ECV related... Probably going to get flamed, but I need to say this.

[patters3257]

I am happy I'm not getting flamed and actually relieved that I'm not the only one ticked....I didn't even mention the other dozen times that one of us were nearly hit. But what STILL ticks me off the most (pretty sad to still be angry because I've been home for 48 hours ) was the ecv drivers angry reply and looks. Every time. Their sense of entitlement and the " I have the right of way" attitude and lack of consideration is sickening. And the lady who got me was letting twins around 2 steer and use the darn thing as a glorified stroller? Grrrrrrrr. And on top of it to use a phone. I'm sorry that you have a condition or aliment that put you in the ecv, but learn to use it correctly, respect others space, do not allow your little darlings to drive it, don't expect normal traffic to part like the Red Sea for you and stay off of the darn phone.
Thanks for allowing my rant.

I am there with you too, last summer my then 4 year old DD got ran into by a person on a ECV who was on the phone when trying to exit the park after the fireworks. She gave us a dirty look as my DD laid on the ground crying and rode off on the ECV. Didn't even say excuse me or anything.

 

[Maggie'sMom]

I am on the other end of this. I must use a scooter at the parks. Both of my knees are bad. Without a scooter I would not be able to enjoy the parks. I have speed at lowest setting and I am very watchful. Kids and adults jump off the curb in front of me. people simply stop with no notice and in a busy park that can be an accident waiting to happen. Please do your part by not thinking you are the only ones there. I know many scooter riders and guests leave their brains at home, but most of us are very considerate. just sayin

Most ECV drivers are considerate, like you. I'll bet you don't try to text and "scooter" at the same time. I'll bet that you don't let two kids ride along and steer while you talk on your cell. Everyone, including people walking, need to be aware of who is around them.

 

[4xmom]

No flames here either.

In Sept., we were in line for Hoop Dee Doo. This woman and her husband (both on ECV's) came busting through the line. I managed to get one dd out of the way, but they ran (both of them) over my other dd's foot. My mother said something along the lines of well excuse us. The woman turned around and hollered back, you should get out of the way. Really, we standing in line. There was no excuse me, no warning, no nothing so we could move. Dd's foot had a nice bruise on the top of it for the rest of the trip.

 

[Chuck S]

...but I thought it was against Florida state law to have children riding ECV"S ?

I don't see how Florida law could completely ban children from using an ECV. There are disabled children that either need an electric wheelchair or an ECV.

However, Disney policy on their rental agreements (and as far as I know ALL off site places, as well) specifically states that you may not have chiildren on the ECV with you.

I am on the other end of this. I must use a scooter at the parks. Both of my knees are bad. Without a scooter I would not be able to enjoy the parks. I have speed at lowest setting and I am very watchful. Kids and adults jump off the curb in front of me. people simply stop with no notice and in a busy park that can be an accident waiting to happen. Please do your part by not thinking you are the only ones there. I know many scooter riders and guests leave their brains at home, but most of us are very considerate. just sayin

What Roxy says is also true, I pushed my Mom around WDW over the course of several years in a standard wheelchair. People do jump right in front and expect these things to be able to stop on a dime. Even a manual wheelchair needs a couple of feet of clearance for safety, and those ECVs have NO true brakes. Both parties need to be more responsible, just like pedestrians and cars. A conscientious pedestrian would not step off the curb in front of a speeding car, but they do step right in front of a wheelchair or ECV and will sometimes come to a dead stop, making a collision unavoidable by the person on the ECV or even a manual wheelchair. We even had someone trying to take a photo in a crowded park back into Mom's chair (we were at a dead stop) and the photographer wound up in Mom's lap.

 

[POOHsie]

OP, I'm sorry for your unfortunate ECV encounters. There is no excuse for driving any vehicle while using a cell phone. I use an ECV full time and it's tough to drive it at WDW because of the ever-changing flow of people all around you. You need all your concentration every minute to avoid collisions. My experience with close encounters has been with walking people who are not paying attention. They turn right in front of me. They cross my path in front when they could easily wait to cross behind. They are operating a camera and are backing towards me. Most of the time I drive my ECV with one hand. I think most car drivers also do this. I sometimes stick out my other arm to block a walker who (I feel) might collide with me. They will feel my arm, it's not too personal a gesture, and it gets their attention before a collision. The point of OP's two unfortunate incidents isn't about two-handed ECV driving, it's about any driving and cell phone use. And extra riders on the ECV, which is a calamity in itself.

If the lady with the kids on the ECV was driving a Disney ECV, she can be reported at the parks. They will take the ECV away. If it's a rental, and has any ID on it, perhaps that company could be called. I understand that all rental agreements for ECVs state that only a single operator is allowed onboard.

