ECV Ran Over Little Boy Thursday Night at Epcot

[bettymae1121]

Oh and BTW, even if Disney wanted to ban ECV's, I'm fairly sure they can't due to the ADA, so it's a useless arguement in any case.

 

[Aisling]

I don't think ECV's should be banned, but I wonder if a speed limit or speed restrictor would be possible? It wouldn't stop all accidents but I would imagine it would help, it would allow more time to stop if an ECV gets out of the control of the operator, or more time for people to see the ECV coming and move out of the way. Some of those ECV's can really scoot, I don't think they should move any faster than the average adult walking at a normal pace.

Now THIS is a good idea. Thank you. It wouldn't stop people's toes fom being smashed, but it would help people from being hit and hurt by them. The ECV that hit my son was going too fast. I get outraged over this.

 

[Aisling]

Oh and BTW, even if Disney wanted to ban ECV's, I'm fairly sure they can't due to the ADA, so it's a useless arguement in any case.

Oh, I know. It's just my wish.

 

[metalis4ever]

When my son was 7, he was hit and knocked down by an ECV in Animal Kingdom. He was ok, just has a skinned knee. Yes, my 7 year old ran into the path of the EVC. It's a shame, but you have to hold small children by the hand because of the vehicles that are allowed drive among walking people.

I have also had my toes smashed when an EVC in front of me at a parade started to back out. VERY painful.

I have never posted in an EVC thread before because of the controversy, but I'll risk it now to say I wish EVCs would be BANNED in WDW.

And if the EVC drivers feel terrible, they SHOULD. Feeling terrible will not solve the problem.

They are dangerous. Only wheelchairs should be allowed. Heavy moving vehicles should NOT be allowed to drive among people walking, where there are children running and being children but have to be told to be careful because a 300 lb electric moving vehicle may be coming by.

Wheelchairs only!

And did y'all hear about the guy who suing WDW for not being allowed to use a segway in WDW, claiming he needed it for medical reasons?

I've held my tongue for all these years about EVCs and I can't take it anymore. The CM who came to our aid when my son was hit only shrugged and apologized, knowing he was powerless to get rid of this EVC problem that the CMs have to deal with on a daily basis. Ask any CM, they'll tell you how many people every day get hit by EVCs.

........ The fact of the matter is I can guarantee that the vast majority of individuals who need an ECV don't want to need one. I'm 6'4 225 lbs and I have major back issues due to shattering and compressing my L1 about 10 years ago, if I ever needed an ECV and only had a wheelchair as an option my DW and I wouldn't be able to enjoy Disney World because there is no way she could push me around in the Florida sun for 8-12 hours. Your wish to eliminate ECVs is the epitome of selfishness.

 

[Oreo Cookie]

WOW! Here is hoping you never have some sort of physical issue that causes you to need a scooter. These threads cease to amaze me and I also usually keep my mouth shut bc I can't believe the ignorance of some people.

Well, I think that kids SHOULD have their hands held. They SHOULD NOT be running around "being kids" in a place full of not only vehicles - but OTHER PEOPLE. I can't count how many times some child running and not looking has run full speed into my stomach, or tripped a family member of mine. Let's not count the parent that think it's "oh so cute" to let their 3 year old push the stroller WHERE PEOPLE ARE WALKING and bash into people left and right while mom and dad say nothing and laugh like they are seeing the funniest thing in the world. Or how about those kids that shake the chains over and over and over and over and over again in the ride lines irritating the you-know-what out of everyone around them?

There is room for everyone at Disney. Maybe if everyone is more careful and observant of others and not so wrapped up in themselves, it will be better for everyone. The people walking and the people riding. I have seen tons of people walk right into the side of an ECV or back up into it bc they aren't paying attention, but jumped all over the ECV driver. How sad people are so ignorant and rude. This thread should be closed bc as usual - some people are just not accepting of others. And again, I hope you are never in a situation where you need some mobility help bc there are a lot of unsympathetic people out there. And wheelchairs are not always an option. Would you like to see an 80 year old man pushing his wife in a wheelchair up a hill in 101 degree heat? Um I hope not! This is just so sad.

