Oh it wasn't the fact that he didn't line the ramp up right - anyone can do that, I'm sure - it was a) I think he might have stopped against the post box deliberately, and b) the fact that he shut the door in the bloke's face and drove away. I thought that was well out of order.
Wheelchairs on Buses
- Thread starter Urbanblues
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Oh it wasn't the fact that he didn't line the ramp up right - anyone can do that, I'm sure - it was a) I think he might have stopped against the post box deliberately, and b) the fact that he shut the door in the bloke's face and drove away. I thought that was well out of order.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
Yep, no excuses for that.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
The thing is, one is totally unaware of such obstacles until you spend time in a wheelchair or with a wheelchair user.
Crispy
The following psytrance is baṉned: All
This. I find myself 'telling the stupids how to use publice transport' it's a weird mixture of embaressment and pride.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
Unless one is a road sign pole erector, a rubbish bin installer, a postman, or someone who drops kerbs for a living.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
I mean that you're not aware of them as obstacles, just as objects
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
That's very true.
quimcunx
imprimeo, lamino, distribuo
I'd be sat upstairs wondering why the bus wasn't moving. I get quite annoyed with people clogging up downstairs if the only reason they haven't gone upstairs is because they can't be bothered.
Though it is important to remind myself that those people may have non-obvious reasons why it is not possible for them to go upstairs.
Not all of the lazy fuckers though. I refuse to believe that.
If I was downstairs I would also glare at the people takinig up the wheelchair space.
Though it is important to remind myself that those people may have non-obvious reasons why it is not possible for them to go upstairs.
Not all of the lazy fuckers though. I refuse to believe that.
If I was downstairs I would also glare at the people takinig up the wheelchair space.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
And, I would bask in the glorious heat of your glare quimcunx; ready to take on all comers.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
I'm looking forward to El Jefe's threads about not getting a seat on public transport even though he's blatantly brandishing crutches 
toblerone3
Grrrrr
I spent most of this morning trying to board tube trains in a wheelchair.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
toblerone3
Grrrrr
A variety of different ramps. It was in transport laboratory in Tufnell park called PAMELA.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
Depends where you are. Edinburgh has banned prams altogether in favour of wheelchairs.
http://flisolo.com/student-news/pram-ban-buses-leaves-mothers-isolated
http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/12447/Put-the-brakes-on-buses.4343048.jp
Here, it is still drivers discretion & I think it is up to two of either.
Would hate to think what it would be like to travel in a wheelchair. I took enough shit for using the disabled seats when I lost the use of one leg for a few months & had to use crutches/stick.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
I'm looking forward to El Jefe's threads about not getting a seat on public transport even though he's blatantly brandishing crutches
If the time I had is anything to go by, he is not going to have fun.
scifisam
deleted
I'd offer to get off, but would also (if I didn't have a travelcard and was short of cash) ask the driver for a follow-on ticket or whatever the equivalent was in that area so that I could get the next bus without paying extra.
More people should know that this option is available - it might help.
More people should know that this option is available - it might help.
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
omg! Shame on the passengers and driver!I'd probably shout out quite loudly but firmly .. "Could you move please so that this lady in a wheelchair can board the bus..."
I can't believe they didn't move...I get really pissed off with this - same when people get all arsey about women with prams. If you don't like it just bloody walk!!!
Although in a way, if the passengers didn't move, I don't see what option the driver would have had, because it would have been against health and safety rules for him to drive off with the wheelchair in the way. And if he refused to move the bus, he probably would have got told off for the service running late. And if the other passengers are the kind of people who are so lacking in social graces and courtesy so as to refuse to move for a wheelchair user, I'm guessing he didn't fancy messing with them.I'd shout out loudly too. I've done it before on buses, underground, you name it, "Could you move along please, people are trying to get on/off".
But then I am a blunt and bolshy northerner!
And if I see a mum struggling to get a buggy on or off, I'll go to help as well.
It is really shocking how on public transport some people will just stand or sit and watch someone else really struggle. And if I'm standing up and an elderly person gets on, I give Paddington Bear stares to the young able bodied peeps who don't offer up their seats.
scifisam
deleted
Quoted purely for excellent nostalgic but pertinent merit.
TBH, with a kid on various forms of public transport I've pretty often had people offer me a seat. When I was pregnant it never, ever happened; perhaps people didn't realise that I was pregnant rather than extremely fat, even though all the fat somehow went to my tummy.
As a person with disabilities, who can walk down stairs but only very slowly, I've been pushed down the stairs twice deliberately at the tube (I rarely take the tube). I know it was deliberate because the person doing so chose to make sure I knew it.
However, you can't see my disability easily; it's a particularly selfish fucker that manages to be blind to someone in a wheelchair.
