Passenger's fall raises questions of whether scooters are properly secured on Fort Worth buses

By GORDON DICKSON

gdickson@star-telegram.com

One in an occasional series

Sitting in her three-wheel motorized scooter, Pamela Taylor thought she was safely strapped in for her bus ride home from the store, her chair held in place with safety hooks.

So nobody was more surprised than Taylor when, as the bus made a routine right turn, the scooter suddenly rolled into the aisle and toppled over, landing her in the lap of a fellow passenger.

"I’m barely getting around. I’m in constant pain," Taylor said in an interview after the Aug. 2 incident that left her with neck and back pain and a damaged scooter.

But what happened to Taylor, 48, raises questions about whether battery-powered scooters — commonly prescribed for people with limited walking ability — are being properly secured on local buses.

Officials at the Fort Worth Transportation Authority, known as the T, say the bus driver acted properly in trying to secure Taylor’s scooter, although it was difficult because the straps and hooks are designed to stabilize four-wheel devices such as wheelchairs.

"Our obligation is to tie the chair down, and we tied her chair down," T Executive Vice President Tony Johnson said.

Federal officials admit that the use of three-wheeled scooters, wheelchairs and other mobility aids are problematic. But while a study 15 years ago examined the number of injuries, it didn’t conclude that the scooters, which are more prevalent today, are a safety hazard on buses.

"Three-wheel and four-wheel scooters are allowed on transit vehicles," said Federal Transit Authority spokesman Paul Griffo. "Transit agencies must use the best means available to secure them."

Captured on video

Video from an onboard camera, reviewed by the Star-Telegram, shows the T bus driver, Tracie Burns, fastening three floor-mounted straps with hooks to Taylor’s scooter — two to the rear and one to the front — at the beginning of Taylor’s ride.

But Burns didn’t attach a fourth strap to the scooter — a three-wheel vehicle — because she couldn’t find a suitable place to affix it, other T officials said. Burns could not be reached to comment.

Sixteen minutes into the ride, as the Route 14 bus turned from southbound Riverside Drive to westbound East Lancaster Avenue, Taylor let go of a railing to shield her eyes from the sun. At that point, her scooter rolled into the aisle and toppled over, the video shows.

Taylor fell partly onto a vacant seat and partly into the lap of another passenger and a stroller-type cart. Other passengers helped her up; she did not request immediate medical attention.

Taylor, who uses a scooter because sciatic nerve pain makes it difficult for her to walk long distances, said she began hurting shortly after the fall as the bus continued on its route.

The driver then called for a T supervisor, and at the end of her shift she filed an incident report.

Taylor hired lawyer David Cantu of Fort Worth to represent her claim seeking reimbursement for medical bills and scooter repairs. She said she decided to hire a lawyer two days after her fall.

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