I'm very well aware that sense is by no means always common, any more than knowledge is general!
Well maybe I'll try again with the bus company, then. I know the chap who trains the drivers on one of the bus companies.
It's not the seats that are the issue on the buses where I am - they are flipped up by default and if someone wants to sit there they have to put the seat down. Except for the one on one of the buses, which refuses to stay up.
It's the lack of space to get into the designated area that's the problem, and the stanchion for people to hold onto when they are standing on journeys which gets in the way - there isn't enough room to manoeuvre on all the buses - they are of different designs, and the more accessible ones aren't on every route.
ONE person abusing the system is too many, IMHO.
Cheers,
Helen
-----Original Message-----
From: Bertha Mo [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 16 February 2009 16:29
To: [log in to unmask]; Bryant, Helen
Subject: Re: Wheelchair Access to Buses
Thank you detailing your complaint on the list so we can see what is happening locally and compare what is happening globally.
By the way, "Common sense is not always common (to many)."
Information, education is always helpful. Ottawa, Canada has a campaign to support people living at home. So there has been a hugh campaign to train taxi drivers, paratranspo workers and bus drivers on how to provide services to people with disabilities. And it is working. In Ottawa, Canada, the bus driver often helps lift the row of seats. Sometimes, other passengers help. However, the seats are so light and simple to flip up that the person in the wheelchair can do it themselves.
So, I'm wondering if it is also a matter of the construction of the seats.
The idea that anyone who presents a pass is rejected is horrible and should be reported. To my mind, there are too few people abusing the system to incovenience and embarass those who aren't.
Good luck!
Bertie
--- On Mon, 2/16/09, Bryant, Helen <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> From: Bryant, Helen <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: Wheelchair Access to Buses
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Received: Monday, February 16, 2009, 3:27 PM
> 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.
>
>
>
> The information in this e-mail is confidential to the
> intended recipient to
> whom it has been addressed and may be covered by legal
> professional
> privilege and protected by law.
> Reading Borough Council does not accept responsibility for
> any unauthorised
> amendment made to the contents of this e-mail following its
> dispatch.
>
> Reading Borough Council has scanned for viruses. However,
> it is your
> responsibility to scan the e-mail and attachments (if any)
> for viruses.
>
> If received in error, you must not retain the message or
> disclose its
> contents to anyone.
> Please contact the sender of the email or
> mailto:[log in to unmask] or call Customer
> Services
> on 0800 626540 or if international (+44) 118 939 0900,
> quoting the name of
> the sender and the addressee and then delete the e-mail
>
> ________________End of message________________
>
> This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the
> Centre for
> Disability Studies at the University of Leeds
> (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
> Enquiries about list administration should be sent to
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Archives and tools are located at:
> www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
> You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in
> to this web page.
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> Internal Virus Database is out of date.
> Checked by AVG.
> Version: 8.0.100 / Virus Database: 270.10.23/1948 - Release
> Date: 12/02/2009
> 07:20
>
> ________________End of message________________
>
> This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the
> Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds
> (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
> Enquiries about list administration should be sent to
> [log in to unmask]
>
> Archives and tools are located at:
> www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
> You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in
> to this web page.
________________End of message________________
This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask]
Archives and tools are located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.
________________End of message________________
This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies).
Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask]
Archives and tools are located at:
www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html
You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.
|