An entire busload of inconsiderate passengers were booted from the vehicle after refusing to make some room for a man attempting to board the bus via the wheelchair ramp.
According to CTV News, the Paris bus driver was fed up with his riders and ordered them all to get off and wait for the next bus to arrive.
François Le Berre, the commuter in the wheelchair, shared the story on his Facebook page.
Facebook | François Le Berre
In the now-viral post, he wrote that he and his brother were waiting at bus stop in the French capital’s 17th district when transportation eventually arrived.
The doors were opened and a ramp was lowered onto the sidewalk.
wheelchairtravel.org
However, Le Berre, who has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, was unable to board using the ramp because none of the passengers inside the vehicle were willing to shuffle and make room.
When the unnamed Parisian bus driver realized what was happening, he reportedly took action.
Instagram | @agora_l_h164
“The driver got up and said, ‘Terminal!'” Le Berre reported in his Facebook post.
All of the passengers who had just refused to allow Le Berre onto the bus were subsequently kicked right off of it.
Le Berre and his brother were then invited to board the now-empty vehicle together.
Facebook | François Le Berre
In his post, Le Berre added that all those passengers who were forced to exit the bus onto the street were then told to wait for the next one, which was expected to come in about five minutes.
Le Berre later revealed that the driver approached him afterwards and said, “everyone might need a wheelchair one day.”
Facebook | François Le Berre
In an interview with France’s edition of Huffington Post, the unidentified driver explained he personally has no disabled family members, but he “just needed to be a little civil.”
Le Berre’s post quickly went viral, receiving thousands of comments and shares on Facebook.
The story later gained even more traction when various French accessibility groups, such as Accessible POUR TOUS, shared Le Berre’s post on Twitter. That account’s particular post was retweeted over 5,000 times and received more than 13,000 likes.
In the comments, people sang their praises for the bus driver who took action against the inconsiderate commuters.
Some shared other times they witnessed similar incidents on public transit involving wheelchair passengers.
Reddit | FascinationStreet
As one user wrote, “I want to shake this bus driver’s hand. I have twice witnessed mums refusing to close their buggies so a passenger in a wheelchair can get on. They should have been kicked off too.”
A few people even offered up similar stories of drivers taking a stand against inconsiderate passengers.
Unsplash | Mark Ivan
“Once my pregnant sister of eight months got on the bus,” a user wrote in a translated tweet. “Nobody moved to give her his place. The driver stopped in the middle of the street and said, ‘I will not move as long as no one has left her his place.'”
Of course, they shared, it only took about 10 seconds before the passengers realized how serious the driver was and began offering the pregnant woman their seats.
In Paris, buses typically have one or two spaces reserved exclusively for passengers in wheelchairs.
Instagram | @agora_l_h164
According to the Evening Standard, those individuals already on the bus are expected to give those riders priority and allow them to board the bus so they can claim their specific spots.
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