Wheelchair-bound peer couldn't board after driver refused to request pushchair moved

[ivanhoe]

Well that is where being a senior politician comes in - put it this way, some bone-idle PC doesn't do his job and a senior politician writes to the Commissioner of the Met and in parallel ensures a story, ideally complete with the PCs name, in the Standard. Said story includes quotes from the bus company about how their employee complied with TfL's byelaws/policy and was let down by the Met.. three guesses what happens next time...

As for the excuse of there being a shortage of bus drivers all I will say is that is a pathetic excuse advanced by and in support of the lazy - if his/her actions financially hurts the employer said individual will be out of a job anyway.

No offence mate, but you do come over rather vindictive.For those unwashed who live outside of London, we peer in envy at a bus service which was never quite subject to the same rules as we enjoy

 

[Antman]

Unwilling =/= unable.

Up here in the land of two buses an hour, it's amazing how quickly these buggies get folded at the bus stop if the alternative is a 30-minutes wait in the rain.

A 30 minute wait in the rain for whom? Nobody is going to be forcibly removed from the bus.

 

[Antman]

Why someone. On my bus is wearing exactly that set up now they are also carrying two suitcases prams folded in the luggage area

Superwoman?

 

[matt_world2004]

Superwoman?

Lone tourist about 5ft tall.

 

[6Gman]

A lone female with a child asleep and a buggy full of shopping for example.

Then how did she get on the bus?

I'm no expert on buggies (or children ) but are you suggesting a buggy can contain shopping and a child?

 

[Darandio]

Then how did she get on the bus?

Pushing it?

I'm no expert on buggies (or children ) but are you suggesting a buggy can contain shopping and a child?[/QUOTE]

Of course they can. Storage underneath and often bags on the handles. For some it is the only way they can get the shopping done.

 

[Antman]

Then how did she get on the bus?

I'm no expert on buggies (or children ) but are you suggesting a buggy can contain shopping and a child?

Obviously she would have wheeled the buggy on and yes it could well contain the weekly shop as well as a child.

 

[plymothian]

Then how did she get on the bus?

I'm no expert on buggies (or children ) but are you suggesting a buggy can contain shopping and a child?

Quite frankly - yes they can, and sometimes 2 children.

People seem to have a very warped idea of what a buggy is these days, long gone are the flimsy seats that can fold up with a kick of the foot like a deckchair and in are practically 4 wheeled tanks that when dismantled take up more space than when assembled.

And there also appears to be a rose-tinted view of society that everyone will think in the best interests of someone else, when that is completely the opposite.

Bluntly, then a parent with a buggy wants to get on a mode of public transport, they will, and to hell with anyone else who tells them otherwise.

 

[6Gman]

Which was my point she is disabled and so knows about this law but as part of a political party she should know about penalties etc and I don't know it because of here but because it seems to be general knowledge from the news I quite often read fined for this fined for that but have never read about buggy folding and as to her privelage it shouldn't matter however she has used it to get this in the news and get her complaint to the top of the list which also pushes ordinary people's down the list or should they not be taken seriously and as a judge would day to a lawyer you opened that door counsellor if she used it to get her complaint heard first and in the news then I can bring it up .

I'm part of a political party so should I know everything about everything?
In what way has she used her "privelage" (sic) to get her complaint "to the top of the list"? (What list?)
I haven't a clue what "as a judge would day to a lawyer you opened that door counsellor" even means!

And your argument might make more sense if you invested in some punctuation.

 

[Darandio]

Bluntly, then a parent with a buggy wants to get on a mode of public transport, they will, and to hell with anyone else who tells them otherwise.

Who is going to tell them otherwise? Are you suggesting they shouldn't get on public transport?

 

[Tetchytyke]

A 30 minute wait in the rain for whom? Nobody is going to be forcibly removed from the bus.

To clarify, people who "can't" fold a buggy suddenly rediscover the skill when the bus turns up and it is full of other buggies and the alternative is a long wait for the next bus.

Funny how they "can't" achieve that task when it isn't them who are affected, innit.

 

[6Gman]

Obviously she would have wheeled the buggy on and yes it could well contain the weekly shop as well as a child.

So if she wheeled it on why couldn't she wheel it to a different position?

(The comment I questioned was that she was unable to move it.)

 

[Darandio]

Just to throw it in again, as the attack on parents with buggies continues.....

Nobody with a buggy on the bus in question did anything wrong.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Just to throw it in again, as the attack on parents with buggies continues.....

Nobody with a buggy on the bus in question did anything wrong.

Indeed they didn't, it was a driver who couldn't be bothered to treat a wheelchair user with respect. Something which whilst is a minority, IME, it isn't uncommon.

 

[Antman]

Indeed they didn't, it was a driver who couldn't be bothered to treat a wheelchair user with respect. Something which whilst is a minority, IME, it isn't uncommon.

The driver did nothing wrong either as far as I can make out.

 

[matt_world2004]

The driver did nothing wrong either as far as I can make out.

According to comments on the buzfeed article the parents were willing to move the buggy from the wheelchair area and the driver still refused to ket the buggy on. So if that version of events is accurate then then the driver did something wrong.

 

[Tetchytyke]

The driver did nothing wrong either as far as I can make out.

If you take the story at face value- and I see no reason not to- then they did plenty wrong. It's been my experience in London. If it isn't "full" then "the ramp is broken".

It's a minority of drivers, definitely, but it's persistent. But the driver market is so weak in London there's no motivation to do anything about it.