 

[River Country]

No flames from me either, however, you are much nicer in Chicago than i am or my DW her in NJ. That poor soul that hit your daughter and you, police would 've had to been called to remove my DW from that person. God i love that woman.....

 

[ree123]

No flames from me either, however, you are much nicer in Chicago than i am or my DW her in NJ. That poor soul that hit your daughter and you, police would 've had to been called to remove my DW from that person. God i love that woman.....

Well, when I quietly leaned into the woman to speak to her, my tone , my clenched teeth and the look in my eyes was not nice. everyone was watching her before she hit my DD and were waiting to see what was next from me so I quietly leaned in for my words for her.

 

[bocaj1431]

IF YOU DRIVE AN ECV, BOTH HANDS ON THE VEHICLE. NO TEXTING OR TALKING ON THE DARN CELL PHONE. . Sorry for caps but it needs to be said. Someone is going to get hurt terribly. Just back from an amazing week in WDW. Just wanted to throw this out there. My 10 year old DD ankle was nearly crushed under an ECV in DHS. And I was rammed into in MK .Here's the shortened version. While we were in One Man's Dream in DHS my DD was stopped to look at a model of DR and woman who was screaming in the phone (one hand holding the phone, one on ecv) rammed into my DD. My DD cries out and fell into me, I watched this woman roll up because you can hear her yelling into the phone in this rather quiet attraction and honestly thought she would not hit us. But as her voice grew, she awkwardly jerked the ecv right into my DD. The woman then had the nerve to tell my DD to "watch out" and then glare at me. I leaned down and quietly told the woman to A. don't talk to my child that way and B. she needs to get off of the phone and operate the ecv properly. A CM came over who witnessed the whole thing and told the woman to please be more careful and wait to use the phone until she exits . My DD came home with a nice ankle bruise. It was pretty sore.
My experience was almost identical. A woman on an ecv with 2 twin boys (about 2ish) ON THE ECV with her rammed into my hip. Guess what??? The cell phone was to her ear as well. One hand steering, the 2 twins (one kinda sitting and the other standing) and she was allowing the one to basically steer with his two hands. It probably looked hilarious. .. I flew into the bushes. But, no apology. A dirty look from this one too and a " you were in my way" . Huh??? I was walking on a sidewalk and your glorified stroller checked me NFL style from behind while YOU WERE ON THE CELL PHONE....
Bottom line. Just like a car, you need both hands on the ecv. There's a lot of people and kids around you and you should have both hands on it. If not, have the one hand then and concentrate and pay attention. Before I get flamed, I'd say 90% of ecv riders are careful and thoughtful. But I witnessed at least a dozen type incidents, most of which involved a cell phone. And then to watch the attitude that followed most of these incidents was that of anger directed at the person or persons walking.... flame away but this needs to be addressed.

Sorry about your daughters experience!

 

[Bullseye]

No flames here OP

Those smart phones are a marvel and a bane to society all in one. Whether driving a car or an ECV or even walking you should be paying attention to what your doing. The drive to and from the office is the worst two hours of my work day because of idiots tapping or talking on their phone in traffic

I give you props op, I have no patience for these people, I would have reacted a lot worse than you did!

 

[ree123]

OP, I'm sorry for your unfortunate ECV encounters. There is no excuse for driving any vehicle while using a cell phone. I use an ECV full time and it's tough to drive it at WDW because of the ever-changing flow of people all around you. You need all your concentration every minute to avoid collisions. My experience with close encounters has been with walking people who are not paying attention. They turn right in front of me. They cross my path in front when they could easily wait to cross behind. They are operating a camera and are backing towards me. Most of the time I drive my ECV with one hand. I think most car drivers also do this. I sometimes stick out my other arm to block a walker who (I feel) might collide with me. They will feel my arm, it's not too personal a gesture, and it gets their attention before a collision. The point of OP's two unfortunate incidents isn't about two-handed ECV driving, it's about any driving and cell phone use. And extra riders on the ECV, which is a calamity in itself.

If the lady with the kids on the ECV was driving a Disney ECV, she can be reported at the parks. They will take the ECV away. If it's a rental, and has any ID on it, perhaps that company could be called. I understand that all rental agreements for ECVs state that only a single operator is allowed onboard.

I can only imagine how hard it can be to get around during busy times!! It was a calendar level 3 while we were there except sat was a 5 or 6? Anyway, I understand that people are ignorant and act as if you are not there. I seen it. I know it can be nerve wracking for the responsible folks like you....

