Doug Paulley's blog

disability, data protection, activism and other such

Bus driver still not asking pushchair users to shift…

Posted on by Doug Paulley

The basis of the Firstbus case was that the bus company must do more than get their drivers to just ask pushchair users to vacate the wheelchair space. All sides agreed from the very start that the bus driver must at least ask the non-disabled person(s) occupying the wheelchair space to make way for a wheelchair user. Now they have to “request and pressurise“.

Yet there are still examples of bus drivers refusing to ask people to move. I’ve already discussed a bus driver who refused to let a wheelchair user on even though the wheelchair space was free. Here’s a video showing a bus driver refusing to even ASK the people occupying the space to move so that his mother could get on in her wheelchair at the hospital bus-stop, where they had been visiting his father.

Utterly disgusting and unacceptable. But not the first time – it had already happened to the same person the same week:

And on multiple occasions over the last 6 years:

The impact is significant.

Over the past 5 years of the court case, and especially since the judgment, I’ve had large numbers of wheelchair users contact me telling them they are still experiencing such problems.

There was the incident on the way home from the Supreme Court case.

More:

I’ve also received a large number of emails from people experiencing this. E.g.:

i’m in a wheelchair and the bus driver said i could not get on due to 2 pushchairs being on the bus there was space for the 2 pushchairs to go together and for me to go into the  wheelchair space the bus driver still refused
It is shocking that even despite this ruling, Firstbus and other companies are not enforcing disabled people’s right to travel on the bus.
If this happens to you:

sue the company.

Unity Law. Nuff said.

Prosecute Bus Drivers for Refusing Wheelchair Users – it’s a Criminal Offence

Posted on by Doug Paulley

Bus drivers refusing to allow wheelchair users onto buses where the wheelchair space is either unoccupied or occupied by people who can readily and reasonably move are committing a crime. They should be prosecuted, given a £500 fine and 3 penalty points. Then they should have the consequences for their employment consequent to being convicted of a crime they have perpetrated whilst working.

Here’s the ins and outs.

S24 of the Public Passenger Vehicle Act 1981 states that everybody must comply with regulations under that Act under pain of being tried “on summary conviction” i.e. in magistrates’ court (thus a criminal record), “a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale” (£500) and, for bus drivers subject to the Act, “the conviction to be endorsed upon the licence“. On the Government’s list of endorsements,  the only appropriate code seems to be M60 “Offences not covered by other codes (including offences relating to breach of requirements as to control of vehicle)” – 3 points lasting 4 years.

The “Conduct Regulations” are one set of those regulations. These are properly and snappily titled “The Public Service Vehicles (Conduct of Drivers, Inspectors, Conductors and Passengers)(Amendment) Regulations 2002“. Read the Conduct Regulations (PDF). Amongst other things, they say:

12.—(1) This regulation applies (subject to regulation 15(1) (duties requiring the proper functioning of equipment)) in relation to a driver and a conductor of a Schedule 1 vehicle.
(2) If there is an unoccupied wheelchair space on the vehicle, a driver and a conductor shall allow a wheelchair user to board if—
(a) the wheelchair is of a type or size that can be correctly and safely located in that wheelchair space, and
(b) in so doing, neither the maximum seating nor standing capacity of the vehicle would be exceeded.
(3) For the purpose of paragraph (2), a wheelchair space is occupied if—
(a) there is a wheelchair user in that space; or
(b) passengers or their effects are in that space and they or their effects cannot readily and reasonably vacate it by moving to another part of the vehicle.

(“A Schedule 1 vehicle” simply means a wheelchair accessible bus.)

So if you’re not allowed on a bus in your wheelchair, and the wheelchair space is either empty or there’s somebody in the space who can “readily and reasonbly” move to another bit of the bus, call the police and report the driver.

So: take a recent situation.

