Court ruling on wheelchairs.

[Other Walsall Tony]

The last people anyone asks about this are bus drivers or their representitives. These matters seem to be settled by common sense and reasonableness, but do any drivers on here have any views?

[Stuharris 6360]

http://www.route-one.net/articles/Legal/Industry_joins_FirstGroup_in_welcoming_wheelchair_clarification

[ARBB]

To pressurise someone to move from the wheelchair bay is causing conflict.

National Express train drivers for conflict avoidance, therefore I won't pressurise anyone to move. I will continue to treat disabled passengers the same as any other passengers. Equal rights are equal rights..... No one should have priority over anybody else.

[Stuharris 6360]

To pressurise someone to move from the wheelchair bay is causing conflict.

National Express train drivers for conflict avoidance, therefore I won't pressurise anyone to move. I will continue to treat disabled passengers the same as any other passengers. Equal rights are equal rights..... No one should have priority over anybody else.

I have to say @pndriver that i agree with you.

Surely the point is that disabled people should be treated equally to all other people, not to be given preference.

[karl724223]

Drivers and bus companies are going to be caught up in a vicious war on pushchair v wheelchair wars
And the press and tv will have a field day Twisting the stories

[Stu]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38663322

A lot has been made in this article about how it should be the driver who forces buggy users to give up the space.

I think it shows how incredibly selfish and inconsiderate a lot of people have become, where some passengers will just refuse to give up their space or fold up their buggy.

[karl724223]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38663322

A lot has been made in this article about how it should be the driver who forces buggy users to give up the space.

I think it shows how incredibly selfish and inconsiderate a lot of people have become, where some passengers will just refuse to give up their space or fold up their buggy.

mothers with there benifit baby's full of primarny bags do think they own the bus

[Stuharris 6360]

mothers with there benifit baby's full of primarny bags do think they own the bus

But isn't this a case of the Supreme Court giving a ruling, but no indication of how the situation is to be handled.

For example, a bus is virtually full when I get on and so I have to stand in the wheelchair area because there is no where else. At the next stop, a person in a wheelchair wants to get on. What happens next, I am asked to move when there is no place unless I stand on the platform obscuring the drivers view to his mirrors. Yes the driver could drive past as the bus is full but that would cause problems to.

[karl724223]

On the 333x it will be worse than any other buses  wheelchair uses getting out their wheelchairs and throwing the mothers and there pushchairs off the bus @Dom

[Kevin]

But isn't this a case of the Supreme Court giving a ruling, but no indication of how the situation is to be handled.

For example, a bus is virtually full when I get on and so I have to stand in the wheelchair area because there is no where else. At the next stop, a person in a wheelchair wants to get on. What happens next, I am asked to move when there is no place unless I stand on the platform obscuring the drivers view to his mirrors. Yes the driver could drive past as the bus is full but that would cause problems to.

Oh Jesus f*** this is just a whole other can of worms
If a wheelchair user could have a go at the bus company for not letting them on board when the bus is full and standing then surely any able bodied person could do the same

Got to draw a line somewhere

[Stu]

For example, a bus is virtually full when I get on and so I have to stand in the wheelchair area because there is no where else. At the next stop, a person in a wheelchair wants to get on. What happens next, I am asked to move when there is no place unless I stand on the platform obscuring the drivers view to his mirrors. Yes the driver could drive past as the bus is full but that would cause problems to.

It's always going to be a tough call for the driver. It would probably not be such a major issue if the bus service in question was very frequent, because then at least the next bus would only be a few minutes behind. But you can imagine the outrage if the service was half-hourly or hourly!

I suppose the other argument (that I think has been put forward previously) is shouldn't wheelchair users use 'accessible transport', like Ring & Ride, rather than regular public services. But then again, the rest of the country doesn't have a Ring & Ride service, like we have here in the West Midlands, thanks to government cut-backs!

[Stuharris 6360]

Oh Jesus f*** this is just a whole other can of worms
If a wheelchair user could have a go at the bus company for not letting them on board when the bus is full and standing then surely any able bodied person could do the same

Got to draw a line somewhere

The problem is, with the ruling as it stands, am sure this will happen before long. This is why i say, disabled people should be treated equally as other passengers are.

I remember when Blackpool Transport first started low floor buses on the 14, it was stated in there timetables that if wheelchair passengers were unable to board for any reason, then to call them and a wheelchair friendly taxi would be provided for them.

Surely we don't have to go down this route.

[MW]

Ah, the chaos you get on the 11 when theres already two pushchairs and a 3rd tried to come on.

I recall a complaint from a wheelchair (regular passenger). Buses driving past him when they're full. We were told to stop for the wheelchair guy and tell him there isn't any space and continue. Even that is ridiculous, especially considering that his disability wasn't blindness.

[Ally]

If it wasn't for the pure ignorance of all the benefit breeders out there, there wouldn't have been any need for this. My mum walked put of hospital with a newborn me and straight onto a Alexander PS bodied Volvo B10M, if people were able to fold buggies on that route up until 2008, then they still can! Children and their mothers can sit anywhere on the bus, wheelchair users can only vacate 1 seat of the lot...
Now while I think it's unfair for the driver to have to foot the responsibility, I agree with the idea someone had of introducing fines...
Whilst I also agree
With equality of all passengers, we do have to remember the above - anyone can sit/stand almost anywhere, wheelchair users can only sit in 1 place only.
Obviously there are exceptions to this i.e if (as stated above) the bus is near/at capacity, but when the bus has nobody except Greggs laden scummy mummys and their screaming devil children onboard, they should most definitely not be occupying the bay... It's a difficult one because no matter what the driver does, they'll be made out to be the bad guy...

[Gareth]

At one time buggies could be easily folded and buses had luggage racks. Buses no longer have luggage racks and buggies are the size of a small spaceship. What are these passengers supposed to do? They can't be kicked off as that's discrimation against the parent and able bodied and therefore not being treated equally. Equal rights works both ways. It's such a complex area, more of a moral issue than anything else.