Disabled girl turned away by bus driver

Published on Thursday 28 February 2008 09:35

A MOTHER who was told there was no room on the bus for her disabled daughter has hit out at operator Lothian Buses.

Fiona Pickup was furious when she could not take her five-year-old daughter Emma Dobbin on the bus, because there was a child's buggy in the wheelchair space.

Ms Pickup, 27, now plans to raise the issue with the Scottish Parliament, saying there should be clearer rules about wheelchair access on buses.

Emma suffers from cerebral palsy and has been in a wheelchair for two years. The space on the 22 bus is designated for wheelchair use, but is often used by parents with children in buggies.

Ms Pickup, of Leith, said when she tried to board the bus from Ocean Terminal on Saturday there was a woman with a buggy taking up the wheelchair space. She claimed the driver did not ask the woman to fold up the pushchair, but simply said she would have to wait for the next bus.

The helpdesk consultant said when she phoned to complain she was told the driver was not able to move people from the space.

She now plans to write to the First Minister asking for the issue to be looked at.

"I was just so angry with the bus driver because of his attitude," she said. "I thought these spaces were meant to be for wheelchair users, and I can't see why the woman couldn't fold up the buggy so my daughter could get on the bus.

"All I keep thinking about is what if my daughter was an adult and travelling on her own and the bus driver told her she wasn't getting on. If it was the last bus home would he have left her sitting there on her own?"

A spokesman for Lothian Buses said they had not received any complaint, but insisted its drivers were instructed to accommodate both wheelchair and pushchair users wherever possible.

"Drivers will allow wheelchair users to board a bus if there is an unoccupied wheelchair space and in doing so the maximum seating or standing capacity is not exceeded," he said. "If the space is occupied, it can only be vacated if there is available capacity, or if a buggy can be folded easily and space is available for its storage and the safe passage of its occupant."

He added that such incidents highlighted the need for passengers to co-operate with drivers to make wheelchair space available.

This is an issue being raised by disabled rights charity Ecas.

Sam Condry, research and campaigning officer at Ecas, said: "There should always be ample space on buses for pushchairs and wheelchairs. If there is room on the bus, priority wheelchair spaces should be vacated for those in wheelchairs."