a CM that it has been reported that normal monorail service will resume today.

MJ

 

[lbgraves]

I thought they had some sort of safety mechanism that wouldn't allow them to crash. I mean one moving backwards and the CM in the one that was stationary was killed- from what I've read? Although how fast was the one going backwards to hit it hard enough to kill the cm and injure 8 others?

The last article posted explains that the safety system was being overridden to back the front monorail into the storage place for the night. It can only go 15 mph when in this mode.

 

[sbell111]

... I thought they had some sort of safety mechanism that wouldn't allow them to crash.

There is such a safety mechanism. There is also a temporary override that can be used by the driver in various situations.

I mean one moving backwards and the CM in the one that was stationary was killed- from what I've read? Although how fast was the one going backwards to hit it hard enough to kill the cm and injure 8 others? weird.

While the override is in use, the monorail is limited to 15 mph.

Anyway it's scary is all.. and not worth worrying when I'm there to be happy and leave my worries at home. I may get over it by the next time we're at WDW though- but for the moment if I was going soon and the monorail was running again? I'd probably avoid it- I hardly ever used it anyway.

We all will have to make this decision for ourselves. Personally, I would ride it again today.

From what I can understand from the article Mary posted, the driver who was killed was stationary and the monorail that was also stationary in front of him backed up for some reason so if guests had been in the car with him there is absolutely nothing that could have been done if the guests had alerted him to the movement because he was not in control of the moving monorail.

That may be true. However, it might be true that they would have had time to either exit the train or close the doors and back out of the station. Who knows how things would shake out in the hypothetical situation?

I do have to admit that I am surprised that a college student was a driver. I guess I thought that they needed more training than that but it is true that when you look at the safety track record it is still very good. I also hope that WDW rethinks their scheduling for CMs.

I don't understand why you are making a connection between the tragedy and the age of the driver who was killed. Apparently, neither driver caused the accident, so their ages are irrelevant.