Bus driver in Britain won't let wheelchair-using boy on bus

From The Gazette in the UK:

A bus company has apologised to a Stockton mum after a driver initially refused to let her on-board with her wheelchair-bound son.

Rebecca Mulgrew said the incident was “extremely embarrassing and distressing” to herself and her three-year-old son Oscar. (Both are pictured.)

Stagecoach chiefs said the driver was at fault and he has been disciplined for ignoring company guidelines on disabled access.

Little Oscar has cerebral palsy and, although he can walk a little, his mum uses a wheelchair outdoors as he often falls over.

The 24-year-old mum-of-two tried to board the Stagecoach bus with him near her Norton Road home one morning last month.

Neighbour Debbie Madden, 34, got on the bus first and then heard the driver tell Rebecca there was no space for the wheelchair as there were two buggies already on board.

“The driver refused to commence the journey and just kept repeating there was no space,” said Rebecca, who recently left her job at Abbey bank in Stockton to care for Oscar full time.

“He did at no point ask the buggies to move or fold, give me any eye contact or show any kind of empathy. He didn’t even have the decency to lower the bus. I had to physically lift Oscar in his chair onto the bus.

“I was trying to reason with the driver and explain to him what he was doing was discriminating against my son, but he was ignoring me and not even looking at me.”

After arguing for about five minutes, her neighbour Debbie rang Stagecoach to complain. “It was disgusting,” she said.

“I was told he didn’t have to let them on the bus. So I told him ‘This bus is going nowhere until he does!’”

Eventually the driver let Debbie, who also has a two-year-old daughter Isla, get on with Oscar. But the incident left her so upset she took it to company bosses, who have apologised and sent her a bunch of flowers.

John Conroy, managing director at Stagecoach North East said: “We offered Mrs Mulgrew and her son our sincere apologies for any inconvenience and distress caused.

“Our conditions of carriage state if the designated wheelchair space at the front of our low floor vehicles is required by a wheelchair or approved mobility scooter, passengers must vacate the space and reposition any small prams, fold any buggies and store them in the luggage space.

“In this particular instance our driver was at fault for not following our company guidelines and assisting Mrs Mulgrew and her son as they boarded the service.

“Following the conclusion of our investigation we disciplined the driver accordingly and circulated a notice to all our drivers to ensure our conditions of carriage are fully understood in order to prevent this situation arising in the future.