Another WDW bus accident today

Originally Posted By MPierce

<a href="http://www.wftv.com/countybycounty/23044258/detail.html" target="_blank">http://www.wftv.com/countybyco...ail.html</a>

Disney Bus And Disney Van Involved In Crash
Posted: 12:26 pm EDT April 3,2010
Updated: 2:17 pm EDT April 3,2010

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- For the third time in two weeks a Disney Bus is involved in a crash on Walt Disney World property.

The crash involving three vehicles, including a Disney bus and a Disney van, happened just before noon on East Buena Vista Drive and World Drive.

According to officials, the Disney bus rear-ended an SUV driven by an Ohio man which was then pushed into a Disney van. The SUV and the Disney van were stopped at a stop light.

We are told that there were 19 passengers on board the bus, but no injuries were reported in any of the vehicles.

The driver of the Disney bus, 81-year-old Fredeick Cassens, has been charged with careless driving

<a href="http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/os-crash-disney-bus-chevy-20100403-5,0,1360155.story" target="_blank">http://www.orlandosentinel.com...55.story</a>



A Disney bus driver has been charged with careless driving after two passenger vehicles were struck by the bus shortly before noon on Saturday.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, bus driver Fredrick Cassens, 81, of Auburndale struck the back of a 2009 Chevy sport utility vehicle after failing to see that the car was stopped at a stoplight. That impact caused the Chevy to hit the back of a 1999 GMC van, also a Disney vehicle.

The accident occurred at East Buena Vista Drive and World Drive.

There are no reports of injuries, and WESH.com is reporting that 19 people were on board the Disney bus.

The crash is the third such event on the theme park's property in the past two weeks, the most recent involving 9-year-old Chase Brubaker of Pinellas County, who was killed Thursday after his bicycle drifted into the side of a Disney bus at Fort Wilderness Resort.

 

Originally Posted By mousermerf


Well, that's 3.

 

Originally Posted By mousermerf


Betty White is safe to ride WDW transportation again.

 

Originally Posted By mousermerf

Or drive it, apparently, from the age of the driver of the bus..

 

Originally Posted By leobloom

I saw that story this morning, MPierce, and was waiting for someone to post something about it. I wonder how many pairs of soiled pants were in TDO offices this morning when the news broke.

I know not everybody here believes these accidents are indicative of Disney's bad safety. Some LP folks might say it's just bad luck. And even if I disagree with that, at least everyone seems to have been civilized in disagreeing.

The tone of the discussion at another MAGICal site has been pitiful. Not just the typical Disney-can-do-no-wrong attitude, which is to be expected, but when people start calling the dead kid's mother all sorts of names, I'd have to say the discussion has reached rock-bottom. No wonder Spirit stopped posting over there. It's just a pixie-dust gutter nowadays.

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

>> I saw that story this morning, MPierce, and was waiting for someone to post something about it. I wonder how many pairs of soiled pants were in TDO offices this morning when the news broke.
<<

I wonder if Meg Crofton has been requested to commit seppuku?

>> The tone of the discussion at another MAGICal site has been pitiful. Not just the typical Disney-can-do-no-wrong attitude, which is to be expected, but when people start calling the dead kid's mother all sorts of names, I'd have to say the discussion has reached rock-bottom. No wonder Spirit stopped posting over there. It's just a pixie-dust gutter nowadays. <<

That's really sad. I think for a site to be truly successful you need a balance.

 

Originally Posted By HokieSkipper

Pitiful, truly pitiful. Why they placed an 80 year old man as a bus driver is beyond me.

 

Originally Posted By leobloom

>> Why they placed an 80 year old man as a bus driver is beyond me. <<

$$$, why else?

 

Originally Posted By bobbelee9

Sorry ^^^, there was a time I would have felt that way. But I know a 93 year old who has more energy than my 66 year old husband. At 93 his hearing is a little bad, but he's full of life and has a big sense of responsibility. So I'd have to meet the 80 year old to judge his capabilities.

 

Originally Posted By MPierce

I imagin age discrimination would have something to do with it. If he passed the CDL, and his annual physical, and had a safe driving record it would certainly make Disney look bad if they didn't hire him. On a side note I would have offered him a different position within the company merely for the fact that when something like this occured everyone would point the finger at the guys age.

I'm curious to know what his long term commercial driving record is.

 

Originally Posted By HokieSkipper

^^^But the thing is, Disney doesn't hire for specific positions. They have openings in transportation, and fill them with applicants. When you apply for a frontline WDW position, you apply for a location, and then they give you a role.

 

Originally Posted By Manfried

It is definitely time for Disney Transportation to have a safety stand down.

 

Originally Posted By trekkeruss

<<I know a 93 year old who has more energy than my 66 year old husband. At 93 his hearing is a little bad, but he's full of life and has a big sense of responsibility. So I'd have to meet the 80 year old to judge his capabilities.>>

IMO, it's not about energy level. Reaction time and alertness is going to be slower at such an age. If airline pilots are forced to retire at 65, why should someone be driving a public bus at 80?

 

Originally Posted By barboy

///Pitiful, truly pitiful. Why they placed an 80year old man as a bus driver is beyond me///

Why they would place an Asian man as a bus driver is beyond me too....everyone knows that they can't see; to quote Andrew Dice Clay: "you can blind them with dental floss".

And guess what? I can't believe they let women drive buses too---- you know how those women drivers are.


Are you sure you want to age discriminate, HokieSkipper?

The question is whether or not the driver drives safely, not how old he is.

 

Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer

Sickening and incredible that people can defend that.


Also sickening and incredible- THIS. The THIRD accident in a year that seems full of them for WDW? something needs to change, before this happens on a ride. That always seems more serious.

 

Originally Posted By barboy

///If airline pilots are forced to retire at 65, why should someone be driving a public bus at age 80?///

Wow!!! You too trek?

Shouldn't we decide who should drive(or even fly for that matter) based on skills and abilities rather than gender, age or ethnicity?

 

Originally Posted By Goofyernmost

So you're saying that someone younger has never rearended another vehicle? Age, more than likely, had nothing to do with it. Stuff happens and in my long, long life it seems that things happen in groups and based on what it going on. If the fatal accident hadn't happened then the chances of you even hearing about this one would be practically non-existant.

I don't defend Disney but I will defend Bus drivers until the cows come home. All CDL drivers have to pass yearly physicals that include, hearing, sight and reaction time. Age itself has nothing to do with it. Physical abilities are the measurement. The situations out there on the highways are unbelievable and the problems are usually caused by incompetent young drivers.

Get off the age thing and stop thinking that anyone can forecast an accident. If you don't trust the buses, do not ride them. You have other options. Most arguments heard are...I don't want to drive around all that traffic. Those bus drivers drive in it all day long. With over 100 buses on the road at all times, they do a pretty good job of avoiding contact with all the non-professional drivers out there messing up the highways.

 

Originally Posted By trekkeruss

<<Shouldn't we decide who should drive(or even fly for that matter) based on skills and abilities rather than gender, age or ethnicity?>>

Yes, but what I'm advocating is testing beyond what is currently required. Skills and abilities do diminish with age; I don't think that is an opinion, but fact. So someone older should be tested more often, and with greater emphasis on skills testing.

 

Originally Posted By trekkeruss

<<The situations out there on the highways are unbelievable and the problems are usually caused by incompetent young drivers>>

That is certainly true too. Our system for training and licensing people to drive is very lax.

 

Originally Posted By HokieSkipper

It's a scientific fact that you lose reaction time as you age.

I wouldn't want an 80 year old driving me around WDW property knowing how guests drive there.