Tag Archives: wheelchair access

Sal Brinton receives apology from Transport for London after being denied access to bus

You would think, by now, that bus drivers would not be so crass as to refuse to ask someone with a buggy to make way for someone in a wheelchair. Unfortunately, this is not the case as Party President Sal Brinton found out on Monday.

She later spoke to the Evening Standard about this:

Transport for London has apologised to Baroness Brinton and launched an investigation.

She told the Standard: “The bus was fairly empty, but regardless – if the wheelchair goes in first you can fit both a buggy and a wheelchair in the space… In fact, that’s exactly what happened when I boarded another bus afterwards.

“I couldn’t see the parent, and the driver did not put down the ramp and said they were not prepared to ask the parent to make space so it made it impossible for me and so I had to wait.”

She added: “It made me very angry, and even more so because this is not the first time this has happened… When this happened to me two years ago, I spoke to TfL and they said they would make sure bus companies trained drivers so that this would be avoided. Clearly that was not the case.”

Well done to Sal for highlighting her experience.  She’s previously written about the frankly appalling way she and others have been treated on the railways.

Posted in News | Also tagged and | 14 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • Peter Martin
    @ Paul, I accept you are agreeing to an extent. A limited extent. "There are ample legal mechanisms for ensuring that the financial settlement with t...
  • Paul WalterPaul Walter
    Peter: “We shouldn’t tolerate the term “Crown Dependency” being a synonym for “tax haven”.” I don’t know whether you are actually reading my ...
  • David Raw
    I rather thought the 3rd Duke and Duchess of Atholl sold the Isle of Man's feudal and sovereign rights in 1765 for £70,000 via the Isle of Man Purchase Act 176...
  • Roland
    @Peter Martin - I was responding to the curved ? ball Jeff throw out about Motability: If they can't charge VAT then its okay to reclaim the VAT rather than sim...
  • Peter Martin
    @ Simon, "Low earners on the IOM pay tax at 21% compared to – I think – 20% in the UK" I don't know where you get your IOM figure from. It is easy eno...