BBC News article, 18 January 20: ‘Wheelchair v buggy’: Disabled man wins Supreme Court case
A disabled man has won a Supreme Court case after a dispute with a woman with a buggy over wheelchair space on a bus.
It means bus drivers will have to do more to accommodate wheelchair users.
Wheelchair user Doug Paulley brought his case after he was refused entry to a FirstGroup bus in 2012, when a mother with a pushchair refused to move.
First Bus said the ruling meant drivers would not have to remove customers from its vehicles, while Mr Paulley said the ruling would make “a major difference”.
The court said the company should consider further steps to persuade non-wheelchair users to move, without making it a legal duty to move them.
It ruled that FirstGroup’s policy of requiring a driver to simply request a non-wheelchair user to vacate the space without taking any further steps was unjustified. Read the full article
Disability Rights UK blog post, 18 January 2017 Paulley case is an important milestone – and more legal clarification needed
Disability news service blog post by John Pring, 19 January 2017: We must keep banging the drum,’ says bus campaigner after five-year fight for justice
Disability news service blog post, by John Pring, 19 January 2017: Anger after bus giant ‘tries to weasel out’ of Supreme Court discrimination ruling
The “Paulley Principle”: A DR UK ambassador’s view 19 January 2017
In his new blog Stephen Brookes MBE, DR UK ambassador and keen campaigner on better transport accessibility for disabled people, considers yesterday’s Paulley decision.
He calls for the inclusion of disabled people in planning public service vehicle design and service provision as, unless or until a specific change in law occurs, the win can only a partial success.
Doug Paulley’s blog, 18 January: FirstGroup claim there’s no finding they discriminated against me