Another bus accident - sad tragedy!

[heaven2dc]

If someone else posted this, I apologize but another tragedy but involving a bus. "Boy killed in Disney bus crash identified as Chase Brubaker of St. Petersburg" The article goes on to say: "A 9-year-old boy riding a bicycle died in a collision with a Disney bus Thursday afternoon near Fort Wilderness on Walt Disney World property, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Chase Brubaker of St. Petersburg was killed when his bicycle veered off a sidewalk where he was riding and struck the side of the passenger bus.

Photo Gallery: Fatal crash at Disney

Chase was his parents' only surviving child. They lost another child a few years ago, family members said.

Kelly Brubaker, Chase's mother, tells 10 Connects they picked the Fort Wilderness Resort because Chase wanted to bring his golden retriever Annie with them.

During the first several days of their spring break vacation, Kelly Brubaker says the family went everywhere together and rode their bikes down the same pathway where state troopers say the child's bike crossed into the path of the Disney bus.

"He doesn't get to ride anywhere around here, except down the street," said Brubaker, pointing down the street of her Redington Beach home, "I said, 'No, you're not going out there because there's cars and we don't know who is driving.' But I figured Disney... Disney has to have it together."

Brubaker says they let Chase and his 11-year-old friend ride their bikes to the arcade on the resort's campus and planned to meet the kids 15 minutes later.

She described her son as cautious and does not believe he would have taken his bike into the roadway.

"We're going to miss him and there's no way we can bring him back. I just want parents there at Disney to know it's a false sense of security, a false sense of security," said Chase's grandmother, Barbara Burkett, "Don't let your kids out ther eon those bike trails by themselves."

The boy's family was taken to the crash site at Disney's Fort Wilderness campground Thursday night. Our news partners WKMG Local 6 reported that they wanted to see and try to understand how the accident occurred.

Earlier, a tow truck hauled away the bus involved in the afternoon collision. The crash occurred at about 1:35 p.m. Thursday on Big Bend Trail near Fort Wilderness in Lake Buena Vista.

According to the FHP, a bus carrying 28 people was headed southbound while the boy was riding his bike in the same direction on a sidewalk. The boy's bike then left the sidewalk for an unknown reason and crashed into the middle side of the bus, according to the FHP's initial investigation.

The boy, whom officials initially identified as a 10-year-old, was then pulled under the bus and run over, causing fatal injuries to his upper body, troopers said. None of the passengers was hurt.

"You could tell the bus had tried to stop, the way it was angled," said Dawn Watson, who was at the crash site moments before paramedics arrived.

Watson applauded campground security, which kept things calm despite the resort being packed with spring break travelers.

"With having so many kids here, I think they did a wonderful job guarding the situation. They put a thing around so nobody could see. I think Disney handled it very well," Watson said.

Watson said this is a wake-up call that accidents can happen anywhere, even on vacation.

The Florida Highway Patrol said the boy was with his 11-year-old friend at the time of the crash and both of them were wearing helmets. The 11-year-old girl was not injured.

"We wish to extend our deepest sympathy to the boy's family and loved ones for their loss. Currently, we're providing necessary resources and care to help the family with the situation," a Disney spokeswoman said."

My heart and prayers goes out to this little boy's family

 

[sailsup]

...from the reports that I've read. Sounds like parental negligence to me. Sounds like they're already putting the blame on Disney. Sad.

 

[ancestry]

...from the reports that I've read. Sounds like parental negligence to me. Sounds like they're already putting the blame on Disney. Sad.

Although I can't even imagine the pain of their loss, I do perceive it as parental negligence as well. This is so sad for everyone involved.

 

[Kim&Chris]

I agree. Nine years old is perhaps a bit too young to let him ride off with another young child to an arcade. An adult really should have taken them. Just my opinion.

Very sad.

 

[fla4fun]

I also agree that the parents should have been with the kids. At that age, my parents wouldn't let me ride my bike even on my own street unless they were out with me. Nine years old is just too young, especially in a strange place. I would have been too concerned about many things, not just traffic safety, to let a child that young go out alone.