  • Kirsty Shepherd, a wheelchair user from Wakefield, was refused access to a bus because there was a baby buggy in the buggy space.
  • This bus had a separate buggy and wheelchair space: so the wheelchair space was free.
  • The wheelchair space was empty.
  • Kirsty quite rightly protested at not being allowed on, and insisted on speaking to the driver’s boss, so the driver phoned his boss on his mobile.
  • The boss told Kirsty that Kirsty could catch the bus.
  • The boss told the driver that Kirsty could catch the bus.
  • The driver still refused.
  • The boss told Kirsty, again, that she could catch the bus.
  • The boss told the driver again to let Kirsty on.
  • The driver still refused – then terminated the bus, telling everybody to get off.
  • The driver told the other customers that Kirsty had terminated the bus.
  • Everybody got off and most of the passengers shouted at Kirsty for being “selfish”.
  • The driver shouted at Kirsty, accusing her of terminating the bus.
  • Kirsty told the driver to put the bus back into service
  • The bus drove off with all the passengers back on board. Even the mum with the pushchair in the pushchair space. But the wheelchair space was still empty – because Kirsty was still not allowed on.
  • Kirsty, understandably very distraught, successfully caught the next bus, 40 minutes later. So did somebody else with a pushchair. They simply occupied the pushchair space and the wheelchair space respectively, without an issue, as Kirsty has done many times before.

On Monday (3 days ago) Arriva said they were “investigating this as a matter of urgency“. So I emailed Arriva pointing out that the driver had committed a criminal offence, and that

I expect you to act precisely as you would if a driver had conducted another criminal offence whilst on duty, for example drink driving or assaulting somebody. You are under a duty to report this matter for prosecution, or to place an information before the magistrates. You will also of course have to deal with any other matters, but refusal to allow a wheelchair user on board when the wheelchair space is free is a specific criminal offence in and of itself. I look forward to hearing that you have treated this criminal offence with the seriousness it deserves.

I got a read receipt for my email. So I know they got it.

Arriva have today issued an apology. Apparently, Arriva:

said there had been “a genuine misinterpretation” of company policy and that the company’s policy was complicated by the many different configurations of buses in the fleet.

A genuine misinterpretation?! The law couldn’t be clearer: if the wheelchair space is free the driver MUST allow a wheelchair user on. What’s more the driver’s boss told him, repeatedly, that he must allow Kirsty on in her wheelchair. If the driver believed this is company policy,  that doesn’t say much for the driver! If the driver similarly believed company policy required him to break speed limits and to drive while drunk, would he do so? As to the supposed confusion over “different configurations“: what?!

Bollocks.

So what are Arriva doing following their driver’s criminal behaviour whilst driving their bus?

  • The company is to distribute new signs to “clarify the position regarding wheelchair access” to its bus fleet
  • The company is also to issue a driver briefing as part of its disability awareness training
  • The driver is going on his usually yearly update, that might cover disability awareness and wheelchairs
  • The driver’s manager will have a word with him, just like he did during the incident
  • The company said sorry to Kirsty.
  • And…
  • …That’s it.

NB: To her eternal credit, despite being absolutely humiliated by the driver’s treatment of her and him blaming her to other passengers, Kirsty went to the media and achieved widespread coverage. (She’s marvelous.) So this isn’t just how Arriva deal with drivers’ criminal behaviour, it’s how they do so under a publicity spotlight.

Arriva evidently don’t report, suspend or sack drivers who commit crimes whilst driving

So next time you’re on an Arriva bus, don’t complain if the driver verbally assaults someone, foments hatred among passengers leading to a likely breach of the peace, if he refuses somebody based purely on prejudice against their race then blames them for terminating the bus, shouts at them for no good reason, or whatever, because quite clearly Arriva expect and tolerate such illegal discrimination and hate crimes.

Other criminal offences

Drivers’ failures to do any of the following are also criminal offences under the Conduct Regulations, also meriting a £500 fine, 3 points and a criminal record:

Part Obligation
14.1 Deploy the ramp when a wheelchair user wants to get on or off
13.2 Operate the kneeling mechanism when needed and on request
14.2&3 Assist disabled people to get on or off the bus, if needed
12.4c Carry a means of manually operating automatic ramps if they break
12.4d Ensure wheelchair users can access and exit of the wheelchair space
12.4e Ensure wheelchair users are in the space before continuing driving

I therefore urge wheelchair users to call the police if a driver fails to deploy the ramp on request (e.g. in response to the blue bell)

An interesting corollary: drivers are obliged to allow wheelchair users onto the bus if passengers or their effects are in the wheelchair space and they cannot readily and
reasonably vacate it by moving to another part of the bus, irrespective of whether or no those passengers actually move. Drivers are then obliged to make sure that any wheelchair user is correctly and safely positioned in a wheelchair space. Should the wheelchair user be unable to get access to said wheelchair space because said passengers refuse to move, an interesting stalemate should develop where the bus driver refuses to drive the bus until the non-disabled person vacates the space. As identified by Lord Toulson:

There is therefore an apparent tension in the regulation, because regulation 12(2) requires the driver to permit a wheelchair user to board if there is an unoccupied wheelchair space, which includes a space physically occupied by a person who could readily and reasonably move elsewhere, but for as long as that person remains in the wheelchair space the vehicle must not be driven.

