ME and Accidents?

[Tink9748]

Ok, call me paranoid but within the past two weeks there have been several accidents between buses and semi's in our area. Has anyone heard of or been involved in any accidents while using ME?

 

[OKW Lover]

Ok, call me paranoid but within the past two weeks there have been several accidents between buses and semi's in our area. Has anyone heard of or been involved in any accidents while using ME?

I'd be surprised if there hadn't been any accidents involving the ME busses. Disney Magic can only go so far.

 

[safetymom]

No serious accidents that I am aware of.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I would suggest that if there was any kind of an accident that ranked higher than fender bender.... someone would have spotted it in the news by now.

The only accidents of note I can find are :

- a lawn care worker is hit by a bus on Disney property. Doesn't indicate the bus was owned by Disney. http://www.wftv.com/news/9013700/detail.html

- a tour bus (not owned by Disney) on the way to Disney World hit a transport truck. (happened in PA) http://www.nbc25.com/main/modules/news/article.php?storyid=2287

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

With all the crazy tourists out there, it's not impossible.

However, those drivers drive those roads every day. They know the spots where people try to do stuff, and anticipate most of it.

Not to mention, because of the size of a coach, and the design, it absorbs most of the energy upon impact, thus making any accident safer for the bus than the poor car.

 

[ducklite]

I saw an accident between a Disney bus and a tourist who was looking everywhere but where they should have been and rear ended the bus. No visable damage to the bus, bumper damage to the car. Neither was going very fast at the time.

Anne

 

[Goofy_4_WDW]

It really surprised us last time we were on a ME bus that there are no seatbelts. I felt uncomfortable to have my children riding in a vehicle that had no seat belts.

 

[ducklite]

It really surprised us last time we were on a ME bus that there are no seatbelts. I felt uncomfortable to have my children riding in a vehicle that had no seat belts.

Many school buses don't have them. I've never been on a public bus that did. You can always rent a car if that would make you feel more comfortable.

Anne

 

[Lewisc]

It really surprised us last time we were on a ME bus that there are no seatbelts. I felt uncomfortable to have my children riding in a vehicle that had no seat belts.

Then you may want to rent a car. Not only don't many school buses and public buses have seat belts but the Disney buses that take you to the parks also lack seat belts.

 

[Allison]

I don't think I have ever been on any bus that had seatbelts.

 

[CanadianGuy]

I have never been on a bus, public transit system, subway, chartered bus or similar conveyance that had seat belts. Seems like a no-brainer in this day and age.

Heck, I remember being like.. 9 years old and looking at the big steel bar on the seat in front of me on the bus thinking - dang.. I'd lose ALL my teeth if this thing were in an accident.

J

 

[grimley1968]

Me and Accidents? Well, I have to say I'm no stranger to accidents. I've had 2 separate cars totalled by rear-end shots and another rear-end shot when a cell-phone talking Mercedes driver clocked me and gave me a nice little case of whiplash for about 4 months. Yes, ME and accidents are peas in a pod. I have a target on my back.

Oh wait, I get it: you're talking about Magical Express and accidents.

Sorry, couldn't help that.

Seriously, anytime you have a transportation system that's moving that many people over quite a few miles from MCO to the resorts, there will surely be an accident someday, though I've never heard of one yet. However, I'd feel safer on those buses than just about any other form of transportation, even without seatbelts, although I do with they had them.

 

[safetymom]

A bus is designed to protect the occupants in the event of a crash without seat belts. The system is quite safe if you are riding on a bus.

 

[Disneydreaming6]

our state had this debate about seatbelts on buses (school) a few years ago. They decided that if there was an accident, there would be no way for the bus driver to unbelt all the kids on the bus, thus making it more dangerous in an emergency. My dd was 14, her and her chorus group was returning from competition on a greyhound type bus, the bus caught fire as soon as they were unloaded the whole thing just went poof, those few extra seconds would of been tragic if they had to undue seatbelts escpecially if they were the airline tpye where you have to pull it up to release and the kids are used to pushing the button.
I have been riding the disney buses with my ds since he was 6 mo old. I held him, and now he sits next to me. We have never had a problem.

 

[Chip 'n Dale Express]

It's hard to believe, but due to laws of physics, if a bus and a car were to have a collision, the car would be totalled, but the people on the bus might only feel a jolt. Buses are designed for all this in mind. For example, the high floor buses are designed to absorb the impact, and let the car go underneath the passenger compartment, leaving that undisturbed. Low-floor buses have extreme reinforcement along the sides. Here's an example... car totalled, bus barely a scratch. I believe this was at 30mph.

 

[seashoreCM]

The ME buses have even higher floors than older non-low-floor transit buses.

Now how many bus drivers have quick enough thinking to decide when to sacrifice an errant motorist instead of the busload of passengers.

For example it seems there are times when it is better to crash into a car that cut in front going the same way rather than tip over in the ditch at the side!

Also some states have faulty laws that blame the driver further to the rear. If a bus driver hit the brakes and it was not sufficient, the chances are he will hit the car further back. Whereas if the bus driver did not hit the brakes the accident may look more like the car driver's fault.

Perhaps examining the damage pattern may suggest how fast each vehicle was going and then one can extrapolate what the accident would have looked like if nobody tried to avoid it whcih is a better way to determine fault (still better but less common is using rules of the road), but no one has tested that in court yet.

 

[canwegosoon]

Bus vs Car...Bus wins every time. Very safe mode of transport, usually most injuries occur in bus rollovers envolving a bank or ditch. But...Bus vs Truck...truck usually wins(esp. if it is carrying solids)-at least in my accident that's the way it went down.