‘I’ll only be a minute’ – delegates at UNISON’s disabled members’ conference shared experiences of how able-bodied motorists seem to believe that ‘only being a minute’ justifies their using disabled parking spaces, and how this impacts on disabled people themselves.
And on the issue of transport, conference in Brighton also heard how moves by rail companies to driver-only trains can cause problems for disabled people, whether because they struggle to find help to get on or off a train, or such situations as a deaf person not being able to hear any announcements of changes to the service.
Additionally, Tony Marrick from Perth and Kinross highlighted how cuts are having a negative impact on accessible public transport, but also stressed that accessibility also means that, say, wheelchair users should have priority over mothers with buggies on buses.
He also told delegates the recent supreme court case of the disabled man who was denied access to a bus because a mother would not fold up her buggy to allow his wheelchair in, and how the judge had stated that the disabled person had to have priority in such a situation.
