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Clacton: disabled Dominic angry after being turned away from bus

11:00am Tuesday 16th September 2008 in


A WHEELCHAIR user was left furious after being turned away from a bus.

Dominic Lund-Conlon flagged down the 137 Hedingham bus from Station Road, in Clacton, to go to the town’s Tesco store, along with wife Natasha and six-month-old daughter, Anna, who he was carrying in a sling.

The 26-year-old was appalled when the driver refused to let him board the bus, as there were already buggies in the space set aside for wheelchairs.

“Legally, wheelchairs have priority over buggies,” said Mr Lund-Conlon, who suffers from muscular dystrophy.

“Under the Disability Discrimination Act, the driver should have enforced the law and asked the passengers to fold their buggies or leave the vehicle.

“I told him that he was breaking the law, but he was adamant that he wasn’t going to get involved.

“Then, when I asked the mothers to fold down their buggies, they refused.”

He added: “I was considering putting my wheelchair in front of the bus and calling the police.”

With the driver and passengers refusing to help, the couple were forced to let the bus go and wait for the next one, due half an hour later.

Mrs Lund-Conlon was left as angry and upset as her husband.

She said: “The driver should have taken responsibility for the situation.

“Passengers also need to be more co-operative and realise how hard it can be to get around if you’re disabled.”

Hedingham Omnibuses managing director Robert MacGregor said the driver had been caught between the mothers and Mr Lund-Conlon during the incident.

“But the wheelchair user should always come first,” he said.

“We are going to do our very best to sort this out and make sure the situation doesn’t happen again. We will be putting up posters from Essex County Council telling passengers to give up the wheelchair space to disabled people.

“Hopefully, that way we re-emphasise the point.”

Comments(14)

Citizen 139 says...
12:06pm Tue 16 Sep 08

The driver should have refused to move until the pushchairs had been folded away.

Of course like everyone else he chose not to accept any responsibility.

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hughie-s says...
2:28pm Tue 16 Sep 08

", the driver should have enforced the law and asked the passengers to fold their buggies or leave the vehicle."

The driver was in a no win situation as the story would then have been about mothers and children thrown off the bus

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Say It As It Is OK? says...
2:39pm Tue 16 Sep 08

How many times do we hear stories like this one! Was the driver in charge of the bus or not?

It is no excuse to ignore a situation like this and the bus company should carryout more than just put a notice up. This is just an attempt to shirk their responsibility. They should sack the driver!

But, they won't, and he knows employment law these days means they can't sack him. He'll most probably not even get disciplined because of the fear they will all go out on strike.

Sauying that there are some excellent bus drivers who are very helpful but it is always these jobsworths that get the publicity for the wrong reasons.

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Citizen 139 says...
2:41pm Tue 16 Sep 08

And why would mothers and children have been thrown off a bus? Because they refused to fold their pushchairs and act as civilised human beings?

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The Enforcer says...
5:45pm Tue 16 Sep 08

I wouldnt take my child out of the pushchair. The children are safely strapped in their pushchairs. Buses dont provide seatbelts. Disabled people always go on about wanting to be treated the same as others, so mate, wait for the next bus like others when its full.

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general public says...
8:46pm Tue 16 Sep 08

the wheels on the bus go round & round....round & round....round & rounhd.the wheels on the bus go round & round...all day long!

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Boris says...
12:58am Wed 17 Sep 08

The bus driver may have been worried by the recent case of another driver who was fined several hundred pounds for answering back at a rude customer. Of course drivers will be terrified of arguing the toss with anybody.
As for waiting for the next bus, disabled people should only have to wait if there is another wheelchair user already on board, but not otherwise.
If Enforcer thinks disabled people are always moaning then he should try life in a wheelchair. Or he could try an encounter with the GB Paralympics wheelchair rugby team and see whether he is still breathing at the end of it.
As for the selfish mothers, if they won't co-operate then the bus company should ban pushchairs altogether.

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van man says...
8:16am Wed 17 Sep 08

I totally agree with The Enforcer, when my children were strapped into their buggies, in a place designated for buggies OR wheelchair users, then it is first come first served. Mothers with buggies have just as much right to use that area as wheelchairs.
Why should they not wait for the next bus? What makes him so special? These people want equality, but only when it suits them. The bus driver was correct to do what he did, would you expect him to order a wheelchair to be folded up to make way for another?
There is too much of this sort of thing going on, treating these people better then normal people, everyone should be treated the same, and if i have to wait for a not-so-full bus, then so should this man.

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smudge* says...
10:18am Wed 17 Sep 08

I am a young mum and I use the space on buses designed for wheelchair users. Several times I have folded my pushchair down or got off the bus (one stop early) to let a wheelchair user on. The Enforcer and van man, you say that you want your children safely strapped in, why can't you hold them on your lap to keep them safe or teach them to sit still on a seat. The spaces are designed for wheelchair users only but people with pushchairs can use them if free. This was put in place under the Disability Discrimination Act. Also van man, the comment you make about 'treat these people better than normal people' is very discriminating and judgemental. Just beacuse someone is in a wheelchair it does not make them abnormal, maybe one day you will be in a wheelchair I'm sure you will feel differently then.

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Poacher says...
11:27am Wed 17 Sep 08

Reading some of the comments above just demonstrates what a sad state our society is in. Courtesy and manners out of the window, I'm all right Jack attitudes prevailing.

Absolutely appalling, you, the driver and the mothers, especially the one that was taking up the disabled space, whould hang their heads in shame.

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Fox Hat says...
11:59am Wed 17 Sep 08

What the bus driver did, as an employee of the company, was to break the law. Both should be taken to court and this would encourage other bus drivers to follow the law.
Wheelchair users have a right to space on a bus enshrined in law, pram users don't.

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Boris says...
12:57am Thu 18 Sep 08

Well said Smudge, it's nice to hear from one of the many young people who have been well brought up and who think of others as well as themselves.
Van man probably spends most of his time in his van, which would explain his ignorance of the rules for using buses. He should try meeting a few disabled people and then maybe he would understand what they are up against.

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general public says...
2:28am Thu 18 Sep 08

there's no such thing as a 'normal person'.there are 'able & disabled people' & there are varying degrees of sanity;in both categories.the present conflicts arising from bus-travellers;stems from not having a conductor on board.bus-drivers having the dual-role of fare-collecting;puts them at hazard from distraction.the conductors were moral-support for the drivers;less aggro all-round.am i right;or am i right?

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Boris says...
8:53pm Fri 19 Sep 08

General Public, you are right. But sadly that battle was lost years ago.

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