Disabled people on a Routemaster? Really?
- 8 Feb 06, 12:00 AM
Remember the Routemaster - the double-decker bus that was an 'iconic' image of London, which was finally taken off the road back in December? Remember the wailing and the gnashing of teeth amongst the hordes of spotty bus anoraks who, as they wiped a tear from the corner of the eye, seemed to implicitly blame all those silly requirements of accessibility for causing the demise of their beloved Routemaster? I mean, why should disabled people want to be able to get on buses anyway, eh?
Well, smell the irony of this story, then: . Yep, one of those familiar Routemasters has made its way to Malaysia, where it's soon going to be travelling from town to town as a mobile clinic offering free prosthetic services "for the handicapped", courtesy of the British charity organisation Hapee. And since the driver is a wheelchair user and the people who will be visiting the bus are disabled, the vehicle has been "specially modified".
Crippled Monkey's devious mind is whirring away now. So if this bus has been specially modified for use by disabled people, does that mean that all those Routemasters could have been modified too, so that they could have stayed on London's roads? Oh dear, I'm almost beginning to feel sorry for the bus anoraks now . . .
Comments
Wow - a very interesting and worthwhile use for a Routemaster and equally interesting observations Mr Monkey. As a not-at-all spotty bus anorak who actually owns a Routemaster (RML2302), I think you make a very good point about whether the buses could have been converted (would be good to know how it was done). They were certainly a much-loved (by lots of people who wouldn't call themselves anoraks as well) feature of London and I think it is the poorer without them (but I would say that wouldn't I!)
You shouldn't mock the afflicted. Surely you of all people should know that