Please be careful with scooters

[KanataDad]

Hello everyone,
I wanted to share our experience from Dec 17th, 2015 around 6 pm. Most people on scooters are very careful in the various parks. But we had this one incident where we were walking from Tomorrowland towards the castle to catch Elsa/Anna lighting up the castle. It was 30 minutes before the show. There was one person on a scooter was in a such hurry and with people walking slowly decided to use the scooter to drive into several people to push them aside. You could hear people say "hey" as they got bumped into.

My MIL (mother in law) got run over her foot/ankle and the scooter never slowed down, just continued on pushing/ramming other people aside. At this point MIL was unable to walk due to the pain. She already has a bad knee and ankle, and the incident with the scooter made it worse. We found a CM who was able call for a wheel chair. We spent the next 2 hours at the nurses station getting her iced and they asked that she put her leg up. Her foot/ankle was red and swollen. Not broken but still injured.

The next day (which was our last day at WDW) we had to rent a wheel chair, but my MIL and FIL had to leave MK early as she was still in a lot of pain. We stayed back for a little while longer but decided we'd also head back to the resort to see how MIL was doing.

This was a rare incident with a scooter. The previous days at the various parks we never saw anyone like this. It's unfortunate that one person who has a disability uses a device that is meant to help their mobility to injure someone else to the point the other person is no longer mobile (and ruin their vacation).

Don't mean to offend any one who uses a scooter or wheelchair because we've never seen anyone else do this. But if you're that one person who did this I just want to say you should not be allowed in the park again.

 

[nikkislaght]

wow, how horrible for your wife, you and the rest of your family.. I hope she is ok .. And you are right .. not everyone is as self centered.. but the ones that are. really need a reality check.. which is saying a lot seeing that you were in the land of fantasy.. Hope your wife heals fast.. and has no lasting damage...

 

[KanataDad]

It was my mother in law. It took her a couple of weeks before she was completely out of pain.

And just want to emphasize it was 1 person who seemed completely inconsiderate of the people walking in front or around him. I wish we were able to stop him and report him but he was moving at such a fast speed, and we were more worried about MIL's condition than trying to catch the guy.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

as an ECV user the only person I have run over was the young lady who had her foot in front of my wheel as I made a switch back in the line. I asked her to back up but her answer was she was to fill in all space between us. so as I moved forward around corner I ran over her foot. when she complained to a CM wanting me removed from the line, the CM asked her how I ran over her foot when she was behind me in line? her answer was at a switch back, the CM looked at her oh you were trying to pass her as that would be only reason your foot should have been where I could run over her foot. she was mad and I guess she ended up at GS. so it does go both ways and there is no reason use ECV to move people but I have had people run into my stopped ECV and complain that I hit them. it goes both ways you should not run into people but people should also be aware of those in ECVs and not walk right in front of a moving ECV and expect it to stop on a dime as they do not work that way, I am not standing up for person who hit your MIL but just saying it is not always just the ECV driver

 

[xlxo]

Sadly this is becoming ever more common with an aging population. I've since invested in steel toes.

 

[KanataDad]

Just like with traffic accidents between cars, and cars and pedestrians, etc., some times it's truly an accident, but lots of times it's because of plain disregard for others sharing the roadway.

Not sure the exact speed of how fast a scooter can go. If one is making the effort to avoid a collision and asking people to step aside then that's ok. And yes, people should be aware and not step in front of a moving scooter because it's a vehicle with momentum that cannot stop on a dime. Same happens at grocery stores when you're walking along and someone decides to step in front of your fully filled cart. The momentum of the moving cart may not be the same as the scooter but try stopping a filled cart when someone just steps in front of it.

People have to use common sense. If one sees a stationary or slow moving car/bike/pedestrian/crowd - one should not use their vehicle as a tool to move them aside to get through faster. And also, if you're walking along and see a vehicle moving don't jump right in front and expect them to stop.

We use stroller and walk slowly with the crowd and we always say excuse me if we see a group of people blocking a path. And it takes us a lot longer to get through a crowded area because we have to take it upon ourselves to make sure our stroller does not bump someone. I think it's also the same with most people who use scooters. They move along with crowds slowly and make sure they don't bump into people if avoidable. And even at very slow speeds you have people who step right in front of the stroller, and I can't stop in time and bump them. But I still stop and say sorry to the person. May be that's just me.

But when a person uses their vehicle at a much higher speed relative to the rest of the moving people/scooters as a means (I'd like to even say as a weapon) to move/push people aside (and not giving people the time to step aside) then it's just plain irresponsible and dangerous. In this specific incident he never slowed down once even after repeatedly bumping into several people, not once said excuse me, or looked back and said sorry. It seemed he just wanted to make it to some final destination as fast as possible (faster than the moving crowd) without a care who was in his path.

