My apologies, I just need to get this out

[Resident]

My apologies, I just need to get this out, just to try an wrap my brain around being done with the world.

As some of you know I'm a bus driver and today I've had a passenger encounter that I just cannot believe actually happened.

So I'm on route, I have a wheelchair passenger and a pushchair passenger, which is fine but that's my limit for safety in terms of wheel/pushchairs. I pull up at a stop and there's another pushchair. I politely explain that I have no more room for her pushchair. Her response is what I truly cannot get my head around. She looked through the windows and said

"It's only a small child in the wheelchair, you could lift them out and fold it so I could get on". My chin hit the cab floor but I had to quickly open my cab door to block the mother of the wheelchair child as she was about to throw some fists at her.

In my years of bus driving I've never come across such selfishness, and trust me, there have been a lot of those type of interactions. Worst of it being that this particular stop is served by 7 different services, minutes apart and is only a 10min walk from the town centre.

Anyway, sorry for you time if you actually read this, I just needed to vent it out.

 

[Resident]

I recall a very similar issue was tested in court and it was found that the person with a disability took priority over the pushchair.

Victory for people with disabilities in 'wheelchair v buggy' bus case

Doug Paulley opposed a policy of "requesting but not requiring" non-disabled passengers to vacate spaces for wheelchair users.

news.sky.com

It's actually written into our "Terms & Conditions of Carriage" that the space MUST be made available for a wheelchair user however in practice we're also bound by company policy not to create a conflict so we can't really enforce it.

In this instance the W/C was already on board so it was easier to deal with but I have in the past refused to continue the journey if they didn't move out of the space. Turning the engine off and making it the other passengers problem tends to work.

 

[Resident]

Just tell her to wait for the next chav wagon

She was told by myself that she would need to use another operators service (Both Stagecoach and First operate that stop) as she was no longer welcome on ours.

Unbelievable!
Out of interest, can you take an additional pushchair, but folded up with the child sat on a normal seat, or is it literally 1 wheelchair 1 pushchair regardless of if they're occupied or not?

It depends on the vehicle as some have older designs and can't accommodate any pushchairs if the wheelchair space is taken. The general rule is 2 pushchairs (unfolded) or one pushchair and one wheelchair. A 3rd pushchair can be carried IF folded and stored in the luggage area. A double pushchair/pram combo thingy counts as 2 because they are usually on the large side.

We can only carry one wheelchair though as the space needs a padded backboard and there aren't any practical options to fit a 2nd (at this time). Due to this unfortunately there have been instances where I have had to refuse carriage of a 2nd W/C but we have a procedure in place where we contact control and they contact and reserve the space on the next vehicle. It generally only happens on high freq routes so the wait time isn't much

The issue is that pushchairs these days in general is that they're either large or parents use them as shopping carts so folding them is near impossible and time consuming.

My dad's in a wheelchair and there have been a few instances where they've been pushchairs on the bus already. My mom who is usually with him would just wait for the next bus/go to a quieter stop instead. Had no idea this rule existed and never heard of any of the drivers try and see if they can get on. Though this has typically happened in/near oxford street which is horrendously busy anyway and buses are fairly regular.

It's not a general industry rule, just something our company put in place, more for appeasement than practical application

 

[Resident]

Sounds like your average British encounter on public transport.

Funnily enough we arrived in Berlin on Tuesday and I still remarked to my wife that certain stickers on the trains would help so much in England, they make it very clear that wheelchairs > prams > bicycles.

Will post a pic later, getting on a train soon.

They've been tried on our vehicles (except bicycles, we don't carry them at all). Unfortunately as the saying goes, 'you can't educate pork"

 

[Resident]

Absolutely shocking. I hope you have fully documented and reported this because she will be complaining. Do you have onboard CCTV?

Well I told my supervisor when I got back and was told "fine, if it comes in it'll get filed as B1N"

 

[Resident]

If no-one was getting off at that stop, and you could quite clearly see the woman had a pushchair but no room on board, what's the consequences of driving on and not stopping?

I haven't caught a bus in probably 10+ years, but I remember during uni days that certain bus routes were busy and if the bus didn't have space they didn't bother stopping for more pickups.

There were people getting off this time. For situations when the bus is full we have a code for the destination screens that displays "bus full" however mis-use is dealt with heavily. We have passenger number counters so management can check how full the bus was.

 

[Resident]

There are no greater entitled people on earth than parents of young children.

I have 2 (nearly 7 and 4)

I'm just sorry that you (and the mother of the WC bound child) actually have to put up with rubbish like this! I sometimes despair. Reading some of the comments on here gives me hope though!

Being a driver abuse is a daily occurrence however most of it comes from older generations who think age entitles them to unwavering and unconditional respect whilst showing none.

Why did you not reply, "it's only a small child in the pushchair, you could lift them and fold it so you can get on" ? Reverse Karen the Karen, it's the only way to defeat them

Unfortunately I have to remain professional.