Hmm.....really wondering what lawyer thought this was a good idea, I mean let's look at the basic premise:
"The lawsuit alleges that Disney was negligent because there are no designated scooter lanes to separate riders from visitors on foot and scooter drivers don’t get safety instructions."
Separate scooter lanes would most likely be a violation of ADA, as they would not be providing equal access.
Not sure if true, but I read that Disney refused to release security footage to the injured woman. Another rumor is it was a Disney rented scooter and again they refused to assist in identification. It’s sad that someone can severely injure another person and just keep on going and not face consequences. And the injured person is stuck with medical bills. Some health insurance will not pay if they feel there is another liable party to get reimbursed from. All I’m saying is there may be more details that will come out in court, if it gets that far.
IF this is true, then Disney could be on the hook for not releasing the footage, but it isn't their responsibility to change the flow of traffic.
Unpopular opinion: If someone is injured to the extent of needing surgery and having medical bills regarding that, then it's reasonable for them to sue. She's only asking for about 15k from what I read, which is realistically about the cost of her medical bills.
Obviously this is a problem, but no solution will be implemented until Disney has to. People getting hurt should be enough to trigger some evaluation of the situation, but if it takes lawsuits...
The problem is there really isn't much Disney can do, except for security to remind everyone to be courteous.
the sad thing is they let anyone rent/ride a scooter, last year we watched a family of four, normal size kids, large parents, all had scooters, the kids got off and ran to Star Tours, the parents walked and obviously had no troubles getting around on their own 2 feet,
Again, they legally can't restrict, aside from saying only those 18 and older. As for that family, I feel sorry for them dealing with four scooters in the park, but what you think you saw may not be what you actually saw. For example, the parents may have stamina issues, so yes getting around on their own two feet may work for a while, but then they need the assistance. The kids could have crowd issues that they can handle for a certain amount of time, but need a space they can retreat to, something that often would be handled with a medical stroller; however, if both parents need the ECVs, a stroller isn't an option, so thus the ECVs could have been deemed the best option. Please, don't for a second think you know what someone does and doesn't need just by looking at them for what amounts to a small fraction of their day and remember for many people they may not need an ECV all day or even every day, but they may not know when they are going to be needed, so they have them in case it happens.
After taking my first trip with someone who needed a mobility device I can say with certainty that there needs to be driving lessons for said mobility devices (driving through crowds, taking tight corners, and getting on/off a bus) as well as paying attention lessons, not stopping in the middle of the walkway lessons, and waiting your turn lessons for everyone not on mobility devices.
Since none of these things are going to happen I'm not really sure what a feasible solution for preventing this sort of accident in the future will be. Though I fully agree something does need to happen.
Really, it is up to the individual to have made sure they know how to safely operate an ECV in a crowd, but I would say 90% of the time the issues have nothing to do with the ECV driver, when I have needed one, I have been pulled off to the side of the road, completely stopped and someone runs into me and cusses me out, even though I am out of the way and not moving in any fashion.
Additionally, people seem to be under the impression that mobility devices stop on a dime, and while the ECVs that Disney rents now do, one of the reasons I would never recommend one of them, most don't because stopping on a dime tends to injure the person riding them, many of whom already have preexisting conditions that would be made even worse. It would be far better for people who are fully mobile to see people in mobility devices (manual or powered) and move out of their way instead of expecting the person in the mobility device to move, this is even more true with manual devices where they may be exerting a lot of effort to power them up a hill, etc. Now you want them to stop at the last second or swerve around someone who decided to jump out in front of them, this isn't always possible and people on both sides need to be more aware of their surroundings, but the bulk of the responsibility does need to go to the people not using mobility devices as it is easier for them to move.
