Scoot off!! Public buses say “No” to mobility scooter
In a “PC” age when Disability Awareness has become legislation, it is amazing to read stories of how people using mobility scooters face problems with public transport.
American comic Tanyalee David has now launched a one-woman campaign to overturn the ban on mobility scooters that some train and bus companies operate. Tanyalee has now been stranded more than once when trying to use public transport with her mobility scooter.
As electric mobility scooters were not that common when Disability Acts came into force, many public organizations can refuse to accept compliance of recognizing mobility scooters are part of their apparent conformity of disability legislation.
Tanyalee’s latest stranding incident occurred whilst she was visiting the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. A spokesperson for Edinburgh’s Lothian Buses said: ‘Under accessibility rules, scooters are defined as an alternative to public transport as they have a travel range of 12 to 20 miles.
‘Their maneuverability is not suitable for negotiating the wheelchair space on a bus.
‘In common with the majority of major bus companies and other public transport operators, we do not carry these on safety grounds as a result of the Department For Transport enquiry which concludes many are unstable and therefore unsuitable for use on public transport.’
I think maybe the issue in the UK is that distances are so much shorter in comparison to here in the US. I was in Las Vegas only last week, and observed the impeccable public transport service in Nevada. All public buses had ramps and designated wheelchair areas. I even witnessed a bus driver amiably and efficiently lower his ramp, assist an elderly man in a power wheelchair to board and helped him maneuver and secure his power chair. Something I never witnessed in all my years in the UK.
