All this fuss seems this is a bit over the top.(and please dont tell me I dont understand becuase I helped my Mom for years with her wheelchair and then EVC, cuase she would say anything that makes things safer is fine by her!) All that has been done here is offering a pamphlet to people operating a *motorized vehicle* in a crowded public place.
This is becuase SOME of the people operating the *motorized vehicles* are not trained or expreinced in used the *motorized vehicles*.
No one is saying you cannot use the EVC or restricting where you can use it as most of the folks using them need them, and have every right to use them.
Where is it well known that the ECV accidents are caused by both walking people and the operators of the EVCs. Since some are not exprienced or trained, I don't see the issue with simply handling out a hamphlet...if you already know the safe and correct way to operate the EVC...then throw the thing away,end of story. But a little education on the behalf of the people operating a motorized velicle may prevent accidents.
We could just open a really big can of worms and reqiure a license to operate a EVC!, not what I would think is a good alturnative.
JMHO
AKK
I don't deny or have problems with saying that there are safety issues, just with the way that the pamphlet was handed out. It is 'window dressing' to be able to say 'see, we are doing something', but it's really doing absolutely nothing.
I think a pamphlet like that SHOULD be handed out when people rent a park rental ECV, along with some diagrams that show helpful things like how to adjust the speed, how to turn the seat, how to put it in and out of freewheel for pushing. As I mentioned before, DH and I have shown many people over the years how to adjust from Rabbit to Turtle.
Handing a pamphlet out to only ECV/wheelchair users as they come in is only addressing a tiny part of the problem, and not addressing it in an effective way.
There needs to be a general manners/behavior pamphlet for all guests, not just a tiny subset that people are mad about.
Many of the safety issues are caused by people OTHER than the user of the wheelchair or ECV. Those people need instructions on how to behave around ECVs and wheelchairs to avoid putting themselves or the users in danger.
People using strollers don't usually hurt others badly, but I have had my heels skinned badly more than once by someone who hit me repeatedly with their stroller. But, there would be a general outcry if they handed out a similar pamphlet, aimed only at stroller users.
I know each time there is a thread about ECVs on the Theme Parks Board, MANY people have misconceptions about how ECVs work and DO need some instruction.
They think someone using one can step on the brakes to make it stop; they don't understand about following distance and don't understand that a device like that needs space in front of them to make a turn (actually a 5 foot diameter circle!). People see a space in line in front of a wheelchair or ECV and fill it in, not realizing that they have gotten into the 'safety zone'.
I also think many of the off-site companies are negligent in the way they rent out ECVs (YES, I am using that word). You call and arrange for one, it is delivered to Bell Services before you arrive, you get it from Bell Services.
No instructions, no making sure the person knows how to use it safely if they have never used one before.
No making sure that the person actually read the rental agreement where it says the renter will not allow children to drive it and no passengers - only one person (the driver) on the ECV. There was even one company that In the past
encouraged people renting their ECVs to let their children/grandchildren hop on to ride.
I've also seen people driving who should not be - if Grandma is blind or has Alzheimer's and she's not trusted to drive a car, she should not be driving an ECV. Same, someone who is on pain medication that is making them 'loopy' - if you would not drive a car that way, you should not be driving an ECV either.
Disney does have policies to deal with these things, but if no one enforces them, a policy is only worth the paper it is written on.
I've seen WDW staff stop people many times and tell them to stop what they are doing:
- someone speeding
- someone holding a child on their lap who almost ran into something
- someone who was actually letting their child sit on their lap and drive the ECV
- and a man (Grandpa type) who was actually driving with a child on his lap and purposely running into a woman (? Grandma) repeatedly from the back for the child's amusement
All those people were:
- behaving in dangerous ways that are covered/prohibited by Disney policy
- warned by a CM
- stopped doing what they were warned about, but then went back to doing it once the CM was out of view
Those are the types of people causing most of the problems (those who don't feel the rules apply to them). A pamphlet is not going to help (heck, even a personal interaction telling exactly what they need to stop doing didn't stop them). What they need is some kind of a 'ticket' system where those guests get a warning and the next person who stops them has access to that information, so they can do something more about it.