“Fairness”, wheelchairs and buggies, and First Come First Served

Posted on by Doug Paulley

Some people argue that wheelchair users expecting pushchair users to vacate the wheelchair space are expecting special treatment, not equality, and being unreasonable. They advocate “first come first served” as fair.

The answer is that yes, we are expecting special treatment, and we’re not ashamed of that. We need special treatment to have any chance at accessing things which non-disabled people take for granted. This is because the built environment, services and society isn’t set up with our access needs in mind. That’s why Parliament has made it a legal requirement that all service providers make reasonable adjustments. For all other “protected characteristics” (age, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and so on) – the Equality Act “just” imposes the obligation not to discriminate. It only requires service providers to proactively do stuff for disabled people. This is to recognise the extra barriers that disabled people face on a day-to-day basis.

One of those adaptations is the wheelchair space on buses. NB: it’s a wheelchair space. It’s not an “everything” space; it’s not a “wheelchair, buggy and luggage” space, it’s not a “first come first served” space, it’s a wheelchair space. This is entirely clear throughout legislation and has never been in dispute at any point in “my” legal case or any other.

It’s designed around wheelchairs, for wheelchair safety (as far as I know pushchair safety on buses has never been assessed, nor crash-tests of buggies or an approved design of buggy spaces, unlike for wheelchairs), wheelchair users’ ease of use and for wheelchair user’s comfort. It has to have signs in it saying it’s for wheelchair users. Passengers and their effects (buggies, luggage) are legally required to move from the wheelchair space if a disabled person needs it, unless there are extenuating circumstances (e.g. somebody giving birth on a bus) They are obliged to move under criminal law. Drivers are obliged to allow wheelchair users on, also under criminal law.

There is no law requiring drivers or bus companies to allow a person with a buggy on to a bus, or to allow them to occupy any space on the bus whatsoever.

Our QC put it well in Court:

“The case has in some parts being identified as being about competition between the rights of wheelchair uses, and travelers with children and buggies. But we say that is not the right way to view it.

“We do not suggest that parents traveling with buggies don’t have the need for assistance or to be taken into account.

“We do not suggest that bus companies shouldn’t consider about the general public as it is.

“What we say … is that we have a particular problem – Wheelchair users, Mr. Paulley in particular – and we have been given a particular solution. And we do object to the solution to other problems being grafted on in some way that undermines the strength of the solution which we say Parliament has given” (us.)

(video on Supreme Court website, about 7min 30s in)

The County Court Judge put it more starkly:

Although such a policy might inconvenience a mother with a buggy that, I am afraid, is a consequence of the protection which Parliament has chosen to give to disabled wheelchair users and not to non-disabled mothers with buggies.

(County Court judge as quoted in the Court of Appeal judgment)

So, people with buggies, I’m afraid it is not your space. It was wrong of bus companies to advertise buses as “buggy friendly” where there’s only a wheelchair space and no buggy space. It is doubly wrong of them to put buggy signs in wheelchair spaces. And whilst we’re generally happy to lend the space to others when we’re not using it, us disabled people (well, most of us anyway) object when you selfishly occupy the wheelchair space and refuse to return it to us when we need it.

Happily most parents and guardians agree with us – as shown by Mumsnet – but there are a lot more pushchair users than wheelchair users…

If you (non-disabled people with buggies) want a space on buses, perhaps learn from us. This is how we got ours:

It took about 30 years for us to achieve ubiquitous wheelchair spaces on buses. Good luck with your campaign. We fully support you – after all, we want everybody to be able to travel, including parents with buggies (after all, many disabled people are parents!) and as easily and comfortably as possible.

But in the meantime, don’t discriminate against us by using the wheelchair space when we need it.

Graphic: Equality doesn't mean treating everybody the same

Image after Craig Froehle