 

[GranJan]

I use a scooter & your complaint does not offend me. I see people all the time going way too fast on scooters & even though I'm on one myself, some of them scare me. I saw on another post that one of the park rules is that an ECV should not be traveling faster than the people walking around it. I agree with this...it should be your way of getting around because you would not be able to without it. An ECV should NOT be used as your way to travel more quickly through crowds...weaving around pedestrians. People do frequently dart out in front of me but as the driver of a motorized vehicle in crowds of people I feel it's my responsibility to be on the lookout & go extra slow in crowds. If someone steps in front of me & I hit them, they're more likely to be injured than I am & I'd feel awful about that, no matter whose fault it was. My ECV is small & I get run down by some of the huge park rentals with what my husband calls "battering rams" on the front. After Wishes on our last trip, in a packed crowd, a woman on one of those drove into the plastic wheel cover of my new ECV & broke it. I was so mad, the crowd wasn't even moving but she saw a 1ft wide space & tried to fit her 2 ft wide scooter through it. She just laughed & said, "I guess there's not enough room" Guess it was good she hit my ECV instead the person walking beside me.
Anyway, as an ECV user, I agree 100% that drivers need to be careful & go slow. I'm sorry your mother in law was hurt.

 

[JennyDrake]

I'm very sorry for what happened. While there is NO excuse, I have been involved twice when two, different seniors on ECVs became overwhelmed and confused and accidentally ran into people. It was by NO means deliberate!!! And as they had not been in those *exact* situations before (let's face it, how do you mock up WDW crowds and conditions?) there was no way to anticipate what happened.

I'm sorry your MIL was hurt.

 

[seashoreCM]

Unfortunately most of the miscreants alluded to here do not read these forums let alone care. Perhaps these forums can serve another purpose, to get the word out to stop the miscreant so some impartial third party such as from Disney Security can come and mediate and amends made. Seizing the key of the offending scooter is an effective method of stopping a miscreant. Many times an affected family member can remain still at the scene while someone else chases the miscreant.

Although the number of deliberate incidents may be small, most incidents involve some very careless or very negligent act. Failure to stop and negotiate amends makes one a miscreant.

To better maintain a family atmosphere in the parks, Disney can work wonders to make consequences for miscreants and make almost everyone else go away almost happy. But first Disney needs to be made aware of the situation as quickly as possible after it happens.

... saw a 1ft wide space & tried to fit her 2 ft wide scooter through it...

This is an intentional act.

 

[GranJan]

Unfortunately most of the miscreants alluded to here do not read these forums let alone care. Perhaps these forums can serve another purpose, to get the word out to stop the miscreant so some impartial third party such as from Disney Security can come and mediate and amends made. Seizing the key of the offending scooter is an effective method of stopping a miscreant. Many times an affected family member can remain still at the scene while someone else chases the miscreant.

Although the number of deliberate incidents may be small, most incidents involve some very careless or very negligent act. Failure to stop and negotiate amends makes one a miscreant.

To better maintain a family atmosphere in the parks, Disney can work wonders to make consequences for miscreants and make almost everyone else go away almost happy. But first Disney needs to be made aware of the situation as quickly as possible after it happens.


This is an intentional act.

If we had noticed the damage that was done to my scooter at the time the incident happened, we probably would have reported it but it was dark & very crowded. I'm just glad it was an easily replaceable plastic piece she damaged & not someone's foot or ankle.

 

[UpstateMick]

I actually had a similar situation happen to me a few years ago. A woman was operating a scooter too quickly and ended driving up the back of my leg, knocking me to the ground. I am glad it happened to me and not my wife or eight year old daughter. I was very angry at first, but as soon as I made my way to my feet, I realized it was someone, who was apologizing profusely, who had rented the ECV for the second time in two days and was having a difficult time controlling it. No harm, no foul, as we ended with a big hug! Most of the people I have encountered are very polite and courteous when using them, but I can imagine for people who do not use them that often it must be difficult. We only saw one person on our last trip (9 days) who was traveling too fast and being very rude and obnoxious, so I think that is pretty good odds!

Sorry to hear about your incident. I certainly know what it feels like to be run over, even if it was a mistake!

 

[disney world dreamer]

um this happened in december 2015?
you mean 2014?
if so i wonder why you wanted this long to share your experience if you were that concerned.

also i find it odd that you put it in the disabilities section.

what makes you think the person on the scooter even had a disability?
its usually the people that have no right to be on the schooter that does the stupidest things.

in june 2007 i had my foot/ankle ran into by a scooter and my foot/ankle got stuck between the wheel and the foot rest.
i was bleeding slightly and it swelled up to twice its normal size within minutes but through tears i told my friend to keep going cuz we wanted to get to soarin at RD.
sometimes you just have to "suck it up" for the sake of disney lol.

 

[SMD]

Although the number of deliberate incidents may be small, most incidents involve some very careless or very negligent act. Failure to stop and negotiate amends makes one a miscreant.

Choosing to have a child in your lap, choosing to text or tke pictures while operating, choosing to exceed a walking speed and choosing to follow too close are all deliberate. If any lead to accidentally bumping someone or something, is that not deliberate as well?

