College athlete sues Disney World, saying he lost a season after being run over by a scooter.

RaySharpton

Retired and going to Disney.
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Oct 28, 2000
College athlete sues Disney World, saying he lost a season after being run over by a scooter. By GABRIELLE RUSSON ORLANDO SENTINEL | JUN 18, 2020

An accident during his Disney World vacation cost a college basketball player his season, a new lawsuit filed against the theme park alleges.

As David Maynard walked through Hollywood Studios, an electric scooter driver approached from behind and ran into him in May 2018, the lawsuit says. The crash severed 97% of his left Achilles tendon, which required surgery and extensive physical rehabilitation, the suit says.

So Maynard missed the upcoming basketball season, according to his lawsuit seeking more than $30,000 and filed last week in Orange Circuit Court.

“Maynard has suffered great pain and anguish of the body and mind,” his lawsuit said, which accuses Disney of allowing scooters too close to pedestrians and not properly training the unknown driver of the Disney-owned scooter, among other allegations.

When reached for comment, Disney spokeswoman Andrea Finger said, “This is a matter is between two guests, and we will respond to the allegations as appropriate in court.”

The lawsuit gives clues where Maynard plays but doesn’t explicitly say which school other than to reveal that he is a Utah resident who attends college in New York.

Colgate University, located in Hamilton, New York, has a David Maynard of Herriman, Utah, listed on the basketball team’s roster. Maynard missed the entire 2018-19 season with an injury, the school website says.

Maynard, now a senior, was the second most accurate three-point shooter for the Colgate Raiders, which compete in the Patriot League.

Neither Maynard’s attorneys nor the Colgate athletic department returned messages for comment.

Last year, the Orlando Sentinel reported on the recent rise in scooter-related lawsuits involving incidents at the theme parks.

Scooters pose a complicated challenge for Disney and other theme parks to regulate since the electronic vehicles carry the same legal protection as wheelchairs, a disabilities advocate told the Sentinel.

Disney cannot ban scooters, and it’s difficult to limit who can drive them.

For many Disney-goers, the scooters are their lifeline to enjoy their vacations at the giant theme parks as they live with mobility issues and other health problems.

Some scooter drivers said it’s difficult to drive them in crowded parks with people regularly darting in front of them or casting judgment on them.

Maynard’s lawsuit is at least the fourth scooter-related lawsuit this spring filed against theme parks in Orange Circuit Court.

Last month, Marcia Clemencia Estrada, 84, of Colombia, sued SeaWorld, a company that rents scooters, and a scooter driver who she claims ran into her and fractured her right leg in multiple places in 2018, according to her suit.

Her attorney Eric Ellsley blamed SeaWorld for not properly training the driver to safely operate the scooter or restricting scooters to certain areas.

Linda Lopez of North Carolina sued Universal in late April after she said she flipped over while riding her scooter up a ramp last year at Universal Studios Florida. She fractured her right arm and hurt her head.

“When people visit these parks, they have an expectation and belief the parks are safe and all building codes were complied with. We believe that this was not the case here and our client was badly injured as a result,” Morgan & Morgan attorney Susan Payne said in a statement.

And New York resident Darlene Anchikites sued Disney in March after she said she tipped over on her scooter when her Epcot-bound Disney bus took a sharp turn in 2017.

SeaWorld and Universal declined to comment.

The scooters sometimes caused tension among visitors.

In late September, a man “traveling at a high rate for a scooter” crashed into a stranger’s leg near Epcot’s Mexican Pavilion, according to an Orange County Sheriff’s Office report.

When the woman yelled, “You hit me!” the man kept going and ran over her foot with the rear tire.

The driver rode away while other passers-by shouted at him, the report said.

The woman said her bones were fragile from a previous injury when she had just taken off a medical boot a week earlier. Now, the crash broke her pinky toe and left her bruised, the sheriff’s report said.

In recent times — at least until the coronavirus shutdown in March — big crowds tightly packed together at the parks, which seemed full throughout the year.

Now, the atmosphere is changing at Disney World, Universal Orlando and SeaWorld as the parks have announced safety plans to limit their attendance and enforce social distancing to try and keep visitors safe during the global pandemic.

John Gregory, owner of the Orlando Rising website that covers Orlando’s parks, expects people will likely be more mindful of staying spread apart, which could help cut down on collisions between scooters and walkers.
 
I think Disney gets a lot of these kinds of suits, most of which seem to end up dismissed. There is a lawyer who follows some of the cases and posts on the DisUnplugged forum. I haven't seen this one in particular, but I haven't really looked either.
 
I wouldn't be opposed to having Disney "mini train" people who rent their ECVs. It can even just be a couple of cones set out to let the person drive, steer and stop. Most people renting them have never used one in their life and have no idea how they work. The last trip to Disney, we saw three relatively major accidents that were all operator caused. (crashing into poles, misjudging ramps, not looking forward while moving, that sort of thing) People think it's jump on and go.
 


I wouldn't be opposed to having Disney "mini train" people who rent their ECVs. It can even just be a couple of cones set out to let the person drive, steer and stop. Most people renting them have never used one in their life and have no idea how they work.

I thought that they already gave a mini-lesson? Although something like a mini driving test with the cones could be useful.
 
I don't know what is going to happen, but I understand the pain and frustration of the person being hurt. Besides the obvious personal pain of the hurt individual, the possible disturbance of their expensive trip, the possible cost of medical care, the possible loss of vacation time with family, the frustration of everything they have to deal with, etc.

I don't have an answer.

I think mobility scooter renters should sign some kind of rental form stating that they may be responsible for accidents to other guests if it was determined to be the mobility scooter renter's fault.

But what if it was the hurt guest's fault for running in front of the mobility scooter renter?

How do they prove what really happened?

So many mobility scooter renters deserve the freedom and joy to experience WDW.

I can see both sides.
 
Back in May of 2018 there was a woman who sued Disney for being hit by a scooter. I don't know what the outcome of that one was. I looked but didn't see it in my quick search.
 
The problem with "training" is that then whoever does the training (whether it's Disney or an outside vendor) might be considered "responsible" for the driver's actions by the court? I can certainly see having some "recommended training time", but I don't see Disney setting aside any amount of precious real estate for a practice slalom through the cones at the Parks entrances. Vendors could (and probably *should*) have some "training suggestions" like practicing going up and down ramps, backing up, going through doorways, etc. at the Resort Hotel where the unit is delivered (maybe even make it in the form of a sheet that the new driver can check off the boxes) but that may open the vendor(s) to too much potential liability as well. That's a question for an attorney. I am not one, nor do I play one on TV...

All too often, people think they can show up at the gates, hop on a rental scooter, and just "go!", but the reality - as those of us who are regulars here know - is that there is a learning curve, and a crowded, densely packed theme park really isn't the place to get your sea legs.

That's why I have long recommended that people at least get used to driving the motorized shopping carts at their local Walmart store - no, it's not the same, but it *does* give them SOME training in operating a motorized mobility device in real world conditions. I don't know about where any of y'all live, but at our local WM Supercenter, you can get a good, solid training session on any given Saturday that will help prepare you for the busiest days at Food & Wine! Those carts do handle differently, but the driving *concepts* are the same - you have to watch out for others, learn how to turn corners without wiping out someone else, and get used to driving without brakes.

Failing that, I am also a strong proponent of mandatory delivery at the Resorts hotel; that way the new driver has a chance to "practice"a little bit in a somewhat less chaotic setting before they hit the Parks. (sometimes literally)
 

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