Looks like at least one bus driver in London needs more education on disability

11 Feb 2016: A disabled woman in London was left at the bus stop after the bus driver appeared to be too impatient to help her.

Melody Powell was waiting to catch the bus with a friend. The bus arrived and the wheelchair ramp was deployed. However Melody was unable to board the bus because the driver had deployed the ramp in front of a pole, making the wheelchair ramp inaccessible.

The driver was asked to move the bus away from the pole so she could fit her wheelchair on the ramp. Instead he retracted the ramp and drove away, separating her from her friend who had already boarded.

Unlucky for this bus driver, Melody has been filming the bus to show her boyfriend how the wheelchair ramp works. A video that was meant to show an example of great accessibility Instead showed the opposite.

Was the bus driver in that much of a rush that he couldn't take an extra minute to move past the pole and let her board?

You can find the video at this link - Disabled woman left at bus stop

The company gave out the typical sort of reply you get from companies when mistakes are made. We're sorry this happened, we expect the best from our staff, we'll investigate further. But reading through the comments section and the amount of times people were saying this has happened to them. I'd say the reply should read more like, we're aware of the issue, but won't do anything about it.

I know there are probably people calling for him to be sacked, but he shouldn't be. This won't solve the problem, it will just happen again with a different driver. What needs to happen is more education on assisting disabled passengers so more people aren't left behind in the future. It's great that their buses are so accessible. Here on occasion you still find the old buses with steps. But what's the point of having accessible buses if you can't get on them in the first place.

With the bus being my main mode of transportation, I know there are both good and bad drivers out there, and the attitude of some passengers can make it an unpleasant job. I'd say most drivers that I've encountered are great. But there's always a few that are rude and too impatient, if they'd wait 5 seconds for me to sit down that would be helpful.

I have quite poor balance so on more than one occasion I've been catapulted down the bus when the driver didn't wait for me to sit down before they drove away. The people I landed on were not happy. Unfortunately on those occasions their frustration was vented at me and not the driver.

So has anyone else experienced difficulties using public transport?

Original Article - Disabled woman films moment bus ramp fails to extend properly