Rail replacement bus allegedly refused to take man in wheelchair

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From Somerset Live

Rail replacement bus allegedly refused to take man in wheelchair

An investigation has been launched

A bus in Bath drove off with a man stuck in the door on Sunday — after allegedly refusing to let a different man board the bus with his wheelchair.

Police are investigating after a man’s arm was trapped in the door of the vehicle as it began to leave Bath Bus Station at about 5.45pm. No arrests have been made.

David Redgewell, who uses a wheelchair, said that the driver had refused to let him board the coach, despite it having facilities for a wheelchair. He said passengers had been insisting to the driver that they should not leave a disabled person behind when the driver drove off with one of their arms stuck in the door.

Mr Redgewell is a prominent campaigner for public transport in the area. He said: “I have travelled thousands of miles on rail replacement buses across Great Britain and Ireland and I’ve never seen this before.”

He said: “The whole incident was shocking.”

The article continues.

I have asked myself "should I be posting this article concerning and naming someone many of us know well in the passenger advocacy world?".  My decision was made easier by David himself sharing the article in public on social media, and supplying pictures used in the article I am quoting which, again, is in public - and he would have known that the various publications would bring his name into the public domain in association with this incident.

[Chris from Nailsea]

Thanks, grahame. 

David Redgewell is no stranger to publicity, nor self-publicity (and that is not a criticism!), so I support your posting details of that press story here.

That incident is indeed rather shocking: the bus driver will no doubt be interviewed in some detail about that incident. 

[LiskeardRich]

There’s at least one other side to this story, and more than meets the eye I can assure everyone!

[JayMac]

We can only form opinion based on published information. Saying there's another side to the story is all well and good, but without that side being in the public domain opinions can't really be changed. We comment with the available information.

It's foolish for anyone to put their limbs in the way of closing doors on any public transport. However, operators have a duty of care toward the public and driving off with someone trapped in the door wasn't a wise decision and may have passed the threshold into a criminal act.

[ChrisB]

It ought to be clearer that it wasn't Dave Redgewell's arm that was stuck in the door. Certain pieces of text come quite close to suggesting it was.