Miss Fu, with her guide dog Nana, relates her unpleasant encounter with the driver of the 116 bus. Photo: Facebook
A Facebook post about a bus driver who tried to stop a guide dog from boarding with its owner last Friday has gone viral on social media.
According to a Sing Tao Daily report, a visually impaired woman, surnamed Fu, was going home from work with her guide dog named Nana. They were at the Fortress Hill stop to wait for the 116 bus bound for Tsz Wan Shan.
Fu boarded the bus when it arrived, but the driver yelled: “That big dog is not allowed to get on the bus!”
A passenger told the driver that Nana is a guide dog and it is legally allowed in public transportation.
She even showed the driver the pertinent provision of the Public Bus Services Ordinance that says so after searching for it on the internet.
However, the driver didn’t seem to understand what a guide dog was.
“Dogs bite,” he said. “They are not allowed to get on the bus because they would scare other passengers.”
After about a minute of arguing, the driver started the engine, but continued to scold Fu throughout the journey.
When Fu got off the bus in Hung Hom outside the cross-harbor tunnel, she immediately told her husband what had happened.
Fu’s husband confronted the driver and asked for an explanation. “The dog is so big it would scare other passengers,” the driver repeated.
At home, Fu shared her experience on her Facebook account, and many netizens showed their support for the woman. The story went viral.
One of the passengers, surnamed Chan, said she reported the case to the New World First Bus, operator of the 116 bus. She said the driver has a bad attitude.
The company’s management should properly train their drivers to avoid a repeat of the incident, Chan said.
A spokesperson for the company said it has launched an investigation.
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