 

[matt_world2004]

If you take the story at face value- and I see no reason not to- then they did plenty wrong. It's been my experience in London. If it isn't "full" then "the ramp is broken".

It's a minority of drivers, definitely, but it's persistent. But the driver market is so weak in London there's no motivation to do anything about it.

Ramps regularly break on buses however the bus is not supposed to run in service if ramp is broken. It can however continue in service of ramp breaks mid trip which can lead to all sorts of bending of the truth with vehicle defect cards.

I once broke a poor customers wheelchair trying to get it off the bus and the bus company was responcible due to their bus not being fit to be in service.

 

[Antman]

According to comments on the buzfeed article the parents were willing to move the buggy from the wheelchair area and the driver still refused to ket the buggy on. So if that version of events is accurate then then the driver did something wrong.

If that is correct then yes the driver was in the wrong but without knowing the drivers side of the story it is difficult to pass judgment.

 

[Antman]

Ramps regularly break on buses however the bus is not supposed to run in service if ramp is broken. It can however continue in service of ramp breaks mid trip which can lead to all sorts of bending of the truth with vehicle defect cards.

I once broke a poor customers wheelchair trying to get it off the bus and the bus company was responcible due to their bus not being fit to be in service.

Trouble is you don't know the ramp is broken until you try and use it.

 

[Antman]

If you take the story at face value- and I see no reason not to- then they did plenty wrong. It's been my experience in London. If it isn't "full" then "the ramp is broken".

It's a minority of drivers, definitely, but it's persistent. But the driver market is so weak in London there's no motivation to do anything about it.

Yes I'm sure there are drivers who are not up to the job, same in most walks of life.

 

[matt_world2004]

Trouble is you don't know the ramp is broken until you try and use it.

You are supposedto test it before the bus leaves depot and usually once every 2 round trips when on duty. The ramp failed in the depot. It got bodge repaired and broke again on the road.

 

[AlterEgo]

Funnily enough, I rather take the word of a driver over any unelected Politician, but alas we have not heard his side.

We haven't heard his side of the story because he was in the wrong and his employer basically said so, but it's always good to hear someone else claim the wheelchair user was lying, and then have the cheek to call someone else vindictive.

Gold standard thread so far.

 

[Antman]

You are supposedto test it before the bus leaves depot and usually once every 2 round trips when on duty. The ramp failed in the depot. It got bodge repaired and broke again on the road.

They can fail at any moment, they might go out ok but then not retract leaving the bus stranded until the fitter arrives.

 

[johnnychips]

There do seem to be a lot of stereotypes and generalities on this thread:

Disabled people - downtrodden victims or harridans abusing their status
Bus drivers - bone-idle and selfish
People with buggies - unfit, self-centred parents

Perhaps things are different in London, but I've been travelling a lot by bus recently around Bristol and South Yorkshire and I've seen drivers leap out of their cabs to help disabled and buggy-users; disabled people in wheelchairs and buggy users all shuffling round so everyone can fit on, and other passengers helping both.

You can correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe this case has attracted so much attention because it is an exception, rather than a normality.

 

[Busaholic]

There do seem to be a lot of stereotypes and generalities on this thread:

Disabled people - downtrodden victims or harridans abusing their status
Bus drivers - bone-idle and selfish
People with buggies - unfit, self-centred parents

Perhaps things are different in London, but I've been travelling a lot by bus recently around Bristol and South Yorkshire and I've seen drivers leap out of their cabs to help disabled and buggy-users; disabled people in wheelchairs and buggy users all shuffling round so everyone can fit on, and other passengers helping both.

You can correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe this case has attracted so much attention because it is an exception, rather than a normality.

Drivers in London are not allowed to leave their cabs to help, harangue or otherwise deal with passengers. Common sense does usually prevail in the end, but there are uncaring drivers amongst the many thousands out at any one time just as there are selfish and unempathetic passengers.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Drivers in London are not allowed to leave their cabs to help, harangue or otherwise deal with passengers. Common sense does usually prevail in the end, but there are uncaring drivers amongst the many thousands out at any one time just as there are selfish and unempathetic passengers.

I think there's still a culture in London that drivers drive and do nothing else, possibly coming from the days when that was indeed the case on the RMs.

 

[AlterEgo]

Perhaps things are different in London, but I've been travelling a lot by bus recently around Bristol and South Yorkshire and I've seen drivers leap out of their cabs to help disabled and buggy-users; disabled people in wheelchairs and buggy users all shuffling round so everyone can fit on, and other passengers helping both.

You can correct me if I'm wrong, but maybe this case has attracted so much attention because it is an exception, rather than a normality.

Things are different in London. Aside from the fact drivers cannot leave their cab to deal with problems, London is a more busy city and people are often more self-centred.

The case is certainly not an exception and is definitely the norm; upthread, there was a story about a wheelchair user who took 360 journeys in a year:

Of a total of 360, she had problems on 150 buses, and was unable to get on 50, mostly because of buggies.

This is an everyday, mainstream problem.

 

[Antman]

Things are different in London. Aside from the fact drivers cannot leave their cab to deal with problems, London is a more busy city and people are often more self-centred.

The case is certainly not an exception and is definitely the norm; upthread, there was a story about a wheelchair user who took 360 journeys in a year:



This is an everyday, mainstream problem.

Drivers can leave their cabs and sometimes do although obviously if it became the norm it would slow services down considerably.

 

[matt_world2004]

Drivers can leave their cabs and sometimes do although obviously if it became the norm it would slow services down considerably.

When a situation has potential to cause conflict (Like this one ) then they absoloutely cannot.