Injury to elderly bus user raises human rights issue

Bus operator Stagecoach is in trouble with the Human Rights Commission for the second time in a month for mishaps to disabled or elderly passengers.

A 77-year-old man is recovering in hospital with a broken rib and suspected lung damage from being thrown to the floor of a Stagecoach bus in Wellington at the weekend, after its driver took off without waiting for him to be seated.

He is believed to have hit his chest on a platform when the driver braked at an intersection. The old man lay winded in the aisle before an ambulance arrived.

The incident follows an attack on a 14-year-old vision-impaired boy in Wellington by a Stagecoach passenger early this month, after the bus driver in that instance challenged the validity of a discount pass he was carrying.

Stagecoach has since reached a confidential settlement with the boy with the help of the Human Rights Commission, which less than a month ago issued a hefty report after a two-and-a-half-year inquiry into problems disabled people face using public transport.

A key recommendation was for bus operators to take immediate steps to provide drivers with disability awareness and competency training.

The commission recommended operators work to eliminate rough driving and give passengers time to find seats before buses take off.

Chief commissioner Rosslyn Noonan said last night the two incidents were graphic illustrations of the need for operators to ensure their staff offered a genuine public service to all passengers.

Stagecoach Wellington area manager Eddie McCaffrey said the company already included disability awareness in driver training but had been waiting for the commission's report before reviewing what was taught.

He said the company emphasised to drivers a need to ensure passengers were seated before taking off. It was investigating the latest mishap.

Auckland Tramways Union president Gary Froggatt said three weeks' training given to his members was intensive and hard to absorb in such a brief period, so he believed refresher courses were warranted.