Bus Ride From Hell

Image Courtesy of Cloquet Transit

Accessible busing.  This is something that I have experienced my entire life.

My school district held a contract with a company close by that has strictly accessible buses.  These buses were equipped with an electric ramp that rose children in wheelchairs into the buses.  Then, there were straps that attached to the person's wheelchair to keep them from moving around the bus.  Also, kids with cognitive disabilities were also on these buses.  I have used this service within my district since Kindergarten.  I had never had many issues on these buses.

That was, until my senior year of high school.  At this point, the bus company that my school district contracted with, was severely understaffed.  So understaffed, in fact, that the owner hired his son's girlfriend, who had no experience whatsoever with driving a bus, or working with children with disabilities.

It started out fine.  Then, things got a little... inappropriate.  See, at the time, there was another child on the bus of elementary school age.  The bus driver would choose this moment to tell me, a woman she barely knows, about her intimate relationships.  However, it only got worse from there.

There was a second girl on the bus, also in a wheelchair, who was a year younger than me.  She had a cognitive disability that limited not only her mobility but also her speech capability.  When trying to talk, she would have to yell out loud. This particular bus driver got sick of this and yelled at her, a girl who cannot understand, to "shut the f*** up," and called her a retard and a cripple, among other things that you should never ever say to any human being, let along someone disabled.  But then, things got even worse.

I am a wheelchair track athlete, a decorated one.  I have gone to the Wisconsin State Track Meet all four years of high school, but the competition was almost stripped away from me, because of this bus driver.  She had a habit of speeding on roads.  One particular day in May, about two days before a huge meet, and one week before the state meet, we were in a bus accident.  Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, however, I had gotten the most injury.

I have a seatbelt on my chair, however, when there is a significant amount of force, the belt will not stop me from falling out of my chair.   I was on the bus listening to music, when all of a sudden, the bus stopped with such force that I went flying into the other girl's wheelchair, and hit my head, almost getting a concussion, and several bruises and cuts.   I came very close to ending my season, however, I was in the end, able to keep going.  Anyway, after I had gotten up, the driver told me that she "had gotten distracted by a puppy with its owner on the sidewalk," not seeing an oncoming car, and had to stop abruptly to prevent even more of an accident.

Eventually, my district caught wind of this, and she was fired.

Anyway, if anyone is reading this blog, feel free to leave comments about if you like stories about my life, or if you want me to be analytic about current Disability Rights issues, and any other comments you may have.

See you next week!