What Were They Thinking? People Do Dumb Things at the Expense of Large Companies

Towards the end of February, it was reported that two women fell from a tramcar at Disneyland. One woman suffered feet and head injuries while the other had more serious head injuries.

The tram, which takes guests from their cars to the Disneyland entrance, generally runs at about 10 mph. In this particular instance, the woman was standing up when she fell as the tram turned. The second woman then attempted to reach for the woman falling when she too fell off the tram.

The tram was closed after that particular incident, but was then up and running the next day. Unlike amusement park injuries, the tram incident did not have to be reported to the state because it is not considered a ride.

Normally, when accidents occur on theme park rides, the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health has to be notified and the department then becomes involved.

The problem with this little incident is that while sad for the two injured persons, why was the first woman standing up to begin with? Everyone knows and everyone is told that they should not stand up while the tram is in motion. In fact, the tram's driver and other employees monitoring people boarding and exiting the tram go to great lengths to make sure people are not standing up.

What really can be learned from this incident is that people continue to do dumb things and then large corporations (such as Disneyland) end up taking the heat for these people's poor choices.

Chances are that now there will be a big hoopla as to whether the Disneyland trams should have safety belts or greater precautions so that people can't fall when really, the greatest precaution to everyone is to just follow the company's simple rules of not standing.

It's all common sense, but in today's sue-happy world, it has become increasingly common for people to sue companies to make a quick buck.

Take a look at the customer who sued McDonald's over coffee that burned her mouth when everyone knows that coffee is hot. Most people with brains know coffee should be sipped, but now all of a sudden everyone from McDonald's to Starbucks has to warn people about the hotness of the coffee in their cups.

Or, look at all of the health experts blaming fast food restaurants for the growing epidemic of obesity in the country. People know what they should be eating, yet they like to blame companies for their own health problems.

It's all so ridiculous, but then at the same time, it says a lot about our culture and society.