A disabled man claims he was left with a broken ankle and two broken wrists after a bus company’s drivers repeatedly failed to strap him into a wheelchair space properly over the course of two years.
Charley Jonstone-Brent, from Coventry, says he has complained at least 15 times to Arriva Midlands after drivers failed to ensure his wheelchair was safely attached to the floor and strapped in as he travelled to hospital appointments in Leicester.
He has also been told to travel without a seatbelt on multiple occasions when travelling on the X6 route, which includes stretches of the M6 and M69 motorways.
Because of these failings, his chair can spin 90 degrees when the coach turns, crosses a roundabout or hits a bump in the road, and he is often forced to hold onto the seat in front of him.
The safety failings have led to his wheelchair slipping off the raised platform it is perched on and into the aisle.
Drivers have admitted not being trained properly and have even complained when he asked for his wheelchair to be attached properly to the floor.
He told Disability News Service (DNS) how it felt travelling on the coach: “I’m flying everywhere. I’m not secured.
“It’s not very comfortable. I’m trying to grab on to anything I can, but there’s nowhere for me to grab onto.”
He has also been subjected to other passengers laughing and taking photos of him on their phones – or complaining about the delay – because drivers are unable to strap him in properly or cannot operate the ramp.
One response from Arriva, in November 2022, admitted that its coaches on the X6 route “do not have any wheelchair restraints due to the nature of the route and the low wheelchair usage this route has”.
Now he is taking legal action against Arriva, which has admitted at least some of its failings.
In a legal letter sent to Arriva’s solicitors, he said: “As a wheelchair user, public transportation is crucial for maintaining my independence and carrying out daily activities.
“Unfortunately, your company has consistently failed to provide the necessary safety harnesses and equipment to secure my wheelchair properly during transit.
“This negligence has resulted in several injuries to myself and significant damage to my wheelchair, which is my lifeline.
“Without the proper restraints, my wheelchair has been thrown about during transit, leading to physical harm and damage to my essential mobility device.
“The absence of these safety measures is not just an oversight but a blatant disregard for the safety and well-being of disabled passengers.”
He said his numerous complaints were met with “indifference” until he produced video evidence of one of his journeys.
In response, Arriva has accepted responsibility for safety failings on just one journey.
Arriva admitted: “He was placed in the coach’s wheelchair space and should have been secured with straps and a lap seat belt, but he wasn’t.
“As a result, the wheelchair moved around during the journey.”
It also admitted that “there had not been proper training for their drivers at the time on securing wheelchairs”, which it said was a failure to make a reasonable adjustment under the Equality Act.
Jonstone-Brent thinks the company only made the admission because – for the first time – he had filmed footage of the journey.
On one journey in 2022, he says, his wheelchair tipped over, trapping his ankle and breaking it.
When he complained after this incident, Arriva’s solicitors apologised for the inconvenience and promised it would not happen again.
Since that apology, it has happened another 14 times.
He told DNS: “I just felt angry and that they don’t care about their disabled customers.”
He is also furious that Arriva will not admit damage that he says was caused to his wheelchair.
He said he had been treated with no respect and “total disregard”.
The last time he used the service, last month, the driver refused to allow him to board, and claimed he did not “feel comfortable” boarding him and that Arriva would provide him with a “special” minibus instead.
He had to wait an hour for the minibus that drove him and his partner to Leicester.
This meant he missed his appointment.
He said: “I felt very humiliated. I felt I was being victimised for making a complaint.”
His partner, Chloe Child, who accompanies him on his trips to Leicester, has had to help him after he has fallen out of his wheelchair, broken his ankle and twice broken his wrist.
She said: “It’s quite distressing because every turn and movement the coach makes, he juts forward slightly, or sometimes, when we’re on the motorway, he’ll sort of catapult from where he’s supposed to be into the seat in front.
“Sometimes he has been launched out of his chair, or has been left sitting on the floor, or he just about catches himself before falling out.
“Sometimes other people have commented and said that shouldn’t happen, but others are sort of laughing, and kids are laughing and taking photos.”
Jonstone-Brent has been assisted in bringing his case by fellow disabled activist Doug Paulley, who tested the route and experienced the same safety failings.
Paulley congratulated Jonstone-Brent for the “phenomenal” admission he had already secured from Arriva, which he said was “against the odds” of facing “discriminatory providers and discriminatory and inadequate enforcement systems”.
He said: “It’s disgraceful that Arriva routinely committed this dangerous criminal offence.
“Other passengers get to travel in a seat attached to the chassis and with a seatbelt.
“Drivers are under a criminal law obligation to give wheelchair-users the same basic treatment, yet when Charley raised this he got victimised by the company.
“I have experienced the same dangerous treatment on their services.
“And where is the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) in this?
“Do they not care when wheelchair-using passengers’ lives are put at risk?
“Why is this company not up before the Traffic Commissioners?”
An Arriva spokesperson said: “Unfortunately, we are unable to comment on any ongoing litigation claims as it could prejudice the ongoing proceedings.”
DVSA declined to comment on Paulley’s concerns, but it claimed in a statement that it “takes disability access issues extremely seriously and will investigate reports of non-compliance and take appropriate action when warranted”.
Picture: Charley Jonstone-Brent outside one of the coaches
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