Bus Accident Involving High School Band on Way Home from WDW

This is an anonymous message board. This is exactly the place where people should feel free to express their feelings, however unpopular they might be.

It is insensitive when you are taking about loss of life and say that you feel relieved that an adult died rather than a child. That is disrespectful to the family of that driver and insensitive because you never know who is reading these boards.
 
It is insensitive when you are taking about loss of life and say that you feel relieved that an adult died rather than a child. That is disrespectful to the family of that driver and insensitive because you never know who is reading these boards.

The bus fell off a road and the person responsible for the bus is the one that died. I would have preferred that nobody died but since someone did, it's best that it was the captain of the ship.
 


The bus fell off a road and the person responsible for the bus is the one that died. I would have preferred that nobody died but since someone did, it's best that it was the captain of the ship.

Is it o.k. to give the driver equal sympathy if the bus had a mechanical issue? I hope the injured kids have a speedy recovery, especially the critical patient. Here's a picture of the kids (both bus loads) before they left WDW.

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I think it is normal to feel relieved that the people who were "in the care of" the person who may have caused the accident all made it out alive from the bus. Yes, I wrote that. The bus driver crashed the bus (I only read the article linked in this post). Was he driving all night and shouldn't have been behind the wheel? I don't know what the details are. I am assuming at that hour of the morning the kids were probably asleep. Maybe the driver had a medical emergency and that caused the accident. I am sure we will know more as they investigate. My daughter is going on a tour bus from MI to Disney World next month with her band and I am trusting the tour company to keep her safe and have drivers that can handle the trek. This is a horrible accident and I am sorry that anyone died, but I am so glad for those parents of the band kids that none of them are burying a child this week.
 


But anyway, your feelings on this are totally normal.

You may share the OP's feelings but enough of us don't that I wouldn't describe it as normal. Even she admitted to feeling badly about her comment.

To me, feeling terrible that this trip ended in tragedy is normal. Qualifying the tragedy, as the OP did, is insensitive at the least and shouldn't be normalized.
 
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It is insensitive when you are taking about loss of life and say that you feel relieved that an adult died rather than a child. That is disrespectful to the family of that driver and insensitive because you never know who is reading these boards.
Put yourself in the position of the BUS DRIVER. Which would you rather have happen... a bus accident where one of your passengers died, or a bus accident where you died? Those are the only two options. Obviously everyone is going to say "where no one died". Personally, I would feel so guilty (whether it's my fault or not) if one of my passengers died, I would gladly trade my life for theirs.

I had the same thought @FlightlessDuck did. Not that I don't have sympathy for the drivers' family nor wished for him to die, but there's a slight bit of relief that it wasn't a student who died. I'd probably feel the same if it was a teacher/chaperone.
 
It is insensitive when you are taking about loss of life and say that you feel relieved that an adult died rather than a child. That is disrespectful to the family of that driver and insensitive because you never know who is reading these boards.
Relax

He already acknowledged several times that he felt bad, and he wishes that the driver could have made it too. Throwing every possible scenario out there about who might come across what post in some online message board is just silly and argumentative. He gets it. We ALL get it. Beating a dead horse about it isn't helping except to draw the post to the top of the page - again - and if you feel that strongly about the driver's family possibly seeing this, then why would you want to make it easier to find?

PP, I totally get what your first reaction was about. I kind of felt the same way too - thank god the kids were all alive. It's very sad about the driver. I feel for his family and hope they will all be OK.
 
You may share the OP's feelings but enough of us don't that I wouldn't describe it as normal. Even she admitted to feeling badly about her comment.

To me, feeling terrible that this trip ended in tragedy is normal. Qualifying the tragedy as the OP did is insensitive at the least.
I share the OPs feelings also. And in fact was what I thought when I first heard the news. Maybe if enough of us agree with him, it will tip the scales and be a “normal” thought.
 
Never easy to lose a loved one no matter their age.

But the grief of losing a child, especially in the prime of their lives has got to be unbearable.

As a parent, we send our kids out the door every day hoping they come back to us safely. And yes, as bad as it sounds and as hard as it would be, it would be easier for me to lose my almost 50 year old husband than my child.

My husband has been able to live more and have more experiences than my kids. I'd (and he would too) like for them to live some of those experiences.

My own dad died at age 38. His dad was so distraught and wished it was himself and not his son. I'll never forget my grandfather's grief and as a parent, I get it.
 
Looks like a company called First Class Tours was the operator and they've had 4 crashes in the last 2 years. That's pretty unacceptable.

I would need to know the denominator in that equation and how serious the accidents before knowing if it is unacceptable. Is it out of a 100 trips; 1000 trips; 100,000?
 
I share the OPs feelings also. And in fact was what I thought when I first heard the news. Maybe if enough of us agree with him, it will tip the scales and be a “normal” thought.
Personally I wouldn’t base any guess as to what’s “normal” in everyday life off of what is determined as “normal” on the DIS.

I thought the same thing as Flightlessduck did, So take it for what is.
 
So no one has ever thought in a tragedy "at least the kids made it out ok." or "at least the kids didn't suffer." No one ever? I get what @FlightlessDuck is trying to say. I don't think she's saying "good I'm glad the bus driver died."
I knew what he meant too... While I think it's understandable to HAVE those feelings, I don't necessarily think one should voice those opinions.

I'm not going to jump all over him for it though.
 
You may share the OP's feelings but enough of us don't that I wouldn't describe it as normal. Even she admitted to feeling badly about her comment.

To me, feeling terrible that this trip ended in tragedy is normal. Qualifying the tragedy, as the OP did, is insensitive at the least and shouldn't be normalized.


FYI I said I felt the same thing briefly and felt bad too. Relief that it’s not one of your’s or one like your’s is very normal in a brief moment. He isn’t out celebrating the man’s death or anything.

You don’t think the parents of the students felt a small twinge of relief when they found out it wasn’t a student?

And I don’t think going by what 5 or 6 people think on a message board is the way to decide what is or isn’t normal.
 
Never easy to lose a loved one no matter their age.

But the grief of losing a child, especially in the prime of their lives has got to be unbearable.

As a parent, we send our kids out the door every day hoping they come back to us safely. And yes, as bad as it sounds and as hard as it would be, it would be easier for me to lose my almost 50 year old husband than my child.

My husband has been able to live more and have more experiences than my kids. I'd (and he would too) like for them to live some of those experiences.

My own dad died at age 38. His dad was so distraught and wished it was himself and not his son. I'll never forget my grandfather's grief and as a parent, I get it.

My mom did the same thing when my brother died. We had lost my father a month earlier and she kept saying why couldn’t have been her so she could be with Daddy. My brother was 42.

My MIL lost 3 people in one year. The hardest for her was her grandson who was more of a son to her. He was a senior in high school and his death just about killed her.
 
In all honesty no, I've never thought that. Doesn't matter if you are 1 year old or 99 years old they all mean the same to me.
You feel the same when a 99 year old dies as when a 10 year old dies? I'm sorry I've been to few funerals of people aged 80+. It was a celebration of their life not a mourning. Anyone that makes it to old age is blessed.
 
You feel the same when a 99 year old dies as when a 10 year old dies? I'm sorry I've been to few funerals of people aged 80+. It was a celebration of their life not a mourning. Anyone that makes it to old age is blessed.
Not everyone feels that way. I absolutely did not feel the same when my gma (whom I was very close to) died at 87 as I did when my dad died at 62. Not at all. My gma made me sad, but I understood she was old & we can’t live forever & it was going to happen sooner or later. For my dad, I felt cheated & still do since he didn’t even make it to average age.
 

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