 

[ArwenMarie]

OP, I'm sorry for your unfortunate ECV encounters. There is no excuse for driving any vehicle while using a cell phone. I use an ECV full time and it's tough to drive it at WDW because of the ever-changing flow of people all around you. You need all your concentration every minute to avoid collisions. My experience with close encounters has been with walking people who are not paying attention. They turn right in front of me. They cross my path in front when they could easily wait to cross behind. They are operating a camera and are backing towards me.

I agree with this from what I see.

WDW is just really really crowded and I think some people try to walk too fast there in general. Everyone needs to slow it down, go easy and take their time, ECV or walking..and people with strollers.

 

[serene56]

I am on the other end of this. I must use a scooter at the parks. Both of my knees are bad. Without a scooter I would not be able to enjoy the parks. I have speed at lowest setting and I am very watchful. Kids and adults jump off the curb in front of me. people simply stop with no notice and in a busy park that can be an accident waiting to happen. Please do your part by not thinking you are the only ones there. I know many scooter riders and guests leave their brains at home, but most of us are very considerate. just sayin

thats what we saw on our trip-- a kid about 4/5 years old runs away from mom and stops dead right in front of the scooter. The scooter him him (thank god she was going slow) and the mom screamed at the scooter lady how she needs to be more careful blah blah blah.

 

[serene56]

I am on the other end of this. I must use a scooter at the parks. Both of my knees are bad. Without a scooter I would not be able to enjoy the parks. I have speed at lowest setting and I am very watchful. Kids and adults jump off the curb in front of me. people simply stop with no notice and in a busy park that can be an accident waiting to happen. Please do your part by not thinking you are the only ones there. I know many scooter riders and guests leave their brains at home, but most of us are very considerate. just sayin

thats what we saw on our trip-- a kid about 4/5 years old runs away from mom and stops dead right in front of the scooter. The scooter him him (thank god she was going slow) and the mom screamed at the scooter lady how she needs to be more careful blah blah blah.

 

[andersonsc]

I would like to know how hurt someone has to be for assault charges to be brought against the person on the ECV. If my child was hurt by someone not paying attention, or being on the phone, or just being downright rude about it, I would not be against calling the police and having charges brought against them. Now, if they stopped and apologized, that would go along why toward me realizing "accidents" happen. But some stories posted make it hard to term the injury "an accident". Has anyone actually had to involve the police?

 

[HopperFan]

I have a very disabled son who may one day have to do Disney in a wheelchair so I try to have empathy as well but it is getting very difficult with each trip. I just returned from a week and the number of children on ECVs either on laps or standing on the back or both at the same time was incredible. One man with two loaded on his was talking to a CM asking directions. You don't know how hard it was to not stop and say to that CM - are you going to tell him to get those kids off the ECV? Several people were going so fast - I honestly didn't know they went that fast. One trip a man was on an ECV and his wife behind him in a manual. Not too far because she was bungee corded to him. He was flying and as he turned corners she would fly out to the side like a water skier. I couldn't believe what I was watching. No one said a word. One time Grandma had two on the ECV with one driving. They proceeded to completely knock down and drive over another grandchild. At that point Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and Dad had a huge shouting match while kid screamed. Disney needs to take control of the situation and charge the CMs that for safety reasons they need to speak to everyone driving unsafely. I will also add I saw several people driving with great care but they seemed to be the minority last week of the renters. The persons who use them outside of Disney are almost always great drivers, following rules and maintaining safe speeds. Unfortunately it seems most renting them do not have the ability to drive them nor find a need to follow safety rules.

To the OP I applaud you in coming on this forum and telling your story. You are a way bigger person than I because if that had been my DD, when the CM came over I would have asked her to call security and keep the woman there. I would have then filled a complaint report getting all the woman's personal and insurance information. What if there was something wrong with my child's foot, you can be sure I would turn over all information to my insurance company for collection of fees from her. Your story is clearly one of negligence on her part, if she was not willing to disclose then I would have asked about pressing charges.

 

[ree123]

I have a very disabled son who may one day have to do Disney in a wheelchair so I try to have empathy as well but it is getting very difficult with each trip. I just returned from a week and the number of children on ECVs either on laps or standing on the back or both at the same time was incredible. One man with two loaded on his was talking to a CM asking directions. You don't know how hard it was to not stop and say to that CM - are you going to tell him to get those kids off the ECV? Several people were going so fast - I honestly didn't know they went that fast. One trip a man was on an ECV and his wife behind him in a manual. Not too far because she was bungee corded to him. He was flying and as he turned corners she would fly out to the side like a water skier. I couldn't believe what I was watching. No one said a word. One time Grandma had two on the ECV with one driving. They proceeded to completely knock down and drive over another grandchild. At that point Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and Dad had a huge shouting match while kid screamed. Disney needs to take control of the situation and charge the CMs that for safety reasons they need to speak to everyone driving unsafely. I will also add I saw several people driving with great care but they seemed to be the minority last week of the renters. The persons who use them outside of Disney are almost always great drivers, following rules and maintaining safe speeds. Unfortunately it seems most renting them do not have the ability to drive them nor find a need to follow safety rules.