Of course they are going to blame Disney though, even though from all the reports I've read, Disney is not at fault in any way (although it would really help if the media would quit starting their stories with Disney bus hits child, and then three or four paragraphs later, telling the truth about the child hitting the bus). They are upset right now, and not thinking straight. Even the most reliable kid in the world can make a bad split second decision - it happens all the time. It's just most of the time those bad decisions don't have this kind of consequence. That's why it's so important to have parental supervision.

I really feel for the parents, because ultimately, they will be feeling a lot of guilt over this one.

 

[PSUGuy]

A terrible thing to be sure, but how any operator can be held responsible for someone hitting them 15 feet to the rear of the driver's seat is beyond me. Once the driver got the front of the bus safely past the kids on 'cycles he/she had done their duty and what followed was beyond control.

Bill From PA

 

[LuvMyEAR]

Losing a child is the worst tragedy a family can suffer. Sadly, this is one that can happen just as easily in the street in front of a child's own home, or with Mom or Dad just a few feet away. My heart breaks for this little boy's family, friends, the bus driver and all those who witnessed this horrible event.

 

[WDWisTheBest]

Let's not forget how disturbing this is to the bus driver. From what has been posted, he has driven for Disney for over 30 years. Think of his family as well.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

I try think that people will do what's right, but reading the "comments" of the mother, you can really start to see where they are going into lawsuit mode already.

 

[Renosiris]

Not only distressing for the family of the child, and the bus driver, but the people in the bus, especially any children. I have been lucky to have never had to see someone die infront of me.

I understand what the mother is saying about the false sense of security. Generally everyone is friendly and kind, you feel safe, you feel as though your children are safe. It causes you to let down your guard. I know that I wouldn't let my son at 9 go for a bike ride alone, but...he was with another child that was older and perhaps that was part of the reasoning.

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

Wow, I think it's really sad the way we're all jumping to blame the parents. I'm going to come out and say that I'd let my 11 year old go for a ride with a 9 year old cousin, and if he'd had an 11 year old cousin when he was 9 I'd have done the same thing. I'm also not sure how parents being there would have changed this situation.

I feel awful for these parents, I can't imagine losing 1 child, much less losing both of my children.

As for the bus driver -- I wasn't there, I haven't seen the situation, but here the law is that bikes get treated like any other vehicle, which means that if you pass them you're supposed to give them a whole lane. I don't know Florida law, or what WDW tells their drivers is best practice, but I think it is possible that the driver was too close to the kids, so that a slight loss of balance or swerve to avoid a stone in the road that went wrong could have resulted in tragedy. It's also possible that the kids had plenty of room and completely lost control.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

As for the bus driver -- I wasn't there, I haven't seen the situation, but here the law is that bikes get treated like any other vehicle, which means that if you pass them you're supposed to give them a whole lane. I don't know Florida law, or what WDW tells their drivers is best practice, but I think it is possible that the driver was too close to the kids, so that a slight loss of balance or swerve to avoid a stone in the road that went wrong could have resulted in tragedy. It's also possible that the kids had plenty of room and completely lost control.

It sounds like the boy was riding on a sidewalk, left the sidewalk (for whatever reason) and entered the roadway. Now this is just what is understood at this point, subject to change. If this is the case (and it holds true), the bus driver should have taken caution considering what would be an appearance of a child riding a bicycle near the roadway, but there would have been limited other action expected or required.

 

[PSUGuy]

It sounds like the boy was riding on a sidewalk, left the sidewalk (for whatever reason) and entered the roadway. Now this is just what is understood at this point, subject to change. If this is the case (and it holds true), the bus driver should have taken caution considering what would be an appearance of a child riding a bicycle near the roadway, but there would have been limited other action expected or required.

The front of the bus, with the driver in the seat, had already passed the kids on bikes who were on the SIDEWALK, had avoided any contact that could have been under the driver's control. The unfortunate child veered off the SIDEWALK into the SIDE of the bus, at the approximate mid point, and fell under the rear wheels. How any operator could do anything to prevent that is beyond me. Sometimes, the person who dies in a vehicular accident is the one who's actions caused it, and based on reports so far, that's the case here.

Bill From PA