Yes I agree, but they are often very good where I am. It annoys me that I'm often late because of other selfish individuals who refuse to move.
They don't often refuse to put down a ramp - a lot of the time it goes the other way round and they put it down when it's not necessarily needed. Mind you a driver DIDN'T put it down the other night which resulted in a fall - I wasn't hurt but it was humiliating. So what do you do? I will make a complaint I think, about the bus stop in question if nothing else, it's possible that the driver was going to put it down but somehow didn't. There were people offering to help me, but in the event they failed utterly. People just don't understand how wheelchairs work and how to hold them in a place which won't result in an accident. They just don't seem to have any common sense any more. I know my handles are not easy to see but why don't they ask instead of just grabbing my wheelchair?
That's a disgraceful situation about blind people having their passes refused or confiscated - I hope that complaints had been made to the relevant companies; it's the only thing that will get things changed, sadly.
Sorry to rant, but it does need saying.
Helen
-----Original Message-----
From: Allan Sutherland [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 16 February 2009 14:30
To: Bryant, Helen
Subject: Re: Wheelchair Access to Buses
I think a lot of this is an issue of driver training.
The spaces are clearly marked as being wheelchair spaces. They even have a
notice saying that people with pushchairs can use them as long as they are
not needed by wheelchair users. But the driver should be enforcing this,
and my experience is that they don't.
When we carried out research on barriers for the Disability Rights
Commission, copmplaints about transport were top of the list. A lot of the
things described were entirely due to driver behaviour. This included
refusal to put out a ramp, often with dubious claims that it wasn't working.
Because blind people have a travel pass without a photograph, a very high
proportion of the group we interviewed had had their passes refused, even
though they were entirely valid. One poor woman had had it confiscated by
the driver - even though her Visa card was in the holder with it. She was
forced to stay on the bus, and only got things sorted out after calling her
brother, a solicitor, who called out the police to stop the bus!
Allan Sutherland
Director
Edward Lear Foundation
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bryant, Helen" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 11:27 AM
Subject: Wheelchair Access to Buses
I'm absolutely fuming.
Some people where I live and work are having problems getting on to buses,
all of which are supposed to be accessible; they all have kneeling
mechanisms. The spaces in which wheelchair users have to manoeuvre are
found to be too small for some people.
However, on writing to the Department for Transport, they just say that:
"Indications are that the dimensions of the reference wheelchair represent
approximately 95% of manual wheelchairs and 85% of powered wheelchairs.
...Many wheelchairs have differing geometry to the reference wheelchair
which may have an effect on users' ability to board buses...
...In addition I would remind you that dimensions that are stated in PSVAR
are the minimum that are required in order to comply ...
...We do note your concerns in respect of dimensions, but advise that it may
not be possible to effect changes at this stage."
Typical. "It doesn't work, sorry about that, but you just have to put up
with it." No wonder we're so angry a lot of the time.
What also rubs salt into the wounds is that mothers and their too-big prams
often take up the wheelchair spaces on buses, and some of them won't move.
If it's a shared space then we have to put up with it to a certain extent,
but this isn't always the case. The other day I had to sit where I wasn't
really safe, just because someone was in the shared space.
Disabled people are the ones who, traditionally, chained themselves to buses
to get access in the first place - where were the parents?
I've had enough of this country.
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