A wrongful death lawsuit was settled over the death of a 9-year-old boy who was riding his bike when he was run over by a Walt Disney World bus in April 2010.
The boy was at a Disney resort with his family when the tragic accident happened.
FHP said the boy and an 11-year-old friend were riding bicycles when the victim veered off the sidewalk and into the bus. He fell off his bike and was run over by the bus’ right rear tire.
The boy’s family insists the crash was the fault of Disney and the driver, who had 30 years of experience with the company.
The mother of the victim filed an auto-negligence lawsuit against Disney and the bus driver in October 2010. This suit was settled last month for undisclosed terms. The family believes that Disney’s negligent behavior caused the April 1, 2010 crash. They claim Walt Disney World failed the boy and caused his death by neglecting to design a road that would keep him safe from harm.
Court documents claimed the victim was killed because the sidewalk is too close to the road, the bus wasn’t properly maintained and the bus driver did not get adequate breaks throughout the day.
FHP investigators determined that the bus driver was not at fault. No charges were filed. Investigators say that the boy was “solely responsible” for the accident.
In the crash report, FHP said the crash happened because the boy’s bicycle had a flat rear tire and an underinflated front tire that could have contributed to the crash. FHP said that he should not have been riding the bike on those tires.
The family hired accident reconstructionists, biomedical engineers and human factors experts to come out to the scene of the accident and all disagree with the FHP’s findings.
The terms of the settlement are confidential but a Disney spokeswoman said that the case has been settled to the parties’ satisfaction.
For more information contact one of our Gacovino Lake attorneys at 1-800-246-HURT (4878).