I wanted to say that I agree with the bolded.

 

[DizBelle]

Let's not ban ECVs but how about requiring the drivers demonstrate proficiency driving them before being allowed to? They are, after all, a vehicle. We have to have licenses to drive cars. Why not ECVs?

I like the idea of a speed limiter too. Can any one tell me why an ECV would need to go faster than the average adult walking pace?

 

[crashbb]

I don't think ECV's should be banned, but I wonder if a speed limit or speed restrictor would be possible? It wouldn't stop all accidents but I would imagine it would help, it would allow more time to stop if an ECV gets out of the control of the operator, or more time for people to see the ECV coming and move out of the way. Some of those ECV's can really scoot, I don't think they should move any faster than the average adult walking at a normal pace.

I'm pretty sure that the ones rented by WDW do have limited speeds (and possibly those rented by other Orlando companies). The speedy ones tend to be ones owned by the people using them - and there is no way for WDW to monitor the speeds of these.

 

[metalis4ever]

Let's not ban ECVs but how about requiring the drivers demonstrate proficience driving them before being allowed to? They are, after all, a vehicle. We have to have licenses to drive cars. Why not ECVs?

I like the idea of a speed limiter too. Can any one tell me why an ECV would need to go faster than the average adult walking pace?

I am pretty certain that the ECV's rented from Disney are already set at Slow, they need to have some speed in order to climb hills.

 

[DizBelle]

I am pretty certain that the ECV's rented from Disney are already set at Slow, they need to have some speed in order to climb hills.

Why would they need speed to climb hills? What they need is appropriate power. You don't have to go fast to get up a hill.

 

[metalis4ever]

Why would they need speed to climb hills? What they need is appropriate power. You don't have to go fast to get up a hill.

I meant power not speed, but logic would dictate with that extra power comes increased speed on flat surfaces. But it's a moot point because the ECV's are set at Slow by Disney.

 

[jrmasm]

7 year olds that are not capable of looking where they are going and being aware of their surroundings should have their hands held.

And I say that as the parent of a 7 year old.

 

[DisMN]

How sad about the little boy. I hope he's ok.

With regards to ECV drivers, I think a half solution would be to require them to adhere to the rules of the road just like a car. Such as driving on the far right, minimum speeds and a short half hour class before you're allowed to take them into a crowded setting. Actually those things I listed are just common sense, wouldn't you think?

I'm all for ECVs and whatever else helps handicapped people be able to enjoy the parks. Just help the safety issues by placing some minor *rules* in place and make people aware of those rules.

 

[Jennasis]

I've never had a problem with ECV users at WDW but I'm sure plenty have. Poor kiddo.

A large crowd on foot can be just as dangerous as an inexperienced or careless ECV user. I've been trampled before, shoved, bumped and run over by strollers.

I don't know what the answer is other than people just trying to be more polite and attentive and actually watching what they're doing, be it on foot, in a wheelchair/ECV or with a strolelr.

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Everyone the boy was not moving. He was in front of his Mom while waiting for her bag to be checked.
He wasn't running around like a crazy man.

He was a little boy that was hit from behind by an ECV with a very large woman driving it. The woman's weight plus the weight of the ECV I'm sure did some major damage.
She plowed into him, I'm sure not on purpose.

I don't know if it was a Disney rental or not. I do know it was very large. Headlights, baskets loaded down with items.

He was hurt and we were looking for some feed back from a friend or family member.

 

[princessmom29]

I think there should be seperate, roped off lanes for ECV's only, like a bike lane.This would solve the problem for both groups. No kids getting mown down by ECV's and no one jumppingin front of an ECV.

 

[aprilgail2]

Very true. And the problem is aggravated by people who are driving them for the first time.