To the OP I applaud you in coming on this forum and telling your story. You are a way bigger person than I because if that had been my DD, when the CM came over I would have asked her to call security and keep the woman there. I would have then filled a complaint report getting all the woman's personal and insurance information. What if there was something wrong with my child's foot, you can be sure I would turn over all information to my insurance company for collection of fees from her. Your story is clearly one of negligence on her part, if she was not willing to disclose then I would have asked about pressing charges.

I didn't know that it's against policy to have children on for the "ride"?? I definitely would have demanded a CM to do something.
I have never seen reckless behavior on ecv outside of theme parks . Wait... I take that back. Walmart there's been similar behavior.

 

[RobynPrincess]

You don't get flamed from me either, and I'm an ECV user! I wouldn't dream of using my mobile while driving, I do sometimes drive one handed and that is to like another user said, have my wits about to grab someone if they are going to step into me, which happens a lot. I do use the ECV at home too so I guess I am a bit more used to it than the average renter.

I had an awful experience last year with an adult who saw me coming and decided at the last second to run in front of me, he scared the life out of me cause I don't know how I didn't hit him! They don't have brakes! I did shout at him, nothing rude and it honestly was a knee jerk reaction as I was so scared I shouted 'I nearly hit you', I wasn't nasty! Honest!

You really do need to be on the ball driving one of those things, you can't just look up at things as you go through the parks, you pretty much have to have your eyes glued to the floor in front as people come out of no where, it's to be expected really, people having a good time and admiring everything around they just don't realise and walk in your path, the same for people pushing stroller, they have to have their wits about them for the same reasons.

 

[LindaBabe]

No flames here, either and I USE an ECV. Don't get me started on idiots that carry their kids or grand kids on them. it's DANGEROUS, people! In fact, I wish people walking would be paying atttention to their surroundings and their children rather than yakking on the phone, too. I Can't count the times I've had near misses because either adults or children did something random and I'm a good and attentive driver.

 

[ree123]

I have a very disabled son who may one day have to do Disney in a wheelchair so I try to have empathy as well but it is getting very difficult with each trip. I just returned from a week and the number of children on ECVs either on laps or standing on the back or both at the same time was incredible. One man with two loaded on his was talking to a CM asking directions. You don't know how hard it was to not stop and say to that CM - are you going to tell him to get those kids off the ECV? Several people were going so fast - I honestly didn't know they went that fast. One trip a man was on an ECV and his wife behind him in a manual. Not too far because she was bungee corded to him. He was flying and as he turned corners she would fly out to the side like a water skier. I couldn't believe what I was watching. No one said a word. One time Grandma had two on the ECV with one driving. They proceeded to completely knock down and drive over another grandchild. At that point Grandma, Grandpa, Mom and Dad had a huge shouting match while kid screamed. Disney needs to take control of the situation and charge the CMs that for safety reasons they need to speak to everyone driving unsafely. I will also add I saw several people driving with great care but they seemed to be the minority last week of the renters. The persons who use them outside of Disney are almost always great drivers, following rules and maintaining safe speeds. Unfortunately it seems most renting them do not have the ability to drive them nor find a need to follow safety rules.

To the OP I applaud you in coming on this forum and telling your story. You are a way bigger person than I because if that had been my DD, when the CM came over I would have asked her to call security and keep the woman there. I would have then filled a complaint report getting all the woman's personal and insurance information. What if there was something wrong with my child's foot, you can be sure I would turn over all information to my insurance company for collection of fees from her. Your story is clearly one of negligence on her part, if she was not willing to disclose then I would have asked about pressing charges.

I didn't know that it's against policy to have children on for the "ride"?? I definitely would have demanded a CM to do something.
I have never seen reckless behavior on ecv outside of theme parks . Wait... I take that back. Walmart there's been similar behavior.

 

[SWofDisorder]

When our mum went to WDW we rented a ECV for her. It was all she could do to move slowly through the crowds. She had to keep both hands on the steering at all times and I went in front of her asking people to move or blocking for mum.

We have also played traffic cop on other trips so EVC users could cross streets and walkways.