Has Disney covered up golf cart accidents at Ft. Wilderness?

[Walkingintheair]

Every time I'm there and see the carts, cars and busses on the road together I think to myself that somebody must have been seriously injured or killed at some point over all these years.
What do you think?

(p.s. I'm not really being serious but I do wonder how it is that nothing really bad has happened)

 

[MPD]

I think once we got to the age of cell phone cameras the idea of a coverup became impossible. Is it possible before then? Sure. Though I don't think it is very likely. People like to talk, especially about bad things. So I think word would have gotten out.

 

[Narcoossee11]

True, now that everyone has a cell with video, Disney can't 'hide' anymore. For 35 plus years; WDW did not have to report ANY deaths, injuries, accidents publicly. There was a loop hole in the law.
Now that WDW reports to OSHA , there is a monthly report.
But you can be sure they still try their best to down play that makes them look bad.

 

[OKW Lover]

I recall several years ago (10?) that a bus did seriously injure somebody there.

 

[OKW Lover]

Disney can't 'hide' anymore. For 35 plus years; WDW did not have to report ANY deaths, injuries, accidents publicly. There was a loop hole in the law.
Now that WDW reports to OSHA , there is a monthly report.

That wasn't true even before the dissolution/rebranding of RCID. And OSHA is about employee safety which has always applied to any workplace including WDW.

 

[reddog21]

There's a reason why Disney changed the golf cart policy. You don't just tighten rules, if everything is fine and dandy.

 

[zackiedawg]

I've been going to Fort Wilderness since the early 80s - I've rarely seen 'accidents' - the few times I've seen anything has been when golf carts were being misused by folks letting kids drive them, or drunk drivers - most of the time it was someone falling off a cart, or a cart hitting a post or rolling off an embankment if it went off the road. In all those times, I don't recall anyone being injured beyond a bump or mild scrape. The carts are pretty slow, and the speed limit in the fort is quite low too so cars aren't moving very quickly either. I've heard of a handful of injuries over the past 30 years or so - almost all have been people bringing their own carts and most seem to be from falling out of carts / cart rollovers. Private carts are often faster and sometimes raised...that's part of why Disney required liability waivers and insurance to bring your own cart now.

I've actually seen more injuries and incidents with bicyclists there than carts, including kids falling off bikes, clipping posts or fences on bikes, and colliding with cars AND golf carts on bikes. Even there, the numbers are tiny fractions of guests.

 

[Walkingintheair]

I recall several years ago (10?) that a bus did seriously injure somebody there.

I just read about it. A young boy on his bicycle died. That makes me very sad, I wish I hadn't created this thread now.

 

[fla4fun]

That incident with the boy on a bike and a FW bus was awful. There have been a few incidents over the years property wide that are still difficult to read about.

We rented a golf cart when we were at FW last November. We added lights around the roof to make us more visible at night (especially from the back) and then drove carefully, kind of with the assumption that no one else would obey the traffic laws so we were extra alert. Everyone, whether bike, bus, car, or cart seemed to be on their best behavior for our visit. We did not see any overtly intoxicated people or underage kids driving (no way to know if someone had been drinking, but they did not appear impaired in any way).

 

[Walkingintheair]

That incident with the boy on a bike and a FW bus was awful. There have been a few incidents over the years property wide that are still difficult to read about.

We rented a golf cart when we were at FW last November. We added lights around the roof to make us more visible at night (especially from the back) and then drove carefully, kind of with the assumption that no one else would obey the traffic laws so we were extra alert. Everyone, whether bike, bus, car, or cart seemed to be on their best behavior for our visit. We did not see any overtly intoxicated people or underage kids driving (no way to know if someone had been drinking, but they did not appear impaired in any way).

For the most part we haven't seen anything too terrible either, a few teenagers driving recklessly, and a guy who seemed a little intoxicated drive right up onto the sandy beach area to watch the fireworks, as well as some parents not watching their little kids very closely near the golf carts but that's about it. I wonder if they could do something like a tram for getting people around the campgrounds that don't have a cart. Then just use busses at the front entrance for transportation out of Ft Wilderness.

 

[zackiedawg]

Way back when it opened, they had a train for getting around the loops and campground. It was awesome and wish they still had that - but it was deemed too noisy, too polluting, etc and was taken out (you can still see the track ties in some places).

 

[bama_ed]

Private carts are often faster and sometimes raised...that's part of why Disney required liability waivers and insurance to bring your own cart now.

This.

