DC Trails Fiasco

This is very similar to the bus that I was on

I am posting this immediately after the ACLU trip blog, because I feel that it was too emotional to have in that one, but my story needs to be put out there.  I want to preface this by saying that this is just my experience with one company and I will be naming the company, so that people can decide for themselves if they want to give it business, and I do not mean any sort of ill-intent with this post.

Throughout the week in Washington, D.C., the program that I was a part of used a company to take us places called DC Trails.  Prior to this particular incident, I had had issues on DC Trails with wheelchair ramps not working in the past, on an earlier trip with the ACLU.  Each day, the drivers would load me on and off, and strap me in so I wouldn't roll around.  Each bus had two Close Up leaders on board, and each time we would get off, my leader would wait for me.

On this particular day, we were going to the Capitol Building and had a different driver than the rest of the week.  Right off the bat, I felt off about this guy.  I am not really sure what it was about him, but something in my intuition told me to tell one of the program leaders that I was uncomfortable, but in the end, I let it go and approached the bus.  Almost immediately, he made odd comments, such as "don't you dare move your chair until the door is closed" and also "you can't wheel yourself, you need help."  These struck me as odd, because I insisted multiple times that I was okay and did not need help, but he kept berating me about it.

Then, we got to the Capitol and everyone got off.  I looked out the window and saw my leader whip out her phone frantically, and before I realized what was happening, the bus driver started driving away with me still on the bus.  I started to get a panic attack, not knowing what was about to happen.  I began yelling for him and he did nothing.  I took out my phone and began texting literally every person that I knew from the program.  Then, I started to breath deeply in order to calm myself down.  After I was calm enough, I realized that I had an emergency Close Up number to call.  But of course, the person who answered had trouble understanding the situation, so I ended up pleading with her to call my leader.

A few minutes later, the head of the program called and again, had trouble understanding what was happening, so she called my leader.  I tried again and failed to get the driver's attention.  By now he had stopped by the Air and Space Museum, a location that I happened to know.  I got a call from the head of the program saying my leader had called the driver FIFTEEN times to no answer.  They decided to call the company itself to get a hold of him.  I could hear everything from the back of the bus.

His boss called him and I heard him ask if there was another person on the bus with the driver, to which he responded "no" and hung up.  Then, the boss called again.  This time, the driver launched into a huge rant about how awful it was to drive "all of those kids around in the middle of rush hour."  I am going to spare you of the expletitives that the driver used.  The boss asked again if there is a passenger on the bus.  FINALLY, the driver checked and found me.  He drove me back to the capitol and let me off without a word.  As I reunited with my program leader, the driver turned to me and started screaming at me about how the whole fiasco was all my fault.

This was an experience that I will never forget.  It made me feel vulnerable and helpless, two emotions that I rarely feel, and when I do, it scares me.  I am writing this post for a few reasons:  (1) I use writing as a way of processing things that happen and the accompanying emotions, and (2) I felt that I needed to warn others, not of DC Trails itself, but of potentially dangerous situations you may find yourself in as a wheelchair user.  If you have a feeling that something is not right, pay attention to your intuition, because more often than not, it is correct.  Also, speak up when you feel unsafe.

Thanks for reading.