Originally Posted By Mr X ***38 years without a fatal accident, and what accidents have happened you can count on one finger, and you want to call that mediocrity? Any transportation system would be proud to have that record.*** I think you were closer with your "count on one hand" idea, I know of at least one major fire, and of course Disney tends to keep these things hush hush so we don't really have any idea how many minor (coulda been major) incidents have occurred. As for their record, when someone dies you don't get to be "proud" anymore. The Concorde had a 100% safety record, best in the air in fact, until one crashed, and then their safety record became "one of the worst in the air"... Just sayin.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 -em, was Purple holding at the primary during the spur line swith and then cleared into the EPCOT TTC station while Base cleared Pink into Monorail Base?
Originally Posted By -em From what I know and it makes sense to me... (Which is pieced from seeing the pics, watching the video, knowing what I know of 'rails, and reading a few boards is that) Purple was holding at Concourse/TTC with guests on board (though I'm not sure if they were arriving or departing-), and Pink backed into the station smashing into purple (which was the part I wasn't sure off as I knew Purple was chasing Pink all night- and then once I saw the video and saw the orientation of the trains in the station it made sense) The latest theory I've heard (which makes sense), is that Pink was cleared through the track switch to the Express beam and somehow the switch never engaged/happened so instead of backing safely onto the Express track (which happens daily) Pink was still on the Epcot spur... It explains why Purple was in station, why Coral was heading to the TTC and why pink ended up where it was (and currently is), and why noone saw it really coming as they all expected to see Pink rounding the bend just not as close as it was -em
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom This is awful. I am just found out about this and I'm in total shock.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom My thought go out to the family and friends of the Cast Member who was killed.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Oh man.. I am so upset I can't even type correctly. I intended to say my thoughts go out to the family and friends of the Cast Member who was killed.
Originally Posted By Mr X ***Someone apparently pulled information the operator's Facebook site - *** snip *** He made two interesting status updates: "has a 14 hr shift today" June 9th "Working Monorails 1:00 to 1:00" May 30th *Note, these are NOT the date of the accident, but shows he was being scheduled long hours**** Found this elsewhere. If true, Disney SHOULD be sued but good (particularly by the boy's family!). Are there no laws about 12-14 hour shifts for transportation drivers? Way to try and save a buck, Disney. I'll bet he fell asleep at the tail end of a brutally long, tedious shift.
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom I'm sure the driver who was killed was not expecting that monorail pink would be barreling toward him in reverse. I'm sure he never saw it coming. And yes he probably was zonked out after a long day.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost Well, if he is just sitting there and something backs into him exactly what difference does it make how many hours he worked? Shouldn't you be asking how long the other driver was working? If this scenario is true...then he was a victim not a defendant. No need to defend him...he did nothing wrong except show up for work.
Originally Posted By sjhym33 Disney doesn't schedule people 12-14 hours. A person either picks up the extra hours on their own or may have been asked to stay if they are short handed but a person can refuse. I dont believe that Monorail drivers fall under the law about drivers and long hauls. I believe that is more for buses and 18 wheelers which means long shifts behind a wheel. Monorail drivers rotate in and out of driving and loading.
Originally Posted By sharpc I would think that as a member of the college program, he could be scheduled for extended periods of time. I'm not sure what people involved in the college program are actually considered, but if they aren't actually employees, Disney might be able to circumvent the 8 hour law on transportation employees..
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom Your absolutely correct Goofyernmost. Clearly the driver at fault here was the driver of Monorail Pink. I'm not trying to suggest that other safety protocol were being followed since I don't think they were being followed. But the driver of monorail Purple was not at fault here.
Originally Posted By jkayjs This is a tragedy no matter how you look @ it. The fact is that there is absolutely no way to eliminate human error not even with machines I wish there were. Of course this will be of no comfort for those involved. Unfortunately many safety measures are discovered from tragic events. I made the mistake of thinking that only seasoned drivers would be @ the wheel thus my initial reaction that it might be medical. Perhaps a seasoned driver would have reacted differently & perhaps that will be one of the things that will change. The first stage of grieving is anger which I'm sure accounts for much of what we see on these threads when something like this happens. As for me I simply wish all involved the strength to get through this.
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL >>>Are there no laws about 12-14 hour shifts for transportation drivers?<<< That all depends on if they are covered under DOT (Department of Transportation) regulation. If so then YES, there are very strict guidelines in place to restrict just how long an employee can work. These regulations include ALL time at work not just time behind the wheel. So rotation out of the Monorail doesn't even come into play.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "This is a tragedy no matter how you look @ it. The fact is that there is absolutely no way to eliminate human error not even with machines I wish there were." I guess I just have a different view of the world than most people, but I don't have an "unsinkable ship" mentality. I wasn't sitting here and thinking that the monorail was never going to have an accident. I expect an accident on every mode of transportation be it plane, train or automobile. There is an inherent risk in traveling at high speeds in big machines. You make it as safe as you can, but you can never make it fail safe. What I focus on is accidents per passenger mile. That's how you get a good idea of how safe a mode of transportation is, and by far, the private personal automobile is the most dangerous form of transportation there is, and we are pretty much okay with that.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones Just a curiosity, whether you think it's immoral or not, I just want to know if there's a specific rule in the Disney World handbook that states that guests cannot film accident sites.
Originally Posted By Goofyernmost >>>Just a curiosity, whether you think it's immoral or not, I just want to know if there's a specific rule in the Disney World handbook that states that guests cannot film accident sites.<<< If there isn't...there should be. What was to be accomplished by continued filming. Did anyone of us actually want to see guts and gore? If we do, don't we have some problems of our own. Official police photo's that will not necessarily get back to the family or the public...OK! The filming simply for some gruesome curiosity...if Disney didn't stop it...had I been there I would have sent that camera to the bottom of the lagoon. Somethings are just wrong and that is one of them. We do not have a need to see the gore. His family did not need to see the gore, it is correct that the CM stopped it and I, for one, applaud him for doing so. Some things you just don't do. Like yelling fire in a crowded theater is not covered under the freedom of speech.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones "Somethings are just wrong and that is one of them." I wasn't talking about seeing the gore. I was talking about observing the aftermath, like the procedures followed and who did what. We would have learned a lot more about the Columbia accident if someone had been able to get footage of the aftermath. We'd know if Disney really rushed in and cleaned the accident site to cover things up.
Originally Posted By SpokkerJones While the situation is not exactly the same, I can think of some incidents where footage has helped make clearer an otherwise grisly scene. A few months ago an unarmed man was shot in the back at a BART station in the East Bay Area. Luckily for the family of the victim multiple passengers were filming with their cell phone cameras. While police confiscated some cameras (they shouldn't have been allowed to do that), footage from multiple angles reached YouTube and showed the officer murdering the man in cold blood. Without a tape, would the public outcry be as great? My point is that the camera catches impropriety on the part of officials, be them private or public, whom we trust to do the right thing. The camera is a powerful tool just for that purpose.
