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Disabled travelers believe they have claimed a “significant” victory at the Supreme Court in a battle for priority use of wheelchair spaces on buses.
As a result of today’s ruling, drivers will have to do more to ensure wheelchair users can get on buses, by requesting non-wheelchair users to move from the designated wheelchair space if they are occupying it.
The court ruled that bus operator FirstGroup’s policy of requiring a driver to request a non-wheelchair user to vacate the space without taking any further steps if they failed to do so was unjustified.
Lord Neuberger, the Supreme Court’s president, said that if non-wheelchair users unreasonably refused the request, the driver should consider further action to ensure they do so, depending on the circumstances.
Important Day
Doug Paulley, from Wetherby was unable to board a FirstGroup-operated bus when a passenger with a pram refused to move from the wheelchair area.
The woman rejected the driver’s request to move or fold the pushchair which in turn led the driver to subsequently tell Mr Paulley that he could not board the vehicle. As a result, he missed his train connection at Leeds and was unable to meet his parents for lunch that day.
He explained: “I’m absolutely delighted. It represents a significant cultural change. It’s been a long fight of five years by a lot of people and I’m incredibly grateful that so many individuals put so much time, effort and passion into it.
Mr Paulley added: “We have achieved something here that will make a difference not just for wheelchair users but for other disabled people.”
Equal Rights
The bus operator’s policy is “requesting but not requiring” other non-disabled passengers to move – a policy that Doug Paulley and his representatives argued breaches the Equality Act.
John Halford, public and discrimination law specialist at Bindmans LLP, welcomed today’s judgment: “For wheelchair users the systemic failure of public transport providers to accommodate their basic needs for safe travel is literally an everyday experience.
He concluded: “Today’s Supreme Court judgment exposes that fact and explains what the law demands in response. Bus and train companies, and for that matter taxi fleets and licencing bodies, should read it carefully and then take urgent steps to bring what they offer to disabled people up to an acceptable standard.”
