I haven’t addressed the constant crashes at Disney parks because I figured that these things happen. I didn’t want to contribute to alarmism, and I thought I’d wait and see how Disney addressed the problem. But the crashes keep happening, so I’m wondering what’s going on.
It’s really getting inexcusable. Three accidents within less than three weeks. Several people have been injured, and in one horrible incident, a nine-year-old boy was killed.
Parks have accidents, and that’s something we accept when we go to them. But if this were a ride that had that many accidents within a short period of time, they’d shut it down.
Does this mean they should shut their bus system down? Maybe. At least until they can figure out, what, exactly, keeps going wrong: driver negligence, engine trouble, or whatever keeps happening.
It would be an inconvenience, but at this point I think most people would rather err on the side of caution and have to walk, or find alternative methods of transportation. Another idea some commentators have floated is that maybe it’s time for the Disney World buses to get fitted with safety belts.
The idea feels a bit jarring at first; after all, not even school buses are fully equipped with seat belts. We’ve come to the point, however, where I don’t trust whatever Disney’s been doing up until now to guarantee safety on their buses. So seat belts sound like a smart additional precaution.
What I want to know is what Disney has been doing over the past couple of weeks, as the accidents keep piling up. I’m sure that’s what everyone’s wondering. Disney hasn’t had much to say about the incidents, but what they have said isn’t comforting.
They claim that they are reviewing their transportation system, but despite the accidents they feel that it’s still safe. I’m not so sure about that.
I just don’t see any excuse at this point. If I were going to go to Disney World in the coming months, I’d be wary about using their bus system. I know it could all be coincidence, all of the accidents happening this close together, but I’d rather not take the risk.
Disney is like the quintessential American family vacation destination. That means that their safety standards, particularly when applied to children, need to be the best in the business. What just baffles my mind, as I’ve implied earlier, is that these accidents keep happening not on the rides, but on the buses.
Millions of buses operate around the country on a daily basis, and yet I can never recall news of this many accidents happening in such a short time to any other one bus system. If Disney World wants to keep its reputation as the most Magical Place on Earth, they’d better shape up, fast, in the safety department.
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*(This image by Brenda is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.)