The bus driver reminding people that they wouldn't have to pay again if they got off the bus would still help. If any bus companes don't do this for people who make way for wheelchairs (which have priority under the DDA for bloody good reason), then they're being absolute fuckers, and individual drivers could probably be persuaded to give follow-on tickets even so. They have to have the possibility of follow-on tickets (even just with a signature on) in case of bus breakdown.
I know that most people standing in the required space probably aren't so broke that they can't afford another ticket, but some might be, and the others might be persuaded to move aside if they know they won't have to pay more for the bext bus; it makes it clear that the space they're standing in on the bus is not their personal space, and they're not going to lose much by giving it up.
scifisam
deleted
Were they based on you pushing yourself up the ramp, or someone pushing you? Just curious.
RubyBlue
faded and jaded
I was on a bus recently and the driver actually asked a woman with a (very large) buggy to get off the bus as the wheelchair user had priority over buggy's - she complied and rightly so I think although that was a bit of a tougher one but I think the wheel chair use should have got priority in what must have been a fairly rare instance.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
If the time I had is anything to go by, he is not going to have fun.
He's really not, although he may get more sympathy if he's got a load of steel rods sticking out of his legs, compared to my b/f who just has a walking stick.
However, more people might make space for him, not because they feel sorry for him, but because they don't want to be jabbed in the legs by his steel rods
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
I don't agree - In fact, I seemed to become totally invisible to most people for the duration of my short spell in one.
I only began to be readmitted to the human race when I got up on crutches and even then, only began to be treated as fully human when I was mobile enough to just need a stick.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
He's really not, although he may get more sympathy if he's got a load of steel rods sticking out of his legs, compared to my b/f who just has a walking stick.
However, more people might make space for him, not because they feel sorry for him, but because they don't want to be jabbed in the legs by his steel rods
For the reasons in my post above, I don't know - One thing, whatever your injury/illness, when you are in a wheelchair, a significant number of people seem to automatically assume that you are mentally defficent as well.
Might be better if the rods were sticking out your head? People seldom looked that hard in my case - If the number of times I was berated for using a disabled seat/small trolley in the basket queue etc were anything to go by. I didn't even dare raising the wrath of drivers by applying for a disabled permit, although I did qualify. Mind you, the time it took to get one then was so long, I would probably only have got it just as I was finally beginning to regain movement.
Minnie_the_Minx
someinenhhanding menbag and me ah bollox
For the reasons in my post above, I don't know - One thing, whatever your injury/illness, when you are in a wheelchair, a significant number of people seem to automatically assume that you are mentally defficent as well.
Might be better if the rods were sticking out your head? People seldom looked that hard in my case - If the number of times I was berated for using a disabled seat/small trolley in the basket queue etc were anything to go by. I didn't even dare raising the wrath of drivers by applying for a disabled permit, although I did qualify. Mind you, the time it took to get one then was so long, I would probably only have got it just as I was finally beginning to regain movement.
Maybe these bus announcements need to be updated. They're already telling people that "there are seats on the upper deck". Maybe they should say "please get the fuck out of the disabled seats if there's sod all wrong with you and you can see an elderly/disabled/pregnant woman standing right in front of your face"
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
Injury? Illness? You don't have to have either to use a wheelchair; you could have a condition which is neither an illness nor an injury; and, you can also be mentally deficient, I'm pleased to say.One thing, whatever your injury/illness, when you are in a wheelchair, a significant number of people seem to automatically assume that you are mentally defficent as well.
zenie
>^^<
yes wheelchairs get priority, as it should be imo. Prams can be folded
I'd say something I usually do, got in a row with a guy on sunday as it goes, he went back downstairs in the end after I'd berated him for pushing me and having no manners.
Urbanblues
Was that it, life?
There is a great deal of invisibility to deal with as a wheelchair user. People walk in front of you in queues; try to get served before you in shops, pubs, bars, etc; attempt to climb over you, instead of waiting or walking around.
It’s not as though I’m small; sure, in a chair I’m about 130cm tall; but, I’m built like a bijou brick shithouse. So, the idea some twat didn’t see me waiting to be served doesn’t wash. The other excuse when I pull some bar-service pushing prick is, “Oh, were you waiting to be served?” of course not, I always hang around fucking bars with a £20 note in me fist trying to catch the eye of bar staff members.
It’s not as though I’m small; sure, in a chair I’m about 130cm tall; but, I’m built like a bijou brick shithouse. So, the idea some twat didn’t see me waiting to be served doesn’t wash. The other excuse when I pull some bar-service pushing prick is, “Oh, were you waiting to be served?” of course not, I always hang around fucking bars with a £20 note in me fist trying to catch the eye of bar staff members.
pogofish
Testicle Hairstyle
Yes, whatever confines you to one - Which in my case was an illness that left me with no feeling & little movement in one leg for a prolonged period.
Whatever it is though, IME you vanished from the sight and consideration of so many people.
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