A Disney green cart rental will be on a short leash (under-age driver, speed, etc.). I rented a FW cart last month on my visit and anyone who would be driving it had to have their drivers license on file with Disney. I was the primary renter and if I let a non-filed driver take it and they messed up, it would have been on me (it's in the fine print).

The personal cart waivers is the best of both worlds - Disney not responsible and the injured party can sue the personal owner's insurance company for settlement if they don't pay up in the 1st place.

Carts (of all kinds) used to be able to drive over the bridge between the Meadow Trading Post and the Meadow Swimming Pool but after a series of incidents over the years (and given our widely spaced trips we encountered at least two) they closed that bridge to cart traffic.

My main beef is kids well under driving age behind the wheel in personal carts. Liability wavers aside, under age kids don't have the experience/time to be behind the wheel.

Bama Ed

PS - and yes the bus/bike accident was tragic.

 

[bama_ed]

And I want to add that I have thoughts about the phrase "covered up". I don't know where it is that Disney is under any obligation to pro-actively publish or release information about "accidents". Oh they've happened but we know about them because I was there to see the clean up, or someone else was, or a bystander talked to a CM with loose lips.

If there is bad news, Disney doesn't put that out usually. And is under no obligation to. To the degree accidents are serious with injured parties, I'm sure there are Non-Disclosure Agreements in place.

Seriously, cutting out under-age drivers and alcohol behind the wheel (if you could) would help the numbers (whatever they are) in a big way.

Bama Ed

 

[fla4fun]

And I want to add that I have thoughts about the phrase "covered up". I don't know where it is that Disney is under any obligation to pro-actively publish or release information about "accidents". Oh they've happened but we know about them because I was there to see the clean up, or someone else was, or a bystander talked to a CM with loose lips.

If there is bad news, Disney doesn't put that out usually. And is under no obligation to. To the degree accidents are serious with injured parties, I'm sure there are Non-Disclosure Agreements in place.

Seriously, cutting out under-age drivers and alcohol behind the wheel (if you could) would help the numbers (whatever they are) in a big way.

Bama Ed

Anything that ends up involving actual law enforcement, as opposed to Disney Security alone, is probably part of the public record and anyone can get that in Florida. You just have to request it, so a little research so you know what to request would be needed. I would bet there are people who search police and emergency lists looking for theme park calls and then following up by requesting a report. IIRC there is a general report that comes out every so often (maybe quarterly?) that includes theme park emergency calls. I was just reading about one last week, where there was one death and two incapacitated guests on it, but no details. It would be a good starting point for someone wanting to research though.

If there was an accident involving a cart at the Fort, would the driver be subject to a breathalyzer or other alcohol detector? I would assume so but then, being on private property they might not have to. Perhaps they should if they don’t though. I am sure that drivers of cars and trucks driving on Disney property would have to do so, but for the most part you would have regular law enforcement dealing with motor vehicle accidents. I have never seen a cart accident so I don’t know what the protocol is for determining someone was driving a cart under the influence.

I agree that no one without a drivers license should be driving a golf cart, private or Disney owned. At least if someone has their license they should have some idea what to do behind the wheel, plus it’s a simple thing to enforce. No license, no drive. We put all three of our licenses on the cart rental paperwork, but only two people ended up driving it. Better to be prepared than not.

 

[team bradfield]

I don't go to the beach to watch fireworks anymore, parents let kids drive the carts on that narrow path, we've had to stop while dad tries to get the cart over to make room for 2 carts, I think dad was having too many cocktails and let little Suzy drive

 

[fatmanatee]

Anything that ends up involving actual law enforcement, as opposed to Disney Security alone, is probably part of the public record and anyone can get that in Florida. You just have to request it, so a little research so you know what to request would be needed. I would bet there are people who search police and emergency lists looking for theme park calls and then following up by requesting a report. IIRC there is a general report that comes out every so often (maybe quarterly?) that includes theme park emergency calls. I was just reading about one last week, where there was one death and two incapacitated guests on it, but no details. It would be a good starting point for someone wanting to research though.

WDWNT very notably keeps a close eye on this sort of stuff and are more than happy to report on what they've found, even if it's minor offenses.

 

[Scalemaster34]

Way back when it opened, they had a train for getting around the loops and campground. It was awesome and wish they still had that - but it was deemed too noisy, too polluting, etc and was taken out (you can still see the track ties in some places).

Also too dangerous, as they was an accident with a kid on a bike.... as the train cross several bike trails with no arms.

Was no cover up as the story made the news, but the kid was not hurt very bad.....