Stagecoach Apologises For Blind Pass Confusion

Stagecoach Apologises For Blind Pass Confusion

Stagecoach is issuing this statement with regards to an incident involving a 14 year old visually impaired teenager being refused free bus travel on the Island Bay bus in Wellington on Monday evening, and the alleged assault that followed.

Stagecoach apologises that our driver refused to accept the validity of the customer’s Blind Persons ID card. The driver did not follow the correct procedure. Whilst the company does its best to train drivers in the correct way to look after the needs of people with special needs, we have in this instance let this passenger down. We also acknowledge the presence of the 14 year old boy’s brother who was trying to assist the situation.

However, we believe that once the situation worsened, when the alleged assault from another passenger occurred, the driver did take responsible action by using his radio telephone to summons police assistance.

With regards to the alleged assault on the 14 year old boy, this is currently in the hands of the police. Our driver is of course helping the police with their enquiry.

Stagecoach wishes to reassure the public that their safety and security is of paramount importance to the company. It wishes to reassure those with special needs that the company will be putting greater efforts into the education of drivers in this area. We understand that many people rely on the services of Stagecoach for their everyday travel needs. We will be working with the Foundation for the Blind to assess our current training scheme and identify areas for improvement.

Stagecoach also wishes to confirm that it will be formally meeting with the customer and his family to discuss the incident. Stagecoach’s primary objective will be to work with the customer to rebuild their confidence in using Stagecoach buses.

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