 

[Gracie09]

I actually had a similar situation happen to me a few years ago. A woman was operating a scooter too quickly and ended driving up the back of my leg, knocking me to the ground. I am glad it happened to me and not my wife or eight year old daughter. I was very angry at first, but as soon as I made my way to my feet, I realized it was someone, who was apologizing profusely, who had rented the ECV for the second time in two days and was having a difficult time controlling it. No harm, no foul, as we ended with a big hug! Most of the people I have encountered are very polite and courteous when using them, but I can imagine for people who do not use them that often it must be difficult. We only saw one person on our last trip (9 days) who was traveling too fast and being very rude and obnoxious, so I think that is pretty good odds!

Sorry to hear about your incident. I certainly know what it feels like to be run over, even if it was a mistake!

DH was knocked down by an ecv driven by a gentleman who did not know what he was doing (using the fastest speed in lines. He didn't even realize there was a slow speed.) He apologized but we still lost most of the day because dh threw out his back and had to go back to the room. Thankfully, it wasn't dd1 who was 16 months at the time. I always recommend people who are new or don't usually use an ecv to meet with the people dropping off the ecv and get a lesson in how to use it. A little knowledge can prevent accidents.

 

[ttintagel]

Any time I've come close to striking someone with an ECV was because they ran out in front of me too quickly for me to stop. Ye canna change the laws of physics. The worst is when mothers pull or push their little children in front of you. Most people don't even look.

 

[stitchlovestink]

um this happened in december 2015?
you mean 2014?
if so i wonder why you wanted this long to share your experience if you were that concerned.

also i find it odd that you put it in the disabilities section.

what makes you think the person on the scooter even had a disability?
its usually the people that have no right to be on the schooter that does the stupidest things.

in june 2007 i had my foot/ankle ran into by a scooter and my foot/ankle got stuck between the wheel and the foot rest.
i was bleeding slightly and it swelled up to twice its normal size within minutes but through tears i told my friend to keep going cuz we wanted to get to soarin at RD.
sometimes you just have to "suck it up" for the sake of disney lol.

you act like they waited a year to share this...Geez it's only been a few months. Some times other stuff happens in our lives and these boards are not priority #1 and honestly for a while they were down for awhile for a big upgrade... why are you picking and making issues over everything in their post??

Since when is one required to have a disability to use a scooter/ECV? Pregnancy is not a disability but someone might really need one because it is just too much walking in the latter stages of pregnancy. My father is 84 and wanted to go to Epcot with me and has had a double knee replacement but doesn't technically have any true disability but due to multiple factors of his age (which is not a disability) and his ortho issues, an ECV would be appropriate for him. One doesn't need to have a disability to appropriately use an ECV.

 

[disney world dreamer]

you act like they waited a year to share this...Geez it's only been a few months. Some times other stuff happens in our lives and these boards are not priority #1 and honestly for a while they were down for awhile for a big upgrade... why are you picking and making issues over everything in their post??

Since when is one required to have a disability to use a scooter/ECV? Pregnancy is not a disability but someone might really need one because it is just too much walking in the latter stages of pregnancy. My father is 84 and wanted to go to Epcot with me and has had a double knee replacement but doesn't technically have any true disability but due to multiple factors of his age (which is not a disability) and his ortho issues, an ECV would be appropriate for him. One doesn't need to have a disability to appropriately use an ECV.

i just found it odd that someone would be so concerned as to post a thread about it when it happened several months ago at this point.
if it was that important to get out there then i would think the person would make an effort to let people know asap.
i'm sure it didn't take more than a few minutes to type it up.
btw other than the 1 day of transitioning to this new style board i haven't witnessed the boards being down at all in the last several months.
just saying.

btw i think you were missing my point.
the person put it in the disabilities section which made me feel like they ASSUMED that it had to be someone with a disability that would do something like this.
my point was that those with disabilities tend to know what they are doing vs someone off the street whether that person "needs" it or actually does need it.
if your 84yr old father knoew what he's doing then great but i've seen a number of people that have no clue what they are doing.
btw the whole double knee replacement? i'm fully aware of it as my mom has had it and she doesn't use an ECV.

 

[SirDuff]

i just found it odd that someone would be so concerned as to post a thread about it when it happened several months ago at this point.
if it was that important to get out there then i would think the person would make an effort to let people know asap.
i'm sure it didn't take more than a few minutes to type it up.
btw other than the 1 day of transitioning to this new style board i haven't witnessed the boards being down at all in the last several months.
just saying.

btw i think you were missing my point.
the person put it in the disabilities section which made me feel like they ASSUMED that it had to be someone with a disability that would do something like this.
my point was that those with disabilities tend to know what they are doing vs someone off the street whether that person "needs" it or actually does need it.
if your 84yr old father knoew what he's doing then great but i've seen a number of people that have no clue what they are doing.
btw the whole double knee replacement? i'm fully aware of it as my mom has had it and she doesn't use an ECV.

Might be valid if only people with disabilities post/read here (and, by the way, are you now in charge of deciding what constitutes a disability?). But they don't. Many people who ask about ECVs here are those who don't need them in their day-to-day lives.

And, as with the PP, I think the DISabilities section is the most appropriate spot for this thread (nor do I see a problem with the delay).

 

[lanejudy]

Enough arguing. OP shared his experience, several others followed up with similar. As gets mentioned frequently, everyine should be aware of others around them, whether walking or driving or pushing. I am closing this before it deteriorates further.