Posted on 04/01/2007 9:24:32 AM PDT by Clive
Calgary Transit has apologized to a city mom after her blind son was kicked off a city bus.
Linda Visser's 13-year-old son Brian was on his way home from St. Bonaventure school Friday, when he was told to get off his usual bus, the angered mom said yesterday.
The Grade 8 student, who suffers from albinism, is legally blind and uses his Canadian National Institute for the Blind transit card to gain access to public transportation, but the card was not enough to appease the driver, said Linda.
Although Brian had been using the card -- which is a photo ID, complete with serial number, expiry date and the privilege to ride public transportation -- since January, the driver Friday was skeptical and told the teen to take a seat while he called his supervisor, she said.
"Then he said ... the card was invalid," said Linda.
"Brian wasn't even offered to pay ... he just kicked him off the bus."
Thankfully, Brian was close enough to his house that he managed to walk home after being kicked off, said Linda.
The episode prompted her to call Calgary Transit and lodge a complaint.
Adding insult to injury was the ignorant response Linda said she got from a Calgary Transit line operator, who asked her if Brian carried a white cane.
"I said, 'no,' and she said, 'well, in a city of a million people how are we supposed to know who is blind and who isn't,' " said Linda.
"I was just floored.
"How dare (the bus driver) do that, kick him off with the knowledge he could be legally blind and not give him the chance to pay."
Calgary Transit spokesman Ron Collins said the incident should never have occurred.
"It's not our expectation that a youth would not be provided a ride in a situation like this," he said.
"We'll be identifying the operator and investigating the circumstances, taking appropriate action to resolve this issue and outline our expectations in the future.
"We'll be investigating it and dealing with the driver and everything else that occurred ... and take ... action to ensure that this type of thing doesn't happen again."
Calgary Transit offered an official apology to Linda yesterday afternoon, Collins added.
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What an Ass. Kicking a blind kid off a bus. Who cares if his card is valid?
The more liberal the government is, the meaner the people are.
That driver should be fired immediately for being a POS!
Sounds like the supervisor is more to blame.
Please send me a FReepmail to get on or off this Canada ping list.
Who wants to bet the driver turns out to be a muzzie?
I surprised to find that here in the US legally blind people under certain conditions can get a drivers license and they will still get them tomorrow too..
What I like to know is what did the other passengers on the bus do while this was happening, just sit there and ignore it...now that's pathetic.
ON the face of it , it seems a tad harsh to bounce the kid off the bus but we don't know what transpired. We don't know what the kid said or did. We don't know if he was requested to pay and refused. We only have the version from a woman who will most likely pursue the lawsuit lottery and get someone fired regardless of what actually happened.
Why are trivial stories like this considered "news"?
The story is sad enough, but why do the parents name the kid Blind Brian?
What fedupjohn said in #11 is true. Isn't wasn't a huge mistake, just a signal of how stupid people have gotten.
Because that's what the law requires?
We give discounts and freebies to protected classes such as senior citizens and the handicapped all the time without any concern whether they need such special benefits or not.
Blind Brian Visser...
The kid could get a job playing the Blues with Johnny Winter with a name like that...
Or Stevie Ray Vaughn if he were still alive.
How many legally blind people do you know, how much extra care do you think a kid like this needs? The parents probably are spending extra money on him. Crying about providing him with free bus fare is kind of sad. I would expect stuff like that on DU, but not here.
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