That is a major part of the problem- people go to Disney and then rent a ECV for the first time ever- you would think perhaps they would have to pass some type of test before setting them loose on the public!

I have never posted in an EVC thread before because of the controversy, but I'll risk it now to say I wish EVCs would be BANNED in WDW.

And if the EVC drivers feel terrible, they SHOULD. Feeling terrible will not solve the problem.

They are dangerous. Only wheelchairs should be allowed. Heavy moving vehicles should NOT be allowed to drive among people walking, where there are children running and being children but have to be told to be careful because a 300 lb electric moving vehicle may be coming by.

Wheelchairs only!
.

I don't know about banning them but they should have a seperate lane of traffic that the EVC's have to remain in and not let them ride where people are walking. They should not be there motoring along right with people who are walking! They should also have them set to much much slower speed-perhaps if they were set to "crawl" the people would be able to stop in time!

 

[harleyquinn]

As for the 80 year old man pushing his wife up a hill in 101 dgree heat in WDW? Oh please. Did he also walk to school 5 miles barefoot in the snow?

How about 8 week pregnant me pushing my mom in a wheelchair in 90 degree heat in December??? Yes it did happen. My mom and I thought she would be able to handle the walking that comes with a trip to WDW, but we were wrong. So one day we rented a wheelchair and I attempted to push her around DHS, 8 weeks pregnant. It was awful. We didn't think weather would be an issue in December, but there was a heat wave. She rented a scooter every day after that.

Is it unreasonable to want to share magical memories with older or more infirm people in your family just so people don't have to worry about the (slim) possibilty of getting run into?

I'm pretty sure that the ones rented by WDW do have limited speeds (and possibly those rented by other Orlando companies). The speedy ones tend to be ones owned by the people using them - and there is no way for WDW to monitor the speeds of these.

They are set at a low speed, but they really can move. My mom and I were both surprised and disappointed about how little instruction you get on how to use them.

I agree that change should be made. Only EVCs with approved speeds/power should be allowed in and that speed/power should be reduced. I also think they need to reduce the number of available EVCs and somehow be pickier about who can use them. Though I understand that would be very difficult.

 

[angwill]

7 year olds that are not capable of looking where they are going and being aware of their surroundings should have their hands held.

And I say that as the parent of a 7 year old.

I sure hope the little boy who got ran over is doing ok and didn't get too hurt. At Epcot one time I had the door open to go out of mousegears when a small child came running and ran full force right into the door and hurt herself. I felt awful but there was no avoidng what happend unless her parent held her hand. ECV, door, tripping whatever if a child is running around there is a chance they will get hurt. I know some kids get knocked down who are not running around too.

I just read that the boy was just standing there. That is awful. I hope someone knows what the final outcome is for you OP.

 

[taylor3297]

I hope the little boy is ok.

On my recent trip, I really hadn't noticed the ECV's very much until I was shopping at World of Disney. I was bent down looking at something on the bottom shelf, next thing I know I was on the ground and a lady on an ECV said to me " you should have gotten out of my way". No apology either. I think it is folks like this that give ECV users a bad name.

 

[thomas998]

7 year olds that are not capable of looking where they are going and being aware of their surroundings should have their hands held.

And I say that as the parent of a 7 year old.

You don't have to run in front of an idiot to be hit by an ECV, I've been standing for a parade and had some moron on one knock me over.

It is sad but the only way to eliminate this problem is for people that get hit by them to sue the rear end off the person that rented it to the idiot driving it. I'm willing to bet that most of the time people get nailed by them it isn't by grand pa and grand ma that use it every day, I'm willing to bet most are tagged by someone that never used one before.

And yes I know there are plenty that will claim that someone that needs a wheel chair can't be expected to use a wheel chair at Disney, but I only ask how does that person get around when they go to the mall or airport? If they use a wheel chair then clearly a ECV isn't a requirement it might make things easier but then how many kids need to get their angles broken so someone in a wheel chair can play mario kart.