DUBLIN, Ireland: A blind woman from Dublin says she was hurt while getting off a bus because the driver refused to pull in close to the kerb. She has now started a legal complaint against Dublin Bus, saying they discriminated against her because of her disability.
The woman, Áine Wellard, is a disability advocate. She also says she was injured in a second incident when another bus driver lowered the wheelchair ramp in front of a bus stop pole. She says she walked into the pole because she couldn't see it.
Wellard has formally told Dublin Bus that she plans to take action under the Equal Status Act. She says the company mistreated her due to her disability and didn't make proper accommodations for her needs.
She claims the bus driver in the first incident wanted to "humiliate" her and only refused to pull in closer to the kerb "for his own entertainment." She says there was no real reason for not helping her.
In her complaint form, called an ES1, Wellard described what happened on April 15th as "distressing, embarrassing, humiliating and totally unnecessary."
She says the bus stopped near Tesco in Sandymount but left a large gap between the door and the footpath. She asked the driver three times to move closer, but he refused. She also has back problems and told the driver she was struggling, but he only told her to "put [her] foot out a bit further."
When she tried to get off the bus, she lost her balance and fell. She says she had back pain, difficulty walking, and other symptoms for about two months afterward.
Under the rules set by the National Transport Authority (NTA), Dublin Bus is required to stop buses as close to the kerb as possible to make it safer for passengers to get on and off.
Dublin Bus has said it looked into Wellard's complaint but did not share the outcome or say whether the driver was punished. In a message to her, the company said, "We ask for your trust that Dublin Bus takes all complaints seriously and tries to make fair decisions in each case."
Dublin Bus has one month to reply to her discrimination claim. A spokesperson said the company had no further comment at this time.
