Mears Transportation - The Day I've Been Waiting For

[Big Wallaby]

Well, it happened. As I told you previously, the next time a Mears driver puts my passengers in danger, I am going to resort to blackmail to get their attention. Today, that day has come.

On my way from Epcot to Coronado, I was turning from World Drive Southbound to Buena Vista Drive Westbound. Anyone that's been through that intersection repeatedly knows that it is one of the most dangerous places on property. I did what I always do, I pulled into the merge lane so I could properly see the oncoming traffic behind me in my mirrors.

Once traffic cleared and I started to move, a Mears bus (563) pulled out from behind me, went around me, and cut me off on his way into the main entrance of Coronado... about 500-750' beyond the intersection stated above. He was in such a rush to get his passengers dropped off, he couldn't wait for me to get started up and beyond the main entrance, an prospect of about 45 seconds, overall... if I were in a slow bus and really took my time. I wasn't and I didn't. However, he risked his passengers and my passengers safety, as I caught up to him and he came over from the left lane into the right turn lane, almost knocking me into the grass. That was two lane changes across two lanes in a twenty second period.

So now, I am going to work on a three-pronged approach. First, I will be using this thread from now on to list every time one of their drivers cuts me off, scares my passengers, or does anything within my sight line where I am left wondering how Cracker Jacks got permission to hand out CDL's. In any thread where I report what I see, I will be completely factual, adding nothing of my obvious disdain for a company that obviously cares so little about the safety of their passengers or the lives around their buses. This is for two reasons: to share with you my work in my documentation, and to create a timestamp of when things happen, so that if Mears should suddenly start to care, I can take them back to the exact date (time of incident will be included in the posts). I will not expressly share with them this site, however if they ever make their way in here and find this thread, I hope it does them some good.

The second thing I am going to do is begin production of my audio "commercial". Once produced, I will send it to the head offices over at Mears and let them know what I think of their company and the drivers they hire.

The final step, and the most important to me, is reporting to the Safety CIP hotline every infraction I see. If that is just what one observant driver is seeing, imagine just how much their drivers are doing that is unsafe on Disney property when there isn't someone who cares about safety around to see their actions. Honestly, Disney should be ashamed that they have contracted Mears for so much business. Hopefully, with my campaign, they might see the truth of what their drivers are doing out on the road. While I won't hold my breath, I would much rather it be by my thread than by the maiming or death of an innocent bystander that what I want to see happen comes about: Safety on the roads at Disney World.

When I was talking about this before, I was laughing about it, while still upset. Venting is the word, I believe. However now, it saddens me to feel the need to take measures such as these. Having been in the motor coach business, having friends still in the business, I hate to go to a company and start documenting what drivers are doing in hopes that they are taken off the road, as it's not a training issue (they handle the buses fairly well), but an attitude issue.

Therefore, these steps are to begin immediately.

Below is the form I will use to report.

Date:
Time:
Bus Company:
Bus Number:
Location:
Brief Description of Incident:
Video of incident*? Y/N

Next, is work on the commercial. I need help with scripting and voice acting. A few people have offered their services, but now I am as serious as a heart attack and want to get this thing done. Background Music is the music for Soarin'.

Thank you for bearing with this marsupial on the issue I bring up. Come hell or high water, or both (the question being whether the water will extinguish hell, or hell evaporate the high water), I want to see the streets of Disney World be a safer place for myself and my passengers. I am not scared of what a small car can do to me. Further proving my belief that a passenger car can hit my bus at any speed and cause few to no injuries to my passengers is the story of a driver I met the other day, who was involved in a horrendous accident on BVD, where everyone in the car that T-boned him died, and yet there were no injuries on his bus. That car was said to be doing close to 90 when it hit the side of the bus. I have no fear of passenger cars, but a Van Hool would wreak havoc on my bus in far too many situations, as it is five feet longer, four feet taller, and heaver by at least a weight similar to about two fully-loaded passenger cars. That very back wheel you see on a motor coach? Its purpose is to relieve the main rear axle of 10,000 lbs in order to make the ride smoother.

Now, I play hard ball.

[Princess Susi]

WOW! I am sorry you have to be out there on the road with these jags! :( But many thanks for taking the time and the compassion to do something about it. I don't know what I can do to help, except that whenever I am in WDW report what I see as well. Unfortunately that is not often enough since I am in Denver. You rant and vent as much as you want...I think your plan is a good one. It is well thought out and comprehensive and I pray that will find some action from it!
Thanks Big Wall for looking out for everyone! :driver:
Susi

[Shorty82]

I'm sorry that it has had to come to this but you have a duty to keep you and your passengers safe. From this and other threads here it sounds to me that Mears hires monkies to drive for them. They're the ones who operates the DCL busses, right?

Big Wallaby, stay safe out there and watch out for idiot drivers, be they Mears or not. I hope you are able to do something about these unsafe drivers, they need to be taken off the road. If they do that kind of thing around another bus I shudder to think what they do around passenger cars.

[svickersart]

Doesnt mears have the contract for Magical Express? Cant you report them to someone at Disney to take action? Or have you already done this and nothing has been done?
Steve

[bpgstudios]

You know, it was your thread earlier that saved me from a little accident the other day. Since you mentioned to beware of Mears busses, I had been keeping a bit more extra room between me and them. Good thing too, as one of them merged into one lane then right back into mine. Didn't get the number; this was a few days ago.

[JAG]

Wow, that is quite scary! Should I not use DME for my trip next month?

[JAG]

Wow, that is quite scary! Should I not use DME for my trip next month?

[Big Wallaby]

Wow, that is quite scary! Should I not use DME for my trip next month?

The nice thing about being on a motor coach is that you are often the biggest thing on the road. In fact, a fully loaded motor coach can weigh as much or more than a semi truck that has to be placarded. For that reason, unless the driver puts the bus on its side (something I've not heard of happening at Mears), you are safe in almost any accident. In fact, if they plow into someone or get hit, you'll never feel it as a passenger, as you will be so far above almost any impact. The other car will hit the side, back or front of the bus and at the farthest go into two I-beams that run the length of the bus, but all under your feet. In a T-boning at 70 mph, you would feel a bit of a bump. Van Hools (the bus Mears uses primarily), Prevost and MCI (the bottom of the barrel of buses, in my mind) are all designed for the safety of their passengers. It's those of us on the other side of the fiberglass that are at risk.

[ktulu]

Hmmm...the magical express is handled by mears, yes? That means I'll be putting my family's saftey into the hands of the driver. If the driver does anything stupid, they are going to hear from me, Mears will hear from me as well as Disney. Maybe I should bring my video camera just to tape the ride to/from the airport...

[tacoboy]

this is just more justifacation for my mother's line of thought in my career choice.

"I let my kid go on any of the rides. Trust me, they are much safer than any of the traffic on the road"